“Allahu Akbar!” This was the Arabic phrase, which means “God is great!”, that was mentioned by Major Nidal Malik Hasan before firing his gun that killed 13 people and leave 31 people wounded in Fort Hood, Texas.
The Muslim army psychiatrist was said to attend morning prayers at a local mosque hours before the rampage happened. It was reported that Hasan is devoted to his faith but was troubled by his impending deployment to Afghanistan to contribute to a war effort he opposed at least partly on religious grounds. However, Hasan’s real intent for the rampage remains unclear while he is still lying in coma.
The rampage was claimed as the deadliest shootings that happened on a U.S military base.
Comment:
What went wrong to the mind of Major Nidal Malik Hasan that he committed a mass killing? This could be the question that is running to the minds of many now after the news about the rampage in Forthood, Texas broke out. Is he a madman? Or was he driven by his Muslim faith?
The fact that Hasan is affiliated to Miuslim religion gave his case a crucial twist. Everyone knows that
religion is a topic that will always remain controversial, especially when the concerned religion is Muslim. This is why the religious action of Major Nidal Malik Hasan such as praying in the local mosque and shouting “God is great!” just before he made the shooting are taken by almost everyone very seriously.
It is possible that Hasan encountered some religious harassment that fueled his rage to make such violent action, especially that he is described to have a strong devotion to his faith. However, his religious affiliation could not be the main issue in this story. After firing a gun for 100 rounds that killed 13 people that includes a pregnant woman and left 31 seriously injured people, Hasan could be claimed to have a problem in his state of mind. It is not impossible.
Well, there could still be other angles, but as long as Hasan remained in coma the only thing that people can do is speculate. It is definitely dangerous to judge or conclude that the reason why Hasan committed such crime was because of his faith.
