By Ben Barrack

About two weeks after three Qurans were burned outside a Dearborn mosque, a Muslim man has been arrested in connection with the burnings. After the initial Quran burnings, the imam of the Karbalaa Islamic Center – Husham Alhusayni – exploited the incident, using it to call for laws to be passed that would make burning Qurans illegal. The Qurans were burned days prior to the scheduled visit of anti-Islam Florida pastor Terry Jones.

Alhusayni attempted to exploit the Benghazi attacks in 2012 in a very similar way.

Imam Husham Alhusayni

According to a local news report, Alhusayni saw an opportunity not to let a crisis go to waste:

Several attorneys also met with the imams at Thursday’s meeting. Al-Husainy said they helped with legal advice in his plan for a new law making it illegal to burn or desecrate holy books.

“We want all of the religions to cooperate with us to bring respect to the word of God, whether the Quran, Bible, or Torah,” he said.

He said he understands it will be a challenge.

“But again, a journey of 1,000 miles starts with one step,” he said.

Also according to Alhusayni, the people attending the mosque witnessed the books burning but apparently did not see who did it.

About two weeks later, a Muslim man named Ali Hassan Al-Asaidi was arrested while trying to burn more Qurans outside the Karbalaa Center. Alhusayni maintains that he does not know the man and that despite the man’s Iraqi background and Muslim name, “He cannot be a Muslim”.

Al-Asaidi told police that he sought help from local mosques to solve a legal matter, but when he was turned down, he became angry at the faith and decided to burn Qur’ans in retribution… Imam Husham Al-Husainy, the spiritual leader of the Karbalaa Center, said he does not know Al-Assadi. “He never asked for my help. I have never met him,” he said.

Al-Husainy added that he does not think Al-Asaidi is acting on his own.

“Regardless of his identity, he has the same motives and goals as the anti-Islamic extremists,” explained Al-Husainy. “Some people say he is mentally unstable. But we have been here at the center for 20 years and never witnessed anything like this. Why now? This could be a continuation of the failed visit of Terry Jones.”

Let’s start from the beginning of that excerpt. We’re to believe that Al-Asaidi went to “local mosques” to solve a “legal matter” and was rebuked. Based on the assertion by Alhusayni that the two men never met and that Al-Asaidi “never asked for (his) help”, can we conclude that the Karbalaa Center is not one of the mosques where Al-Asaidi sought help?

If no, why would Al-Asaidi burn Qurans there instead of in front of mosques that rejected him? If yes, someone at the Karbalaa Center should be somewhat familiar with this “legal matter”. Has not Alhusayni been briefed on what that might be? To this point, there doesn’t seem to be reports of similar incidents at other mosques so why was Karbalaa singled out by Al-Asaidi?

Alhusayni then makes an interesting assertion, saying that he doesn’t think Al-Asaidi didn’t act alone. By definition, that qualifies as a conspiracy theory. With whom did Al-Asaidi act?

The Karbalaa Center imam even has the uncanny ability to divine the motives of someone whom he says he does not know. By alleging that Al-Asaidi has “the same motives and goals as the anti-Islamic extremists”, Alhusayni is running interference for a conspirator who may have been part of a contrivance that involved in something far more nefarious.

Arousing more suspicion for investigators should be public stances by Alhusayni in the days after the Benghazi attacks. His desire to see laws passed that criminalize criticism of Islam is not new:

Sheikh Husham al-Husainy of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center in Dearborn, Michigan, said about the worldwide Muslim riots that “the only solution is to replace the hate with love.” And “love,” in his mind, meant that “they should put a law not to insult a spiritual leader.”

A full investigation of who was involved is more than warranted. When it comes to contrived attempts to criminalize criticism of Islam, this would not be new. In fact, as Shoebat.com has asserted, there is plenty of probable cause available to suggest that the anti-Muhammad video “Innocence of Muslims” that was blamed by the Obama administration for the 9/11/12 attack on Benghazi, was made by a Muslim.

Alhusayni is not new to controversy. In 2011, he was caught up in the flap involving Lowe’s and a television program entitled, “All American Muslim” on The Learning Channel (TLC). Alhusayni was the imam in the show and Lowe’s decided it would withhold its advertising dollars.

In 2007, Alhusayni was interviewed by Sean Hannity in a very heated exchange. Alhusayni came off as schizophrenic, hypersensitive, and very defensive throughout. He repeatedly refused to say that Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist organizations before abruptly hanging up on Hannity:

h/t WZ