>> gayo says he's given the information to oakland police. >> that was reporter vic lee there in oakland, california. next on cnn, fareed zakaria investigates hate, radical muslims and the united states. "why they hate us"," cnn specia, starts now. hatred so deep, it drives men to drive planes into bombs. hatred so profound, it drove omar mateen to slaughter dozens of americans on a dance floor in orlando. it is impossible to understand.

impossible to get into the mind of a terrorist. >> this station is facing terror and tragedy. >> why do so many millions of muslims hate the usa? >> a bigger picture this morning of a man accused of now murdering 13 people. >> why do they hate us? >> what did we do to the islamic world? >> americans are asking, why do they hate us? >> emphasis on that last word: us. why do islamic terrorists hate americans? 15 years after 9/11, we are no longer surprised when they tell us they want to kill us. >> so what are you waiting for? you can go to a local gun show at the convention center and

come away with a fully automatic assault rifle. >> but who are "they"? how many? and are they multiplying in a new deadly form? >> this is the beginning. tomorrow will be washington. it will be new york. it is coming. >> inside schools. >> young children are being taught how to kill. if the goal of isis propaganda is to terrify america, it has worked. >> let's look at the mood in the country because terrorism is again front and center. >> and that fear has paved the way for a new voice in this country. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete

shutdown of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. >> it's going to get worse and worse. you're going to have more trade centers. it's going to get worse and worse, folks. >> trump's message has led some americans to say who cares why they hate us. we hate them. >> who is bombing airplanes? it's not the christians. it's not the buddhists. it's not the jews. it's the muslims. >> they're coming to get us. they're not going to be happy until they take over this country, and we have to be under sharia law, and i'm not going to bow down to them. >> americans are understandably angry and afraid. but with fear turning to hate,

we need answers. it's literally a matter of life and death. >> when you ask hungary's rasheed aliti -- >> if you talk about they being a very narrow, strong group of extreme radicals, that's an entirely different question. >> choudary has been charged with supporting isis. he's awaiting trial in london. >> i personally hate the american regime and the foreign policy. >> choudary faces prison for his support of isis, but he is unrelenting in that support.

never mind the kidnappings, the headings, the sex slaves. to choudary, the islamic state is paradise. >> there is peace, there is no corruption, there is no bribery, no usury, no gambling. all the things you're used to in other parts of the world don't exist over there. this idea they're raping people, why don't you listen to what the muslims are saying on the other side? they will deny these things. >> because, mr. choudary, they kill journalists. that's why. they kill journalists, mr. choudary. in fact, isis has murdered at least 23 reporters in the last two years. among them the americans james foley and stephen soklov. >> how do you explain, mr. choudary, that people are fleeing the islamic state?

despite documented evidence of tens of thousands of people desperately fleeing isis, choudary claims there are actually more arriving. >> the people are coming into the islamic state. we have videos of christians coming back to mosul, others embracing islam. you don't show those because it doesn't fit your agenda. >> then the floodgates open with the reasons why jim choudary says he hates us. >> freedom of expression, freedom of religion. these things sound very nice, but where was the freedom of religion and expression for the people in guantanamo bay? was that freedom in practice? did you hold that up as an example of liberty and democracy, the american way, the american life? george bush flushed those down the toilet. he said, we can flush those away because we're talking about terrorism. >> but the united states intervened in bosnia to protect muslims.

it intervened in afghanistan d when they elected twice a person that doesn't support the people. in the real world, it is determined by polls and not by what you say, and the polls overwhelmingly show it as do two elections. >> you're living in hollywood, some kind of make-believe world. >> i come back to the very simple proposition that if the groups you seem to support, from al qaeda to isis, were as popular as you claim, why don't they hold elections? why do they have to go around murdering, slaughtering, raping and forcing people into submission? >> for a moment i thought you were talking about guantanamo bay which you were talking about rape and oppression, but obviously you're not talking about that. >> choudary reminds me of marxist idealists i met in my youth who could explain away anything to justify their belief system. the anger at america is deep.

