Finally he is there – on the podium of The Free Press Society. It is half past seven PM, Thursday, August 22, 2013, as the former Islamicist imam and deadly enemy of the Free Press Society, Ahmed Akkari, faces his most fierce critics.
A tiny man with more than a hundred deaths and the burning of two Danish embassies on his conscience. –
Thank you for inviting me. I don’t know if I deserve all this, but perhaps my journey through life may be of use to you, says Ahmed Akkari as he timidly surveys the packed hall in the heart of Copenhagen.
Since ex-Islamist Ahmed Akkari came out of the closet three weeks ago, he has been the man of the hour. On television shows, in newspaper articles and on radio, he has tried to explain what has happened to him.
He went from being a hardened and fierce Islamicist to a kindly and thoughtful person, filled with love and gratitude for Denmark. The metamorphosis is difficult to explain and hard to believe.
Is his conversion sincere or he is he applying taqqiya – the right of Muslims to lie and deceive in the service of Islam?
In 1985, when Akkari was six, his parents fled to Denmark from war-torn Lebanon.
They chose Denmark because it was a safe country without too many immigrants – thinking that they would find a peaceful life here. Ahmed Akkari attended public school as the only immigrant in his class.
He had every chance in the world to adapt and become a normal Dane. But in his teens he was drawn to religious circles and before realizing what was happening, he had become poisoned by extremism. –
The truth is that there is not a single mosque or Muslim organization in Denmark that is not run by Islamists. As soon as you enter the house of the believers, you are met with Islamism whether you want it or not. As soon as you become a devoted Muslim, you are infected by extremism, says Ahmed Akkari.