Raed Awad
Raed M. Awad (born c. 1960 in Ramallah, Palestine; died April 19, 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) was the imam of the Hoover Crescent Islamic Center from 2008 to 2011.
Awad was the imam of Masjid Al Iman in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from 1994 to 2000 and served on the board of the Nur Ul Islam Academy in Cooper City, Florida. In 2001 Awad worked as a fund raiser for the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. That group was closed down by the Bush administration because of connections to the Palestinian militant organization Hamas.
José Padilla, who was convicted in 2007 of conspiracy to murder in a 2002 plot to plant a bomb at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago had attended that mosque when he lived in Broward County, Florida between 1991 and 1998. Awad testified at Padilla's trial that he knew him only slightly and had not influenced his plot or alleged involvement with terrorist organizations. Awad also testified at the trial of another member of the mosque, Adham Amin Hassoun, who was accused of raising funds to support terror groups and specifically of funding Padilla's trip to Egypt.
Awad married the former Katy Carr in 2003 and moved to Birmingham in 2004. After they divorced, he remarried in 2009. His second wife, Nur, became pregnant in 2010 and the couple decided to move closer to her family in Malaysia. Their son, Ibraheem, was born in 2011.
Awad died from cancer in April 2016.
References
- Barker, Kim & Cam Simpson (June 13, 2002) "Former Imam, Terror Group Links Found." Chicago Tributne
- Norman, Bob (August 8, 2002) "A Tale of Two Mosques." Miami New Times
- Blum, Vanessa (July 25, 2007) "Court hears of suspect's charity." Sun-Sentinel
- Garrison, Greg (January 15, 2011) "Raed Awad, imam for Hoover Crescent Islamic Center, plans to leave Birmingham and move to Malaysia." The Birmingham News
- Garrison, Greg (April 19, 2016) "Former Muslim leader of Hoover mosque dies." The Birmingham News