Muhyyee-Ud-din Abdul-Rahman is eighteen years old, and like many young men his age, he had big dreams. Abdul-Rahman’s dreams, however, didn’t run along the lines of owning a Karma Kaveya. Instead, Abdul-Rahman wanted to become a bombmaker for jihad groups, and he researched the Philadelphia Pride parade and the Army-Navy game as potential targets. His father, a prominent far-left lawyer, had no comment, but one has to wonder: did this young man learn at home that this kind of behavior was acceptable?
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The Associated Press reported that Abdul-Rahman was nothing if not enterprising: he “conducted at least 12 tests on homemade bombs near his family’s home before he was arrested and was close to being able to detonate devices with a blast radius of several hundred yards.”
Robert Listenbee, Philadelphia’s First Assistant District Attorney, adds that the would-be jihadi “had a scholarship to attend college as a wrestler and decided he wanted to become a bomb maker. He wanted to leave America and go to Syria to join a terrorist group. He developed bombs in his home and tested those bombs 12 to 20 times in his backyard and in the woods nearby. Some of the bomb-making parts were found in his trash before he was arrested.”
🚨Teen Radicalized Online Plots Bomb Attacks on Targets in the Philadelphia Area 🚨
An 18-year-old from West Philadelphia, Muhyyee-ud-din Abdul-Rahman, has been charged with plotting bomb attacks, including targeting the Philly Pride Parade and infrastructure sites like military… pic.twitter.com/xfce0lcd4V
— Sivan🕊 (@SivanSpeaks) September 27, 2024
As Abdul-Rahman was doing all this, it is extremely unlikely that his parents didn’t notice: “detectives found Abdul-Rahman was collecting materials to make explosives at his parents’ [home].”
Abdul-Rahman wanted make bombs for two jihad terror groups: Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ), which is an al-Qaeda affiliate, and Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS). He did not, however, intend to use his bomb-making skills only in Syria. CBS News notes that he was “was searching online for potential targets in the Philadelphia area, specifically the Philly Pride March and the Army-Navy game. He allegedly was also looking into targeting local power plants and domestic military bases.”
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How far has the apple fallen from the tree? Muhyyee-Ud-din Abdul-Rahman is the son of Qawi Abdul-Rahman, a prominent Philadelphia criminal defense attorney who ran in May 2023 for a seat as a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge. In a “vote for ten” election, Abdul-Rahman finished fourteenth, with 3.88% of the vote.
In a campaign video, Abdul-Rahman wears a djellaba, a flowing robe that is common in North Africa but usually worn in America only by Muslims who are extremely devout. His forehead also sports a superbly prominent zebiba, a dark mark caused by performing the repeated prostrations that are called for in Islamic prayer, and that is generally understood to be a sign of extraordinary piety.
Journalist Victor Fiorillo of Philly Mag reported back in Aug. 2023 that he contacted Qawi Abdul-Rahman to ask him about his son, and found the renowned attorney extremely bellicose: “You wanna find out what I’m really about?” Qawi Abdul-Rahman asked Fiorillo. “Text or call me one more time, and you’ll find out what I’m really about.”
Qawi Abdul-Rahman has insisted, however, that he had little or no knowledge of what his son had been up to. He said he was “shocked and devastated” by his son’s arrest, adding, “I didn’t see it coming at all. At all. I go to court because I want people to know that Muslims are out here doing things in the community, for the community. I’m an American like everyone else.”
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Of course. Qawi Abdul-Rahman’s judge campaign page features another video that proclaims that “Black Judges Matter.” In that video, he complains of judges who don’t give him and his clients the same attention and care they give to his “white counterparts.” He complained about judges and court staff “looking at us as if we don’t belong.”
Amid all this grievance-mongering, Abdul-Rahman has adopted a religion that calls for warfare against unbelievers (cf. Qur’an 2:191, 4:89, 9:5, 9:29, 47:4, etc.) and features many prominent global leaders (such as Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei) who view the United States as a hostile power against which Muslims are or should be in a state of war.
Related: 9/11 Might as Well Have Been a Thousand Years Ago
Imagine growing up in a household where such views are frequently aired (which is not to say they necessarily are in Abdul-Rahman’s house). Philadelphia officials are insisting that their young terror suspect was “radicalized on the Internet” and that his plans had nothing to do with Islam, but is anyone there looking into the possibility that his determination to strike against America arose from sources closer to home? Or is such a suggestion so far out of the bounds of our leftist-dominated public discourse today that Philly officials wouldn’t dare even allow themselves to think it?
These questions are worth answering, for the story of Muhyyee-Ud-din Abdul-Rahman is tragic. Listenbee stated, “The court referred to him as very creative, very much a critical thinker, a smart young man who also had a determination to become a bomb maker and a terrorist.” If only he had decided to use his abilities for something worthwhile. But that would have required that he have an entirely different worldview.
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