what is striking is that america remains the obsession of choudary and of so many who have seldom, if ever, been here. so what happens when a jihadi is american? are the reasons he hates us the same? >> how can you have your loyalty to a government that is leading the war against islam and muslims? >> no one has scared officials more than anwar al-ahlaki. >> he also helps plan attacks on the united states. >> he is the driving force behind all the worst terrorist attacks in america since 9/11. >> we are facing you with men

who loved us just like you love life. >> he is an american, born in new mexico. how influential is he? dzhokhar sar was waiting in the back of a police car. one of his comrades watched al-ahlaki's video. then there was psychiatrist nadal hassan who murdered 14 americans at ft. hood in texas. hassan e-mailed al-ahlaki about his plans. the underwear bomber tried to blow a plane out of the sky over detroit under orders from al-ahlaki. and finally, orlando killer omar

mateen. the fbi says he appeawas inspir al-ahlaki after watching his sermons on the internet. but here is the strangest twist in this american horror story. after the 9/11 terror attacks, al-ahlaki was invited to lead prayers at the u.s. capitol. he was considered such a perfect role model, a moderate imam in falls church, virginia, that the "washington post" did a story on him. >> there is always this association between islam and terrorism, when that is not true at all. islam is a religion of peace. >> but gradually, it is possible to see the beginnings of his disenchantment. >> hatred seems to be something that comes out of nowhere.

there are reasons for this. the fact that the u.s. has administered the death and homicide of over 1 million civilians in iraq. >> no one seems certain when al-ahlaki became a full-fledged jihadi, but one thing is clear, he spoke of islam. he never cites his religion when he speaks about why he hates us. his reasons, like choudary's, are about american foreign policy, the so-called war against islam that jihadis always speak of. the fbi began to monitor omar. he fled to yemen and became a top leader of al qaeda. >> would you say that al-ahlaki is at least as severe a threat

today as bin laden? >> probably the most significant risk to the u.s. homeland. >> there is one important fact about on war al-ahlaki that i have not mentioned. he is dead. it was an american drone strike in 2011. but here's the most frightening fact. al-ahlaki is still killing americans. some of the bloodiest terror he inspired happened after his death. the san bernardino killings, the boston marathon bombings, and the worst mass shooting in american history: the orlando nightclub murders. al-ahlaki is on the internet right now. literally thousands of his videos are just a click away. >> do you remember the good old days when americans were enjoying the blessings of security and peace? >> the man is dead. the message is not. and yet his main explanation for

why they hate us doesn't ring true to me. the united states has, for better or worse, waged war in many lands. why are there no vietnamese or cambodian terrorists? and why do they kill mostly other muslims? the explanation for the violence of islam must lie somewhere else, somewhere deeper. some say it comes directly from the koran, but is the muslim holy book being distorted? >> the koran promises a martyr in the name of islam. 72 virgins. is that true? >> what exactly does the koran promise martyrs? when we come back.

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9/11, 7/7 in london, mumbai, the boston marathon, san bernardino, paris and now brussels and orlando. all perpetrated by muslims, all done in the name of islam. it raises a question, the obvious question, is islam an inherently violent religion? is is ask a critic of islam and then ask an honest muslim reformer. you will get essentially the same answer. there is a connection between the religion and the violence. >> it's time to stop saying that this isn't about islam. isis is uber islamic. uber islamic and it's time it's said. >> the next time a bombing or beheading occurs, and god knows it will, the first thing you will hear from the mouth of a so-called moderate muslim is, oh, no, no, please don't misunderstand, islam has nothing to do with this.

