One of the 14 murder victims of Nidal Malik Hasan was Michael Cahill. Since that day, Cahill’s daughter and the cousin of the Jihadist who murdered her father in the name of Islam have become very close friends. They’ve even co-founded an organization together called the Nawal Foundation and are speaking this week at a luncheon in Austin, TX.
Via the Austin American Statesman:
Nader Hasan’s cousin Nidal is accused of shooting and killing Kerry Cahill’s father, Michael, after Michael Cahill charged the shooter, clutching only a folding chair over his head, trying desperately, valiantly to stop the 2009 massacre at Fort Hood.
One wouldn’t expect Kerry Cahill and Nader Hasan to be friends, but they are. Sometimes, humanity throws you a curve that way.
Living through the pain of the Fort Hood tragedy from different places, Cahill and Nader Hasan are finding common bonds forged through a common purpose. In 2011, Hasan founded the Nawal Foundation to denounce extremism and violence committed in the name of Islam. Cahill joined the board of directors a year later after striking up a friendship.
“We don’t want violence to get the last word,” Hasan, a 43-year-old trial lawyer in Fairfax, Va., said of the foundation.
Here is a link to what the Nawal Foundation is about.
This was an interesting excerpt from the Statesman piece:
Nader Hasan figured that extremists get media attention. They have had an impact by inflicting casualties, thereby garnering the media spotlight. They have succeeded in a very small number of cases, he said, by making Muslim Americans choose between God or country.
“They say, ‘Do you believe in God more, or do you believe in America more, because if your country is at war with your religion, shouldn’t you take on that aggressor?’” Nader Hasan said. “This is a false choice.”
This is interesting because Muslim Brotherhood groups in America share a similar perspective. They do not like having to deal with Islamic terrorists because it puts them on defense. Brotherhood groups in America prefer stealth. That isn’t to say that Nader shares the same view, just that he outwardly makes the same argument.
Last year, a pro-Muslim magazine in the U.K. did a feature piece on Nader and Cahill.
Check out the emel ‘About Us’ page:
emel is a vibrant and dynamic lifestyle magazine with an ethical and progressive outlook that has a Muslim focus; there is no other magazine like it. It has captured the imagination of many people from Royalty to Downing Street.
Interesting, a “progressive” magazine with a “Muslim focus”.
At minimum, Cahill’s discretion should be questioned.
Here is the ABC interview with Nader that Cahill said led to her meeting the Fort Hood jihadist’s cousin: