Good Bye Mohammed: Das neue Bild des Islam (German Edition)

When he believes that he will be welcomed in this manner in the afterlife, he will be willing to give his life; he will be enthusiastic about going to battle and not fear death. You may call this primitive and laugh about it … but it is based on deeper wisdom. Himmler, who had left the Catholic Church in , bemoaned that Christianity made no promises to soldiers who died in battle, no reward for bravery.

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Himmler, convinced that Muhammad was one of the greatest men in history, had apparently collected biographies of the Prophet, and hoped to visit Muslim countries and continue his studies after the war was won. In contrast to Islam, which he saw as a strong and practical faith, he described Christianity as a soft, artificial, weak religion of suffering.

Islam was a religion of the here and now, Hitler told his entourage, while Christianity was a religion of a kingdom yet to come — one that was deeply unattractive, compared to the paradise promised by Islam. For Hitler, religion was a means of supporting human life on earth practically and not an end in itself. In this respect, at least, the Mohammedan is more enlightened. Hitler expressed this view repeatedly. After the war, Albert Speer remembered that Hitler had been much impressed by a historical interpretation he had learned from some distinguished Muslims:.

When the Mohammedans attempted to penetrate beyond France into Central Europe during the eighth century, his visitors had told him [Hitler], they had been driven back at the Battle of Tours. Had the Arabs won this battle, the world would be Mohammedan today. For theirs was a religion that believed in spreading the faith by the sword and subjugating all nations to that faith.

Depictions of Muhammad

The Germanic peoples would have become heirs to that religion. Such a creed was perfectly suited to the Germanic temperament. Hitler said that the conquering Arabs, because of their racial inferiority, would in the long run have been unable to contend with the harsher climate and conditions of the country. They could not have kept down the more vigorous native, so that ultimately not Arabs but Islamized Germans could have stood at the head of this Mohammedan Empire.

To be sure, our knowledge of the ideas about Islam that circulated within the Nazi elite mostly comes from memoirs and postwar testimonies, which must be read with caution. Nonetheless, these accounts draw a remarkably coherent picture of the ideological notions prevalent among the higher echelons of the regime. Throughout the war years, the Propaganda Ministry repeatedly instructed the press to promote a positive image of Islam.

References to similarities between Jews and Muslims, as manifested in the ban of pork and the ritual circumcision, were to be avoided. In the coming months, the Propaganda Ministry decreed that magazines should depict the U. As early as , the Wehrmacht distributed the military handbook Der Islam to train the troops to behave correctly towards Muslim populations. On the Eastern front, in the Caucasus and in the Crimea, the Germans ordered the rebuilding of mosques and madrasas previously dismantled by Moscow, and the re-establishment of religious rituals and celebrations, with the intention of undermining Soviet rule.

German military officials also made extensive efforts to co-opt religious dignitaries in the Eastern territories, the Balkans, and North Africa. Perhaps the most important part of this policy was the recruitment of Muslims into the German armies. By the end of November , Berlin had registered , men as dead, wounded, or missing in action — almost a quarter of their entire eastern army.

German soldiers, it became clear, could not win the war alone. In late , the Wehrmacht began recruiting among prisoners of war and the civilian populations in its eastern occupied territories. In mid, the Eastern Troops numbered more than ,; a year later, that number had doubled, the vast majority were non-Slavic minorities from the southern fringes of the Soviet empire, and many thousands of them were Muslims from the Caucasus, the Crimea, the Volga-Ural region, and Central Asia.

It became one of the greatest mobilization campaigns of Muslims led by a non-Muslim power in history. This recruitment campaign was not the result of long-term strategy, but a consequence of the shift toward short-term planning after the failure of the Barbarossa plan. Most of the recruits were driven by material interests. For many of the Muslim volunteers from the Soviet Union who were recruited in prisoner of war camps, a significant incentive was the prospect of pay and better provisions — fighting for the Germans was an attractive prospect compared to the appalling conditions of the camps.

Others, most notably Muslim recruits from the civilian population in the Balkans and the Crimea, hoped to protect their families and villages from partisans. Some were driven into the German ranks by ideology, nationalism, religious hatred, and anti-Bolshevism. Under the banner of the swastika, the volunteers believed that they would be supporting the fight against Bolshevism or British imperialism and for the liberation of their countries from foreign rule.

The Germans, for their part, did everything they could to play up the potential ideological motives of their foreign helpers. We have common aims. There is no more solid basis for cooperation than common aims and common ideals. For years, Germany has not had the slightest conflict with Islam.

German army officials granted their Muslim recruits a wide range of concessions, taking into account the Islamic calendar and religious laws such as ritual slaughter.

Mohamed Atta - Wikipedia

A prominent role in the units was played by military imams, who were responsible not only for spiritual care but also for political indoctrination. In the end, Muslim units were employed in Stalingrad, Warsaw, and Milan, and in the defense of Berlin. He insisted that she write his name as ATTA, that he originally was from Egypt but had moved to Afghanistan, that he was an engineer and that his dream was to go to a flight school. He asked about the Pentagon and the White House.

He said he wanted to visit the World Trade Center and asked Bryant about the security there. He mentioned Al Qaeda and said the organization "could use memberships from Americans". He mentioned Osama bin Laden and said "this man would someday be known as the world's greatest leader. That month, Atta and Shehhi stayed in hotels and rented rooms in New York City on a short-term basis. They continued to inquire about flight schools and personally visited some, including Airman Flight School in Norman, Oklahoma , which they visited on July 3, Days later, Shehhi and Atta ended up in Venice, Florida.

After a week, they were asked to leave because they were rude. Atta and Shehhi then moved into a small house nearby in Nokomis where they stayed for six months.

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Atta began flight training on July 6, , and continued training nearly every day. By the end of July, both Atta and Shehhi did solo flights. Atta earned his private pilot certificate in September, and then he and Shehhi decided to switch flight schools. Both enrolled at Jones Aviation in Sarasota and took training there for a brief time. They had problems following instructions and were both very upset when they failed their Stage 1 exam at Jones Aviation. They inquired about multi-engine planes and told the instructor that "they wanted to move quickly, because they had a job waiting in their country upon completion of their training in the U.

In November , Atta earned his instrument rating, and then a commercial pilot's license in December from the Federal Aviation Administration. Atta continued with flight training that included solo flights and simulator time. On December 29 and 30, Atta and Marwan went to the Opa-locka Airport where they practiced on a Boeing simulator, and they obtained Boeing simulator training from Pan Am International on December Records on Atta's cellphone indicated that he phoned the Moroccan embassy in Washington on January 2, just before Shehhi flew to the country.

Atta flew to Spain on January 4, , to coordinate with bin al-Shibh and returned to the United States on January During that time Atta flew out of Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville with a pilot, and Atta and either the pilot or Shehhi flew around the Atlanta area. They lived in the area for several months.

On April 16, Atta was given a citation for not having a valid driver's license, and he began steps to get the license. It is not known where he stayed that night, but on the 29th he registered at the Econo Lodge at South Las Vegas Boulevard. During his trip to Las Vegas, he is thought to have used a video camera that he had rented from a Select Photo outlet back in Delray Beach, Florida.

In July , Atta again left for Spain in order to meet with bin al-Shibh for the last time. That night and twice the next morning, he called Bashar Ahmad Ali Musleh, a Jordanian student in Hamburg who served as a liaison for bin al-Shibh. On the way, Atta stopped in Reus to pick up Ramzi bin al-Shibh at the airport. They drove to Cambrils , where they spent a night at the Hotel Monica. They checked out the next morning, and spent the next few days at an unknown location in Tarragona. There, Atta and bin al-Shibh held a meeting to complete the planning of the attacks.

