The anti-gay, pro-Taliban father of the radical Islamic terrorist behind the recent carnage at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando, FL “served as a director and vice president” of the mosque attended by his son, which authorities describe as a “breeding ground” for jihadists, reports CounterJihad, a component of the Center for Security Policy.
U.S. citizen of Afghan descent Omar Mateen, the 29-year-old jihadist responsible for the June 12 massacre at the Pulse dance club that left 50 people dead, including himself, and 53 others wounded, was a regular worshiper at the Islamic Center of Ft. Pierce in St. Lucie County, FL — home of the terrorist — according the mosque’s imam, Syed Shafeeq Ur Rahman.
The mosque, which was the place of worship of two other jihadist killers, has been linked to radical Islamic extremist ideology. Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), which has claimed responsibility to the attack.
Imam Rahman has alleged that the killer, with whom he rarely interacted, was not a member of his flock.
However, evidence shows that Mateen was not only a 13-year member of the mosque, his father Siddique Mateen, also known as Seddique Mir Mateen, “shared leadership duties at the mosque for several years with Rahman as the mosque president’s second in command,” reports CounterJihad.
Citing Florida state articles of incorporation papers filed and signed by the imam, the report notes that Siddique, “served as a director and vice president of the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce under Rahman, who’s listed as president.”
Rahman has also claimed in recent media interviews that he hardly knew the killer.
However, The Washington Post quoted Rahman in a report published on the day of the attack as saying, “For several years, Mateen regularly attended the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce and was there as recently as two days ago.”
Rahman revealed that the killer attended the religious center on the Friday before the shooting last Sunday with his young son, noting that “he was the last to arrive and the first to leave,” without providing any more details, reports The Daily Beast.
“The imam said Mateen’s father and young son would pray with him, and Mateen’s three sisters were active volunteers at the mosque, which had about 150 congregants,” adds The Post.
According to CounterJihad, some mosque worshippers have also said that “Mateen’s father would pray alongside his son at the mosque.”
“When pressed in a phone interview to explain how he managed to avoid for more than a decade any conversation with the son of such a top official — indeed the No. 2 officer in the mosque — Rahman hung up the phone,” notes CounterJihad.
Besides the Orlando jihadist, other members of Rahman’s mosque have been linked to violent acts investigated by the FBI, including Moner Mohammad Abusalha, who is believed to have been the first U.S. suicide bomber in Syria.
“There is nothing that he is hearing from me to do killing, to do bloodshed, to do anything because we never talk like that,” reportedly claimed Rahman, referring to the terrorist Mateen, adding, “There is no teaching of extremism in this mosque.”
Nevertheless, he conceded that “in Islam, being gay is a sin.” His anti-homosexual views are shared by trustees of the mosque, including the Orlando jihadist’s father.
Siddique Mateen, who emigrated from Afghanistan, has expressed homophobic and anti-U.S. sentiments.
He has praised the Afghan Taliban, which has stoned homosexuals to death. The day after his son carried out the terrorist attack at the gay nightclub, the father declared, “God will punish those involved in homosexuality.”
“Siddique Mateen was also known to preach anti-U.S. rhetoric,” reports CounterJihad, noting that it appears that his ideology was passed down to his son.
“This is wrong act of behavior, which is against all the philosophy and teaching of me as a father, and the way that I brought him up,” recently said the father, referring to his son’s terrorist attack.
The United States got what it “deserves” on 9/11, the Orlando terrorist once told his classmates.
Siddique Mateen “promotes the teachings of Maulana Abul Ala Maududi, the late Pakistani radical and contemporary of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna” who “preached that Islam will destroy the West,” reports CounterJihad.
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