Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman
Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman (Arabic: عمر عبد الرحمن; ʾUmar ʾAbd ar-Raḥmān; 3 May 1938 – 18 February 2017), widely known in the United States as "the Blind Sheikh", was a blind Arab Egyptian Islamofascist cleric and jihadist[1][2][3][4] leader who was convicted of terrorism-related offenses and served a life sentence in federal prison at the Federal Medical Center, Butner, in North Carolina.
A longtime resident of New York City, Abdel-Rahman was a prominent figure in radical Islamist circles. In 1995,[5] he and nine co-conspirators were convicted of seditious conspiracy for plotting attacks against the United States, including plans to bomb key New York City landmarks. His prosecution stemmed directly from the investigation into the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, an early Islamist terrorist attack on American soil that killed six people and injured over a thousand. Abdel-Rahman was viewed by his followers as a spiritual authority who endorsed violent jihad against the U.S. and its allies.
M. T. Mehdi advocated for him.[6]
He remained imprisoned until his death in 2017.
Adam Hamaw
In 2026, it was revealed[7] that New Jersey congressional candidate Islamic Adam Hamaw had close ties in the early 1990s to Islamist cleric Omar Abdel Rahman,
Hamawy testified for Rahman’s defense in 1995 and described under oath traveling with him to Islamic conferences, visiting him at home, and translating for him. According to trial excerpts cited in the article, Hamawy acknowledged hearing Rahman speak repeatedly about “jihad” and describe the United States and Israel as enemies of Islam.
Hamawy attended a Detroit conference alongside figures accused of Islamist extremism and notes that meetings connected to the World Trade Center bombing allegedly took place at a Jersey City mosque mentioned during testimony.
After the story was published, Hamawy’s campaign accused the David Horowitz Freedom Center and its publication FrontPage Magazine of running “anti-Islam” and “guilt-by-association” attacks against Muslim and Arab candidates. Though other outlets, including Fox News, Politico, and The Wall Street Journal, later covered the controversy.
After all, Hamawy is slammed for refusing in interviews to specifically denounce Rahman or the concept of jihad, instead condemning “all extremism and all violence.”
References
- ↑ Alexander, Y., Swetnam, M. (2021). Usama Bin Laden's Al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network. Netherlands: Brill, p.38
- ↑ Kepel, G. (2002). Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam. United Kingdom: Harvard University Press, p.412
- ↑ The SAGE Encyclopedia of Terrorism, Second Edition. (2011). United States: SAGE Publications. p.3
- ↑ Pellowski, M. (2003). Terrorist Trial of the 1993 Bombing of the World Trade Center: A Headline Court Case. United States: Enslow Publishers.
- ↑ Pellowski, M. (2003). Terrorist Trial of the 1993 Bombing of the World Trade Center: A Headline Court Case. United States: Enslow Publishers.
- ↑ "Immigration Board Rejects Sheik's Plea for Asylum", Baltimore Sun, July 10, 1993. .. "Dr. Mehdi said that officials at the Federal prison in Otisville, N.Y., told him yesterday that Mr. Abdel Rahman was still hospitalized..."
- ↑ Congressional Candidate Attacks Front Page as ‘Anti-Islam’ After We Expose His Terror Ties, FPM, May 9, 2026.
