Islamic expert claims Toronto 18 jihad texts don't call for violence in Canada

Mohammad Fadel, a professor of law at the University of Toronto, testified as the final defence witness in trial against Saad Khalid who was part of the Toronto 18. Khalid is accused of plotting to kidnap and behead the Canadian Prime Minister and blowing up the headquarters of the Canadian Secret Intelligence Services.

Fadel testified that texts referring to jihad which were found at the defendant's home did not advocate violence against Canadians.

"I think there are a whole host of targets that can be found in these texts," Fadel testified.

"I don't think Canada is one of those targets."

This may be true but I don't think it's a large step for Khalid to extropolate the call to jihad in Chechyna, India, Afghanistan and apply the jihad to Canada. Canadian Press

BRAMPTON, Ont. — A leading expert in Islam testified Thursday that texts glorifying jihad seized from the home of one of the so-called Toronto 18 do not advocate violence against Canadians.

Mohammad Fadel, a University of Toronto law professor, took the stand as the final defence witness at the sentencing hearing for 22-year-old Saad Khalid.

Khalid pleaded guilty last month to taking part in a domestic terror plot that involved plans to detonate bombs at a number of high-profile locations, including the Toronto Stock Exchange and CSIS headquarters, over three days.[...]

Fadel told Khalid's lawyer, Russell Silverstein, that the documents were simply "moral arguments" in favour of jihad, not legal decrees that Khalid was bound to follow.

One text, "The Book of a Mujahideen," was written during the conflicts between Russia and Chechnya. It contained nothing that would incite a "reasonable reader" to commit violence in Canada, Fadel said.

A second document, "The Virtues of Jihad," was also geographically limited in scope, intended to recruit Muslims in Kashmir to fight against India. Even the most "incendiary" text found in Khalid's bedroom, one that singled out and criticized the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, did not urge Muslims to "blow up (non-Muslims') property and kill them in their own territories," said Fadel.

That text, "The Exposition Regarding the Disbelief of the one that assists the Americans," called upon Muslims to resist the invasion by fighting in Afghanistan, donating money, and praying for victory, he said.