that's simply not true. because most of the people doing these bombings and beheadings say that they are doing it in the name of allah. and they actually cite versus from the koran. >> we are men honored with islam who climb to peaks to perform jihad. >> the controversial question triggered a shouting match on bill maher's hbo program. >> islam is the motherlode of bad ideas. >> how about more than a billion people that are not radical and don't do any of those things, they just want to go to school? >> wait a second. >> no. wait. >> wait a second. you're painting the whole religion with that -- >> no. let's get down to who has the right answer here. a billion people, you say. all these billion people don't

hold any of those -- these pernicious beliefs? >> no, they don't. >> we will come back to affleck's point about the numbers but let's just look at the text. the koran does contain verses that encourage intolerance and violence. it recommends a fiery death for gay people in a shower of brimstone. but look at the bible on the same subject in leviticus. if a man has sex with another man, kill them both. both holy books also have passages recommending murder for nonbelievers. this verse in the koran is one that isis has taken literally. i will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. therefore, strike off their heads. >> our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people. >> but the same belief that guides isis also appears in the bible. in deuteronomy, believers are

instructed to stone nonbelievers until they die. two holy books with violent passages with one obvious difference. jihadis are acting on what they read in the koran. >> islam is being manipulated. it is being used. >> there is one colorful example of manipulation in a famous koranic story. >> the koran promises a martyr in the name of islam. 72 virgins. is that true? >> it is not true. >> manji says that several scholars studying the original text came to a startling realization. >> nowhere in the koran does it promise 72 virgins, 70 virgins, 48 virgins. what it promises, as far as heaven goes, is something lush. the arabic word for virgin has been mistranslated. the original word that was used in the koran was the word for

raisin. not virgin. in other words, martyrs would get raisins in heaven, not virgins. >> 72 raisins. imagine the surprise of the terrorist who expected something completely different. ♪ the story illustrates that radicals have twisted islamic ideas, but it also reflects a growing new reality. the violent jihadis who carry out isis terror attacks often know little about islam. >> in many cases, they are petty criminals, they are dropouts, unemployed, in many cases they are drug users who never had anything to do with religion, no religious training whatsoever. >> you probably know us better than me, even. maybe you have studied. >> they are completely ignorant,

in other words, of religion. and they latch onto radicalism as a way to act out their alienation. >> these brothers fit the profile. these are the isis killers partying at a high-end nightclub in brussels. salah was the mastermind of the terrorist attacks in brussels. brahim blew himself up in paris. it is easier, say some, to brainwash recruits who are not religious. a former radical told "the new yorker" for purposes of recruitment, having no background in islam is actually an advantage. manji is trying to stop the recruitment process by exposing young people to all of islam's ideas. >> i'm pointing out that the faith itself has the wrong material. it has the elements for a change. >> there is another famous koranic story.

a father's two sons convert to christianity and leave home. the father asks the prophet muhammad to bring them back but muhammad declines saying there is no compulsion in religion. >> the book itself can't speak. it is we muslims who speak on its behalf. there is a beautiful passage in the koran that states god does not change the condition of a people until they change what is inside themselves. >> and to those who say, well, you are cherry picking, what do you say? >> i say, yes, that's correct. and so are you. by not acknowledging the freedom-loving verses of the koran. >> as you can see, islam can be used in many ways but the question remains, why is an intolerant and violent interpretation of the religion flourishing in important parts of the muslim world? it all starts, believe it or not, with an american pop song. ♪

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>> we all looked at her and asked how. how does a young mother drop her baby off at grandma's after nursing that baby, and then proceed to massacre 14 people and give up her own life in a twisted act of martyrdom? there is a way to understand this because you can draw a straight line from tashfeen malik directly to the roots of radical islam. let me explain by going back to the beginning of the story. bizarre though it may sound, today's radical islamic movement started with a popular american song. 1949, the place was greeley, colorado. ♪ ♪ i've got to go away but baby it's cold outside ♪ >> "baby it's cold outside" was playing at a church dance.