They may have helped arrange and host the meeting in Tarragona. Spanish investigators have said that Marwan al-Shehhi and two others later joined the meeting. Bin al-Shibh would not discuss this meeting with Fouda. During the Spain meetings, Atta and bin al-Shibh had coordinated the details of the attacks. Bin al-Shibh explained that he passed along instructions from Osama bin Laden, including his desire for the attacks to be carried out as soon as possible.

Bin Laden was concerned about having so many operatives in the United States. Atta confirmed that all the muscle hijackers had arrived in the United States, without any problems, but said that he needed five to six more weeks to work out details. Bin Laden also asked that other operatives not be informed of the specific data until the last minute. During the meeting, Atta and bin al-Shibh also decided on the targets to be hit, ruling out a strike on a nuclear plant. Bin al-Shibh passed along bin Laden's list of targets; bin Laden wanted the U.

Capitol, the Pentagon, and the World Trade Center to be attacked, as they were deemed "symbols of America. They also discussed the personal difficulties Atta was having with fellow hijacker Ziad Jarrah. Bin al-Shibh was worried that Jarrah might even abandon the plan. On August 4, Atta is believed to have been at Orlando International Airport waiting to pick up suspected "20th Hijacker" Mohammed al-Qahtani from Dubai , who ended up being held by immigration as "suspicious.

The reservation was not used and canceled on August 9 with the reason "Family Medical Emergency". Atta did not take the return flight. Other hijackers traveled to Las Vegas at different times in the summer of Throughout the summer, Atta met with Nawaf al-Hazmi to discuss the status of the operation on a monthly basis. On August 23, Atta's driver license was revoked in absentia after he failed to show up in traffic court to answer the earlier citation for driving without a license. Only four of the names are known for certain, the others being Marwan al-Shehhi, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi.

On the way, they were seen getting gasoline at an Exxon gas station. They arrived at 5: The FBI also reported that "two middle-eastern men" were seen in the parking lot of a Pizza Hut , where Atta is known to have eaten that day. Atta and Omari arrived early the next morning, at 5: The connection between the two flights at Logan International Airport was within Terminal B, but the two gates were not connected within security. Passengers must leave the secured area, go outdoors, cross a covered roadway, and enter another building before going through security once again.

There are two separate concourses in Terminal B; the south concourse is mainly used by US Airways and the north one is mostly used by American Airlines. It had been overlooked that there would still be a security screen to pass in Boston because of this distinct detail of the terminal's arrangement.

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This call was apparently to confirm that the attacks were ready to begin. Atta checked in for American Airlines Flight 11 , passed through security again, and boarded the flight. Atta was seated in business class, in seat 8D. The hijacking began at 8: At this time, the pilots stopped responding to air traffic control, and the aircraft began deviating from the planned route.

Ong provided information about lack of communication with the cockpit, lack of access to the cockpit, and passenger injuries. Just stay quiet and you will be OK. We are returning to the airport. If you try to make any moves you'll endanger yourself and the airplane.

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We are going back to the airport. Don't try to make any stupid moves. Because the flight from Portland to Boston had been delayed, [85] his bags did not make it onto Flight Atta's bags were later recovered in Logan International Airport, and they contained airline uniforms, flight manuals, and other items.

The luggage included a copy of Atta's will, written in Arabic, as well as a list of instructions, called "The Last Night". This document is divided into three sections; the first is a fifteen point list providing detailed instructions for the last night of a martyr's life, the second gives instructions for travelling to the plane and the third from the time between boarding the plane and martyrdom. Almost all of these points discuss spiritual preparation, such as prayer and citing religious scripture.

On October 1, , The Sunday Times released a video it had obtained "through a previously tested channel", purporting to show Mohamed Atta and Ziad Jarrah recording a martyrdom message six years earlier at a training camp in Afghanistan. The video, bearing the date of January 18, , is of good resolution but contains no sound track. Lip readers have failed to decipher it.

