One of two French police officers who were killed during the brutal attack on Paris-based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was also a Muslim. Ahmed Merabet, 42, begged for his life to be spared before mercilessly being slain by two of three radical Islamists who would carry out his untimely demise as well as murder 11 other unarmed civilians.
On social media, the hashtag #JeSuisAhmed has been trending, along with #JeSuisCharlie, as a way for mourners to show solidarity with the magazine’s lost employees and Ahmed, who was killed by one of his own fellow Muslims. Islam condemns the killing of other Muslims. Merabat leaves behind a wife.
Solidarity with victims means solidarity with journalists #JeSuisCharlie and with police #JeSuisAhmed pic.twitter.com/2x6EEyTjzC
— Kees Diepeveen (@kdiepeveen) January 8, 2015
Ironically, Ahmed is a derivative from one of the prophet Muhammad’s 99 names. Ahmed comes from the word “Hamd” in Arabic which means “praise” or one who is “highly praised.” The gunmen who carried out the murders of the 12 innocent civilians said they did so in the name of defending their Prophet Muhammad’s name. And in doing so, they took the life of a Muslim man who was named after their revered prophet.
Merabet’s family has reportedly said they wish to bury him at a famous Muslim cemetery in France, according to the Daily Mail. The cemetery is located just northeast of Paris and is the burial site of over 7,000 Muslims who have been laid to rest there. A video was able to capture Merabet’s last moments before receiving a bullet wound to his head.
The name of the second police officer brutally murdered in the merciless attack was Franck Brinsolaro; he leaves behind a wife and two children. Brinsolaro was killed as he stood alongside the magazine’s Editor in Chief, Stéphane “Charb” Charbonnier, who was a prime target in the jihadist attack. Brinsolaro was assigned to protect Charbonnier after the onslaught of death threats he’d received from Muslims for running political cartoons which poked fun at the Islamic faith.
Charlie Hebdo is well-known for its controversial, satirical cartoons which poke fun at various religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Yet, the only religious group that has ever reacted violently to the satirical cartoons has been Islam.
Over 1,000 French nationals have reportedly left their country to join ISIS in their fight against Western civilization and establishment of a borderless Islamic Caliphate where Sharia Law is the ultimate rule. In August of 2014, radical Islamic preacher Anjem Choudary told Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity that “Sharia will be implemented in America, it’s coming,” and “Sharia is coming to a place near you.”
Adelle Nazarian is on Twitter @AdelleNaz.
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