an egyptian student attending a local college happened to stop in. he was a deeply conservative muslim, and he was horrified by what he saw at that dance. he wrote later of what he called the animal-like mixing of the sexes, the hall swarmed with legs, lips met lips, chests met chests, the worst sight of all, he said, the outline of women's breasts in tight sweaters. the america i have seen became a sensation in parts of the arab world. he hated everything about american culture: hollywood movies, big cars, fast food. >> his views on america are terrifying. they are terrifying because they're narrow, they're racist. he resented the way women and men interact in society, he

resented the nature. >> by the 1950s, he was a fierce critic of arab governments trying to westernize societies and political systems. he wrote 24 books urging the return to sharia law and terrorism against the leading modern nation in the world, the united states. he was executed in 1966 for plotting to overthrow the government of the egyptian president. he had become a rock star among budding radicals, even as arab regimes were jailing and torturing his followers. >> we are muslims who believe in -- >> thus, in the jails of egypt and other arab tyrannies was born al qaeda. ♪ >> he was read and revered by

osama bin laden, al-ahlaki, and the current egyptian president. and then radical islam explodes. in iran, there was revolution. enraged by the repressive rule, popular protests drove him out. angry mobs seized the american embassy. for 444 days, the united states watched helplessly as americans were held hostage. >> but there are indications tonight that a large number of armed shiite muslims -- >> at exactly the same time, november 1979, cataclysm in saudi arabia.

the takeover of the grand mosque and mecca, islam's holiest site. it was stormed by heavily armed insurgents demanding the overthrow of the american-backed saudi king. these events were like rocket fuel for islamic radicals. they had taken control of iran and in saudi arabia, the monarchy makes a fateful decision. it decides to appease the ultra conservative wahhabi clergy who preach of intolerant interpretation of islam, giving them free rein to run schools and mosques and oil money to spread their poisonous world view to other muslim countries. >> it's hard to imagine a muslim community anywhere on this planet that hasn't been touched by this ideology. >> remember, saudi arabia is one

of america's strongest allies. >> you are talking about a country that presents itself as the leader of the world muslims, the muslim world. >> the new saudi regime is finally trying to contain the spread of radical islam. look at this interview with one of the most powerful men in saudi islam. the former imam of the grand mosque. we have the same beliefs as isis, he says. we share their idealogy but we express it in a more refined way. >> and that ideology is still being preached in saudi arabia from the mosques. >> remember, 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 came from saudi arabia. so did osama bin laden.

and one more person who was from saudi arabia. tashfeen malik, the wife in the san bernardino killings. so malik lived in both saudi arabia and pakistan. and to what country has saudi arabia most lavishly and successfully exported its ideology? pakistan. its saudi-funded mosques preach a message much like the saudi message. tashfeen malik is a radicalized islam globalized by islam. and one more radicalized islam? omar mateen. he went there twice. up next, a crucial question. when we ask why they hate us,

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if you believed everything you've heard about islam on certain cable news channels, you'd have good reason to be afraid. >> we need to kill them! >> very afraid. >> how many numbers are we talking about? the world has 1.6 billion muslims. how many muslims are we talking about? >> 300 million people who are ready to strap bombs on their bodies and blow us all up to smithereens. >> 300 million muslims ready to strap bombs to their bodies? can that really be true? donald trump offers even higher percentages. >> it's 27%. could be 35% who would go to war. the hatred is tremendous. >> fox news anchor chris wallace had just told the gop frontrunner the facts. >> according to the best experts, think tanks all around the world, they say at most, 100,000 people are fighting for jihadist causes. >> wallace is right.

