Because in the view of Abdul Raheem (Richard Reid), Allah would find nothing objectionable in the mass murder of infidels.
Meanwhile, why is he allowed books about Islam in prison? Do prison officials suppose they will make him better, when it is clear from this article and from everything else that we know about him that they are the things that made him worse?
“Crazed bomber says Allah will get him out of Supermax poky,” by Corky Siemaszko for the New York Daily News (thanks to WriterMom):
Shoe bomber Richard Reid sits and waits in his cell at the Suprmax prison in Colorado. The British terrorist says he has dreamed he will be spared from the life sentence he serves.
Failed shoe bomber Richard Reid fantasizes that Allah will free him from the Supermax prison cell where he lives in isolation – and in his socks.
“I had a couple of good dreams about my situation changing for the better in the not-so-distant future, so this is a blessing from Allah,” Reid wrote in letters obtained by a British newspaper.
“I place my trust in Allah that he will bring that into fruition and ask him to give me patience until the time when that occurs.”
The Mirror also secured exclusive photos of the 33-year-old Al Qaeda acolyte who tried to blow up a packed Miami-bound jet with booby-trapped sneakers – and who stares with crazy eyes at the camera.
Behind the British-born Muslim convert are his paltry possessions – a few books about Islam, scraps of writing paper, a bear-shaped plastic container of what appears to be honey resting beside a shabby trunk.
His beard is scraggly and he wears a white, long-sleeved T-shirt and gray sweatpants. He expresses no remorse for his failed attempt at mass murder – and seems serene despite the terrorist path that landed him in prison.
“As long as we strive to follow the laws which he has laid down for us then everything which occurs in this life contains some good for us,” he wrote.
Reid is serving a life sentence in the ultratough federal prison in Florence, Colo., for attempting to bring down an American Airlines jet with nearly 200 people aboard on Dec. 22, 2001. Fellow passengers and crew members overpowered him before he could ignite the explosives hidden in his shoes.
In missives to his Jamaican father, Robin Reid, the bearded bomber hectored him to get religion – the Muslim religion.
“How’s your situation in regards to upholding the daily prayers?” he wrote. “Hopefully my advice was well received and if you didn’t start praying yet, I’d ask you to re-read the two letters I wrote earlier this year on that subject and to reflect on your situation with Allah.”
Reid also harshly rebutted his dad’s suggestion that a Christian aunt who died suddenly was in a “better place.”
“You should know that while Allah is merciful and forgiving, this applies only to those who upheld His rights,” he wrote. “I do know that if she died while still believing that Jesus and God are one then that’s not good as she had the chance to find out about Islam.”