There is some evidence that this was a political act based on the shooters Islamic belief. The evidence also points to a mentally troubled individual who attempted to use the Islamic religion to manage a growing mental illness.
1. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's military record indicates that he received a poor performance evaluation while at Walter Reed. (
AP source: Suspected shooter got poor evaluation)
2. Nidal Hasan did not suffer from PTSD acquired from combat in the military. (
Fort Hood Shooting by Army Doctor Nidal Malik Hasan Leaves 12 Dead - ABC News)
3. Witnesses report that Hasan shouted, "Allahu Akbar!" before opening fire.
4. Here’s what Hasan supposedly wrote about suicide bombers:
There was a grenade thrown amongs a group of American soldiers. One of the soldiers, feeling that it was to late for everyone to flee jumped on the grave with the intention of saving his comrades. Indeed he saved them. He inentionally took his life (suicide) for a noble cause i.e. saving the lives of his soldier. To say that this soldier committed suicide is inappropriate. Its more appropriate to say he is a brave hero that sacrificed his life for a more noble cause. Scholars have paralled this to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers. If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory. Their intention is not to die because of some despair. The same can be said for the Kamikazees in Japan. They died (via crashing their planes into ships) to kill the enemies for the homeland. You can call them crazy i you want but their act was not one of suicide that is despised by Islam. So the scholars main point is that “IT SEEMS AS THOUGH YOUR INTENTION IS THE MAIN ISSUE” and Allah (SWT) knows best. (NidalHasan | Scribd)
5. According to National Public Radio, he recently gave a Grand Rounds presentation. . . (You take turns giving a lecture on the correct treatment of schizophrenia, the right drugs to prescribe for personality disorder, that sort of thing). But instead of giving an academic paper, he gave a lecture on the Koran. He said that if you’re a nonbeliever the Koran says you should have your head cut off, you should have oil poured down your throat, you should be set on fire. One of the Muslims in the audience, another psychiatrist, raised his hand and was quite disturbed. He said a lot of us don’t believe these things you’re saying. People actually talked in the hallway afterwards about ‘is he one of these people that’s going to freak out and shoot people someday?’
6. Hasan was put on probation early in his postgraduate work at the Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. He was disciplined for proselytizing about his Muslim faith with patients and colleagues, according to the source, who worked with him at the time.” (NPR)
7. Hasan attended the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring and was “very devout,” according to Faizul Khan, a former imam at the center. Khan said Hasan attended prayers at least once a day, seven days a week, often in his Army fatigues.
Khan also said Hasan applied to an annual matrimonial seminar that matches Muslims looking for spouses. “I don’t think he ever had a match, because he had too many conditions,” Khan said.
“We never got into details of worldly affairs or politics,” the former imam said of his conversations with Hasan. “Mostly religious questions. But there was nothing extremist in his questions. He never showed any frustration. . . . He never showed any . . . wish for vengeance on anybody.”
8. According to the Washington Post, he steered clear of female colleagues and despite devout religious practices, listed himself in Army records as having no religious preference…
“He came to mosque one or two times to see if there were any suitable girls to marry,” Khan said. “I don’t think he ever had a match, because he had too many conditions. He wanted a girl who was very religious, prays five times a day.”…
9. A co-worker at Walter Reed said Hasan would not allow his photo to be taken with female co-workers, which became an issue during Christmas season when employees often took group photos. Co-workers would find a solo photo of Hasan and post it on the bulletin board without his permission.
10. Hasan’s cousin says Hasan decided after 9/11 that he didn’t want to deploy overseas, that he heard horrific stories from returning soldiers, and that he was harassed by other troops.
11. Ret. Col. Terry Lee alleges that Hasan thought Muslims should stand up and fight the “aggressor” [the United States] and that he was “happy” about the shooting in Little Rock. Apparently Hasan was also increasingly agitated by the fact that Obama hasn’t pulled out of Afghanistan and Iraq.