trump is wrong. scholars and experts we spoke to agree. the number of jihadis worldwide is somewhere between 1 and 200,000, not hundreds of millions. how did they come up with those results? simple math. they added up the estimated memberships of all islamic terror networks worldwide. that works out to around .01% of all muslims around the world. but despite the consensus, the myth persists. >> you say 253 million muslims -- >> why don't you take a look at the pew poll that came out very recently. >> we did take a look and we couldn't find any poll by pew that bore any relation to trump's claims. in fact, the pew research center sent us a statement that says it has not issued a survey saying that 27% of

muslims would go to war with the united states nor asked a question of muslims about going to war. but there are some pew polls with findings that are troubling. let's take a look at just a few. in egypt, 81% of muslims who want sharia as the law of the land told pew that they also favor stoning as a punishment for adultery. and 86% favor the death penalty for those who leave islam. religious scholar -- >> we may be appalled by certain regressive beliefs but they are just beliefs. the issue is people's actions. >> but can some bad thoughts lead to bad actions? bill maher makes an interesting point. >> if vast numbers believe -- and they do -- that humans deserve to die for merely holding a different idea or

drawing a cartoon or writing a book or eloping with the wrong person, not only does the muslim world have something in common with isis, it has too much in common with isis. >> aslan responding with an analogy from america. >> the christians at the westboro baptist church believes that god hates homosexuals so as a result of that belief, they picket the burial ceremonies of american soldiers who die overseas. now, christians in the united states also believe that homosexuality is a sin and share that belief with the westboro baptist church, but they would never share in those actions. by bill maher's logic, those two groups are essentially the same because they share one

fundamental belief. >> sam harris, a critic of islam, counters with his own idealogy. >> to have a play on broadway, like "the book of mormon," it's currently unthinkable to produce such a play on a topic of islam. ♪ >> the hit broadway musical "the salt lake city religion". >> what did the mormons do in response to this play? they took out ads for mormonism in the program which is just an adorable response but there is no one who produced that play who lost any sleep over whether they might be killed or be hunted for the rest of their lives by crazy mormons, and that is what we have to get to on the topic of islam. >> on this, i certainly agree with harris. and yet there is another idealogy that seems far more successful in seducing muslims. american democracy. when we come back, the story of american islam, warts and all.

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...overboard's the only way to describe it. but hurry, this ends soon. hamtramck, michigan, is a story as old as america. a century ago, polish immigrants settled here. it became known as little warsaw. ♪ preserving the traditions of the old country in a new country. fast forward to the late 20th century and the american dream repeats itself. ♪ this time, the immigrants are muslims from yemen, from bangladesh, from bosnia. and now what was once known as little warsaw is the first city in america run by muslim americans. it has a majority muslim city council.

>> last night's election had historic significance for that community and the country. >> one more story as old as america, the inevitable culture clash. >> i don't like the changes that are going on, so i'm leaving. >> church bells collide with the call to prayer. restaurants cater to separate groups, different cultures now living side by side. there have been rough spots but hamtramck has made its new reality and new government work. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag. >> we have a great possibility of showing the world how ethnic groups can work together to solve problems. >> but then the calls started coming in from the rest of america. >> we are coming to blow up the muslims.

they try bringing sharia law. they try to do this. people are going crazy. >> it's time to say no sharia in america! >> many communities across the country fear that arab immigration could translate into sharia law. >> i didn't say to hate them. i'm just saying we don't need them here. >> islam will never dominate the united states and by the grace of god it will not dominate texas! >> sharia law has never been established in any city in america and no one wants it less than the muslim americans in hamtramck. >> we don't believe in that. we came here to this country to run away from sharia law. you think i would put it in this country to follow me here? i don't think so. ♪ >> community activists ibrahim says that his family fled yemen in search of the same things that all americans want. >> we came here for better life,

for security and for a better future and that's all we came here for. we will always carry that american flag everywhere we go. it's a country where advancement and entry into the middle classes and wealth and power are open to people of all backgrounds. >> look at sha heheed. he came to america from pakistan in 2015, penniless. he owns the nfl team the jacksonville jaguars. look at television host dr. oz, a first generation turkish american. the list goes on. but middle eastern studies scholar rasheed khalidi says you won't find this in other

