Chaplain Resigns from FDNY After Making Offensive 9/11 Comments

Intikab Habib, 30, was scheduled to be the second Muslim chaplain in the history of the New York Fire Department, and the day before his appointment he gave a telephone interview with Newsday magazine. During that interview he made some shocking statements that made it clear to officials that he should not be called on to serve the fire department, because he questioned whether 19 hijackers really were the ones responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which brought down the World Trade Center towers, smashed a hole into the Pentagon, and killed almost 3,000 people. Habib, a native of Guyana who had studied Islam in Saudi Arabia, told Newsday that he had doubts about the U.S. government’s official story blaming 19 hijackers associated with Al Qaeda and Usama bin Laden.

Habib told Newsday that his doubts arose from media reports that were widely spread throughout the Muslim community during the weeks following the attacks. "I've heard professionals say that nowhere ever in history did a steel building come down with fire alone," he told the interviewer. "It takes two or three weeks to demolish a building like that. But it was pulled down in a couple of hours. Was it 19 hijackers who brought it down, or was it a conspiracy?" Habib added that the attacks were a "tragic incident" and he sympathizes with those who lost loved ones in the destruction. "Whoever did it, it was a very wrong thing. It's always wrong to take an innocent human life," he said.

Just hours after Habib’s comments made headlines, FDNY commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta told reporters, "The fire department this morning received the resignation of Imam Intikab Habib from his position as FDNY chaplain." The statement continued, "Based on comments he made to Newsday, Imam Intikab Habib would have been unable to effectively serve in the role he was appointed to," and "there has been no prior indication that he held those views." Some in the Arab community have blamed the 9/11 destruction on an American or Israeli plot concocted to drum up support for subsequent attacks on Muslim countries. In 2003, the poet laureate of New Jersey, Amiri Baraka, was asked to step down from his position after he wrote a poem suggesting that Israel knew about the terrorist attacks in advance.

Habib joined the NYFD on August 15 after the Islamic Society of Fire Department Personnel recommended him for the part-time position, which pays an annual salary of $18,000. Kevin James, a spokesman for the society, told reporters, "It’s sad. We had no idea those were his views. He’s entitled to his opinion, but he’s not the right person for the chaplain." New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg spokesman Ed Skyler spoke for the mayor and the country when he said: "The remarks were offensive and the mayor is satisfied that the chaplain has resigned."