Atta and Jarrah appear in high spirits, laughing and smiling in front of the camera. They had never been pictured together before. A separate section of the video shows Osama bin Laden addressing his followers at a complex near Kandahar. Ramzi bin al-Shibh is also identified in the video. According to The Sunday Times , "American and German investigators have struggled to find evidence of Atta's whereabouts in January after he disappeared from Hamburg. The hour-long tape places him in Afghanistan at a decisive moment in the development of the conspiracy when he was given operational command.

Months later both he and Jarrah enrolled at flying schools in America. In the aftermath of the September 11, attacks, the names of the hijackers were released. There was some confusion regarding who Mohamed Atta was, and cases of mistaken identity. Initially, Mohamed Atta's identity was confused with that of a native Jordanian , Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta , who bombed an Israeli bus in the West Bank in , killing one and severely injuring three.

Mahmoud Atta was 14 years older than Atta. The Israeli Supreme Court later overturned his extradition and set him free. The Washington Post quoted a United States Air Force official who explained, "discrepancies in their biographical data, such as birth dates 20 years off, indicate we are probably not talking about the same people. In the months following up to the September 11 attacks , officials at the Czech Interior Ministry asserted that Atta made a trip to Prague on April 8, , to meet with an Iraqi intelligence agent named Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani.

This piece of information was passed on to the FBI as "unevaluated raw intelligence". A Pakistani businessman named Mohammed Atta had come to Prague from Saudi Arabia on May 31, , with this second Atta possibly contributing to confusion. In the Czech Republic , some intelligence officials say the source of the purported meeting was an Arab informant who approached the Czech intelligence service with his sighting of Atta only after Atta's photograph had appeared in newspapers all over the world. United States and Czech intelligence officials have since concluded that the person seen with Ani was mistakenly identified as Atta, and the consensus of investigators has concluded that Atta never attended a meeting in Prague.

In , Army Lt. Five witnesses who had worked on Able Danger and had been questioned by the Defense Department's Inspector General later told investigative journalists that their statements to the IG were distorted by investigators in the final IG's report, or the report omitted essential information that they had provided. Shaffer's book also clearly indicates direct identification of the Brooklyn cell, and Mohamed Atta.

Atta's father, Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta, a retired lawyer in Egypt , vehemently rejected allegations his son was involved in the September 11 attacks , and instead accused the Mossad and the United States government of having a hand in framing his son. Atta said he had spoken with Mohamed by phone the day after on September 12, He held interviews with the German news magazine Bild am Sonntag in late , saying his son was alive and hiding in fear for his life, and that American Christians were responsible for the attacks.

He is now with God. The Mossad killed him. There are multiple, conflicting explanations for Atta's behavior and motivation. Political psychologist Jerrold Post has suggested that Atta and his fellow hijackers were just following orders from al-Qaeda leadership, "and whatever their destructive, charismatic leader Osama bin Laden said was the right thing to do for the sake of the cause was what they would do.

By this view, Atta's political and religious beliefs affected the method of his suicide and his choice of target, but they were not the underlying causes of his behavior. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For other people named Mohamed Atta, see Mohamed Atta disambiguation. Kafr el-Sheikh Governorate , Egypt.

American Airlines Flight Mohamed Atta at Mohamed Atta's first announcement, heard by ATC at Mohamed Atta's alleged Prague connection. Retrieved September 4, Skies, Plot Leader Met bin Laden". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 17, Retrieved September 16, Retrieved September 24, Retrieved September 10, National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved May 25, Retrieved August 1, A Mission to Die For". Archived from the original on September 17, Archived from the original PDF on June 7, Archived from the original on June 18, Archived from the original on September 30, Retrieved September 8, Archived from the original on June 17, Archived from the original on May 4, Archived from the original PDF on February 28, Archived from the original on June 1, Retrieved September 7,