Kamal Saleem (born 1957) is the pseudonym of a Lebanese-American self-claimed former Muslim terrorist. He is a convert to Christianity and minister who evangelizes to Muslims.[1]
Biography edit
Early life edit
Born in Lebanon, Saleem claims to have been taught to wage jihad from a young age for the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Muslim Brotherhood.[1] When he was seven, he says he was sent by his parents to Muslim training camps to learn to use weapons and engage and kill the enemy. He was also taught another more subtle form of warfare, called "Cultural Jihad", which he was eventually chosen to wage in the United States.[2]
He lived in a small Midwestern town in the early 1980s where he tried to recruit men in poorer neighborhoods to Islam. He then had a serious car crash, which hospitalized him. He subsequently received support from Christians, and after being "overwhelmed with the outpouring of Christian love", he eventually converted to Christianity.[2] It has been uncovered that he worked for the Christian Broadcasting Network from 1987 to 2003, and for Focus on the Family since then.[1]
Alleged terrorist activities edit
His claims of being a former terrorist, including an encounter with Yasser Arafat, having helped run a terrorist camp in the Libyan desert under Moammar Qaddafi, visiting Iraq where he rubbed shoulders with Saddam Hussein, and working alongside the mujahideen in Afghanistan, was questioned by a skeptical Kansas City Star columnist.[3]
He has claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood has put a $25 million bounty on his head, and alleged that he has been the subject of an assassination attempt.[3] His stories have also been disputed by the magazine Mother Jones,[3] Christianity Today[4] and The Daily Beast.[5] He has been compared to other alleged ex-Muslim terrorist converts to Christianity such as Walid Shoebat, Zachariah Anani, Ergun Caner and Emir Caner, whose stories have also been disputed.[1]
Activities after conversion edit
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Saleem travels across the United States "challenging Muslims to question their allegiance to Allah".[2] He runs Koome Ministries, which "aims to teach about what it sees as 'radical Islam's true agenda'".[6] He has appeared on CNN, CBS News, and Fox News, and has spoken on terrorism and radical Islam at Stanford University, the University of California, the Air Force Academy, and other institutions.[7] He has been described as a part of the counter-jihad movement.[8][9]
Works edit
- Saleem, Kamal; Boykin, Jerry (2014). The Coalition: A Novel. Post Hill. ISBN 978-1618689498.
- Saleem, Kamal; Vincent, Lynn (2017). The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption. Howard. ISBN 978-1501174292.
- Saleem, Kamal (2023). Ishmael Redeemed: Called to the Kingdom. Primedia eLaunch LLC. ISBN 979-8889920960.
References edit
- ^ a b c d Smith, Christopher Cameron (2014). ""Ex-Muslims," Bible Prophecy, and Islamophobia: Rhetoric and Reality in the Narratives of Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem, Ergun and Emir Caner". Islamophobia Studies Journal. 2 (2): 77–88. doi:10.13169/islastudj.2.2.0076. ISSN 2325-8381. JSTOR 10.13169/islastudj.2.2.0076.
- ^ a b c Little, Aaron M. (December 10, 2022). "Kamal Saleem: A Muslim Cries Out to Jesus". CBN News.
- ^ a b c Murphy, Tim (April 2012). "I Was a Terrorist…Seriously!". Mother Jones.
- ^ Howard, Doug (June 2010). "Mixed Message". Books & Culture. Christianity Today.
- ^ Goldberg, Michelle (September 15, 2012). "Right-Wing Islam Obsession at the Values Voter Summit". The Daily Beast.
- ^ Volokh, Eugene (March 3, 2014). ""Islamic extremists" put a price on your head? That means you can't give a speech in this American government building". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Kamal Saleem". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ^ Bale, Jeffrey M. (October 2013). "Denying the Link between Islamist Ideology and Jihadist Terrorism "Political Correctness" and the Undermining of Counterterrorism". Perspectives on Terrorism. 7 (5). Terrorism Research Institute: 37. JSTOR 26297006.
- ^ Lopez, Clare M.; Gaffney, Jr., Frank J. (2016). See No Sharia: 'Countering Violent Extremism' and the Disarming of America's First Line of Defense (PDF). Center for Security Policy Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN 978-1530234332.