Dubai: Friends of the man who stabbed an imam at the American University of Sharjah are surprised and shocked by his action.
AUS alumni Ahmad Abu Gosh, who claims to be a close friend of the attacker Ahmad Al Far, told Gulf News that a group of friend will launch a campaign to collect letters of support for Al Far.
Abugosh said Al Far is on medication to treat bipolar disorder.
Sharjah Police have not confirmed that Al Far had such a condition, but said in an earlier statement that the suspect is believed to have some mental illness. They also claimed to have found found medication in Al Far’s bag.
“I know that this is not who he is, Ahmad is a very nice person who would never hurt a fly. He stopped his medication because he felt it was restraining him and making him a different personm,” Abu Gosh said on Thursday.
He added that he and Al Far’s family were not aware that he had stopped his medication.
“I don’t know why he targeted the imam, but I truly believe that it was not planned. If you meet him when he is on medication, he is a completely normal person, who is optimistic. You will never think that he has any problems,” Abu Gosh added.
Dr Saliha Afridi, a clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia, explained that some symptoms related to bipolar disorder might drive a person to unconventional behaviour.
“There are two types: Bipolar I and Bipolar II. The first type causes the patient to shift between mania and depression. The manic state causes the patient to have racing thoughts, restlessness, sleepless nights and take impulsive decisions while the depressed state causes the patient to be the opposite; they don’t have energy to do anything. Bipolar II is similar to the first one, but is less intense,” she added.
Afridi said that if, in fact, Al Far was having a bipolar episode, he was in a manic state when he attacked the imam.
“However when patients take medication they can lead a normal life,” she said.
Al Far is currently undertreatment.
Abu Gosh said: “Many people are posting mean messages on Facebook and Twitter. I believe people shouldn’t be judgemental because they don’t know what he went through. We are collecting anonymous letters in order to show Al Far that people do support him.”