policies. >> how many people are elite children or grandchildren? in the united states we have people who are barons of industry that are important in the media whose faces look different than normal white americans, yourself. for example, there are very few french faces on television. >> as for all the fears americans have of sharia law, of muslims as terrorists, they are rooted in this fact. >> 1% of the population of america is muslim. most americans don't know any muslims. so it becomes very easy when confronted with extreme acts of violence in the name of islam, it becomes very easy to conflate that with mainstream, everyday islam. we would never make that mistake when we are confronted with extreme acts of violence or radical interpretations of

christianity. because we live in a country that's 70% christian. we are tribal, ultimately. we are much more likely to forgive the extremes within our own tribe than we are the extremes in other people's tribes. up next, my thoughts on why they hate us. experience the thrill of the lexus is f sport. because the ultimate expression of power, is control. this is the pursuit of perfection. think yotry nexium 24hr.'s best for your heartburn? now the #1 choice of doctors & pharmacists... for their own frequent heartburn. get complete protection with nexium 24 hour.

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the next time you hear of a terror attack, no matter where it is, no matter the circumstances, you will likely think to yourself, it's muslims again, and you will probably be right. in 2014, about 30,000 people were killed in terror attacks worldwide. the vast majority of those perpetrating the violence were muslim. but -- and this is important -- so were the victims. of the 30,000 dead, the vast, vast majority were muslims. that's crucial to understand because it sheds light on the question, "why do they hate us?" islamic terrorists don't just hate america or the west. they hate the modern world and they particularly hate muslims who are trying to live in the modern world.

let's be clear. while the jihadis are few, there's a larger cancer within the world of islam, a cancer of backwardness and extremism and intolerance. most of the countries that have laws that restrict the free exercise of religion are muslim majority. all that have laws against leaving the faith are muslim majority. but are these things inherent in the religion? when experts tried to explain in the 14th century islamic civilization was the world's most advanced or that the koran was once read as a liberal and progressive document, they are not trying to deny the realities of backwardness today. what they are saying is it can change. islam, after all, has been around for 14 centuries. there have been periods of war but also of peace. it's the same religion then and now. so what is different?

it's not theology. it's politics. radical islam is the product of the broken politics and stagnant economics of muslim countries. they have found in radical religion an ideology that lets them rail against the modern world, an ideology that is now being exported to alienated young muslims everywhere, in europe, even in some rare cases, in the united states. so how to end this? there's really only one way. help the majority of muslims fight extremists, reform their faith and modernize their societies. in doing so, we should listen to those on the front lines. many of whom are fighting and dying in the struggle against jihadis, the hundreds of muslim reformers that i've spoken to said their task is made much harder when western politicians and pundits condemn islam

entirely, demean their faith and speak of all muslims as suspect and backwards. here's another way to think about this. in america, african-americans make up about 13% of the population yet they comprise of about 50% of homicide offenders, according to a justice department study. now, we understand, i hope we understand that when we see a black man on the street, we cannot, must not treat him as a likely criminal. it would be dehumanizing, unfair and racist. in america of all places, people should be treated as individuals and not as stereotypes from a racial, ethnic or religious group. remember, the bangladeshi cab driver who drives you to the airport has nothing to do with isis even though he is a muslim. it's hard not to make these quick associations, especially in the wake of a terror attack. but if america is about anything, it is the idea that people should be judged as individuals with individual

liberties and rights. it is what they hate about us. we might as well live up to our own ideals. i'm fareed zakaria. thank you for watching. back in 1981 i had the american dream -- the beautiful wife, the house in the suburbs and a beautiful 6-year-old son. and one day i went to work, kissed my son good-bye, and never saw him again. in two weeks i became the parent of a murdered child. and i'll always be the parent of a murdered child. i still have the heartache. i still have the rage. i waited years for justice. i know what it's like to be there waiting for some answers. and over those years i learned how to do one thing real