Ahmad Alabood is no stranger to guns, violence and bloodshed. After all, that's why the recent refugee fled Syria for the United States with his wife and children. The family, originally from Syria, arrived in the U.S. from a Jordanian refugee camp in April. Della Lamb assisted in the move.
"It's so sad when someone like that kills people and he thinks he will go to heaven," said Alabood of Omar Mateen, the man who shot and killed dozens of people at an Orlando, Florida, night club Sunday morning.
Through interpreter Fariz Turkmani, Alabood explained how his heart sank after hearing the news of the shooting in Florida this past weekend, carried out by a potentially radicalized Islamist.
"What I saw here [in America] is a fraction of what you see there [in Syria]," said Alabood. "It hurt as well. After all, all the people being killed here and there are innocent people who have nothing to do with it. They are living their everyday life, so you can't believe how bad I feel about what has happened, because it shouldn't have happened."
That's why Alabood wants Kansas City to know that what the Florida shooter, ISIS and other extremists practice is not Islam and not what the Koran teaches.
"Those are not Muslims," he said. "I don't claim that they are Muslims, they are outside of Islam. But the point is, how did they become so strong? They started in Iraq, and within a couple of hours they took an entire city. How did that happen?"
It's a question all of us are waiting to have answered.
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Terra Hall can be reached at terra.hall@kshb.com.
