Atta 's father , Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta , a retired lawyer in Egypt , vehemently rejected allegations his son was involved in the September 11 attacks , and instead accused the Mossad and the United States government of having a hand in framing his son . Atta Sr. rejected media reports that stated his son was drinking wildly , and instead described his son as a quiet boy uninvolved with politics , shy and devoted to studying architecture . The elder Mr. Atta said he had spoken with Mohamed by phone the day after on September 12 , 2001 . He held interviews with the German news magazine '' Bild am Sonntag '' in late 2002 , saying his son was alive and hiding in fear for his life , and that American Christians were responsible for the attacks . In a subsequent interview in 2005 , Atta Sr. stated , " My son is gone . He is now with God . The Mossad killed him . " There are multiple , conflicting explanations for Atta 's behavior and motivation . Political psychologist Jerrold Post has suggested that Atta and his fellow hijackers were just following orders from al-Qaeda leadership , " and whatever their destructive , charismatic leader Osama bin Laden said was the right thing to do for the sake of the cause was what they would do . " In turn , political scientist , Robert Pape , has claimed that Atta was motivated by his commitment to the political cause , that he was psychologically normal , and that he was " not readily characterized as depressed , not unable to enjoy life , not detached from friends and society . " By contrast , criminal justice professor , Adam Lankford , has found evidence that indicated Atta was suicidal , and that his struggles with social isolation , depression , guilt , shame , hopelessness , and rage were extraordinarily similar to the struggles of those who commit conventional suicide and murder-suicide . By this view , Atta 's political and religious beliefs affected the method of his suicide and his choice of target , but they were not the underlying causes of his behavior
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Mohamed Atta