The account is bizarre. The victims say that Thomas walked up to them at a suburban bus stop and began a conversation. It seemed harmless banter until they said Thomas ask if either were Muslim. When they said that they were not, he proceeded to pulled out a three-inch folding knife and stabbed one five times and stabbed the other as he tried to stop the attack. Thomas then fled. Both victims are in their 50s and did not suffer life-threatening wounds.
Thomas was arrested soon after the attack and the police found the weapon and another knife as well as a stash of marijuana. He has been charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder, one count of carrying a dangerous weapon, and one count of possession of a controlled substance.
The crime is being investigated as a hate crime and his bond was set at $1 million. What is fascinating is that, if religion was the motivating factor in the alleged crime, Thomas would seen more interested in the violence than the precepts of the faith.
After reading about this attack, I went on some sites to check out the rules on drug use, which are prohibited as are intoxicants generally. Indeed, Jabir stated that Muhammad insisted, “Whosoever drinks wine, whip him. If he repeats it for the fourth time, kill him.” What is interesting is that if he can claim medicinal marijuana he might be excused. Medieval Islamic rules permitted the use of Hashish for medical purposes. The 14th century Islamic scholar Az-Zarkashi wrote of “the permissibility of its use for medical purposes if it is established that it is beneficial.” Michigan has a medical marijuana law but if this was medicinal, he would not have been charged with possession.
The result is not surprising: Thomas appears a really really bad example of the faith much like Islamic State fighters.
Source: Washington Post