Muslim Community Leader Who Spoke With Fort Hood Terrorist: "He Was A Typical Fundamentalist Muslim"

The Daily Beast reports that "not long ago, inside the quiet library of the Muslim Community Center here in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., Golam Akhter, a local Bangladeshi-American civil engineer, 67, got into a fierce debate with a young Muslim doctor over how to interpret the concept of 'jihad' within Islam. Akhter argued, 'Jihad means an inner struggle, fighting against corruption and injustice.' The young doctor responded. 'That’s not a correct interpretation. Jihad means holy war. When your religion isn’t safe, you have to fight for it. If someone attacks you, you must fight them. That is jihad. You can kill someone who is harming you.'... 'So many time I talked with him,” said Akhter, a community leader who is sort of like a mosque gadfly, challenging congregants to reject literal, rigid interpretations of Islam. 'I was trying to modernize him. I tried my best. He used to hate America as a whole. He was more anti-American than American.' Despite all the conversations, Akther said, 'I couldn’t get through to him. He was a typical fundamentalist Muslim.'" Tweet