Warith Deen Umar gave a speech in January of 2004. Umar is formerly the Chaplain for the State of New York Department of Corrections. Investors Business Daily reported in a 2007 editorial that " Warith-Deen Umar was caught preaching to inmates -- mostly black converts like himself -- that 9/11 was a miracle of faith and that the hijackers should be celebrated as martyrs."
In 2006, Umar pled guilty to a gun charge and was sentenced to a year of home detention. This charge arose out of an incident in which, according to the Government's Sentencing Memorandum:
Umar got into a dispute with one of his tenants (the "Victim") at 756 Union Avenue, Bronx, New York. During this altercation, Umar retrieved a shotgun, pointed it at the Victim, and said, in sum and substance, that he was going to kill the Victim. These actions ended the confrontation when the Victim fled. When the police arrived on the scene, an officer questioned Umar about the dispute. Umar reported that he had weapons in the home and showed the officer the weapons, which were kept in the closet. Umar also indicated that he had no permit for the shotgun.
The same memorandum noted the following:
According to published news reports, in 2003, Umar was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as praising the 9/11 hijackers, stating, among other things, that "even Muslims who say they are against terrorism secretly admire and applaud" the hijackers. As a result of his statements, Umar was banned from the state prison system, where he had continued to visit inmates after his retirement.
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Finally, in 2005, prior to Umar's arrest, Umar was once again engaged in incendiary speech during periodic Friday sermons he gave at a mosque in the Bronx. During these speeches, Umar frequently preached about jihad, describing it as fighting and killing...that's the real jihad. Umar discussed his banishment from the prisons, and talked about his next step as "jihad." Umar railed about the Iraq war, describing how "brothers" in Iraq were killing "pigs" (American soldiers). Finally, Umar stated that he does not want to die of old age, but as a martyr, and advocates fighting if you can, or if you're older, to give money to the brothers who are fighting. These are merely a few examples of the kind of actions Umar advocates to his followers.
The sentence might have been more had not the presiding judge granted Umar leniency in consideration of his personal achievements.
Here is the transcript of a portion of Umar's 2004 speech.
Transcript:
Umar: We want this government to go back to your leaders and tell them, boss, we gonna have to accept Islam sooner or later so lets learn the [Shahada, or declaration of faith] Illa ha Illa la… Because if we don't we are going to lose everything. [People in the audience scream "Takbir! Allah u Akhbar!] And they are going to lose everything, why?
What is my [word unclear] Quran, Allah promised us success, he promised us victory, he promised us victory but he also promised us that there will be some loss. So we should be prepared for the loss. We should be prepared to lose some people, we gonna lose some people, be prepared. Sisters, be prepared to stay at home some time, you may not be able to go to the Masjid. you might not even be able to go out in [word unclear]. OK? Be prepared mentally
Brothers, be prepared to fight, be prepared to die, be prepared to kill. It's a part of the deen, and this ain't your brother just saying this, this is history, this is Quran, nobody can deny it. and we need to let the enemies know.