Islamic Society of Boston

Transcription

Islamic Society of Boston
THE CASE AGAINST THE
ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF BOSTON
AMERICANS FOR PEACE AND TOLERANCE
BOSTON
PEACEANDTOLERANCE.ORG
MUSLIMS FACING TOMORROW
TORONTO
MUSLIMSFACINGTOMORROW.COM
The Case Against the
Islamic Society of Boston
APRIL 2016
AMERICANS FOR PEACE AND TOLERANCE
Email: apt@peaceandtolerance.org
Tel: (617) 202-3004
COPYRIGHT © AMERICANS FOR PEACE AND TOLERANCE, 2016
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
6
ORIGINS
8
PEOPLE
12
Abdulrahman Alamoudi, ISB Founder
12
Osama Kandil, ISB Trustee
14
Walid Fitaihi, ISB Treasurer
15
Yusuf Al Qaradawi, Spiritual Leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and ISB Trustee
Muhammad Attawia, ISB Trustee
15
16
Jamal Badawi, ISB Trustee
17
Mustafa Abu Sway, ISB President 1990-1992
18
Basyouni Nehela, ISB Imam
19
Hossam Al Jabri, ISB Trustee
19
Mahdi Bray, ISB PR officer
20
Muhammad Ali Salaam, ISB leader and BRA official
20
Suhaib Webb, Imam
21
TERRORISM
23
TERROR FINANCE
26
ISB IDEOLOGY
31
Da’wah
31
Tarbiya
Misogyny
32
34
Anti-Semitism
35
Homophobia
35
Extremists at the Pulpit
36
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 5
INTRODUCTION
At this fraught time in the history of Islamist radicalism, extremism and terrorism, it is
important that public authorities, especially including police and security services, not
inadvertently confer legitimacy and credibility on organizations and individuals whose
histories and associations raise legitimate questions about their ideological background,
links and agendas. These groups have a history of falsely presenting themselves as the only legitimate voice of
ordinary Muslims and that fact is enough to ring alarm bells because no one Muslim
organization speaks for all of us.
As shown in the case of the Islamic Society of Boston, one way in which authorities can
unintentionally assist in building the credibility of undeserving, extremist groups and
individuals is by sponsoring and attending their meetings and events. Meanwhile, the silent
majority – genuinely moderate Muslims – are left without a voice. Given the importance of ensuring that official public outreach to Muslim communities
involve only reliable representatives of moderate Islam – especially as models for Muslim
youth – the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow believes that media and political leaders
must not give legitimacy to organizations and groups that have any subversive links to
terrorism.
We consider ourselves the front line warriors in the battle against a global jihadist
insurgency and we seek to create the necessary understanding of the issues by our policy
makers and legal systems. Our work is made much more difficult if we have to constantly
monitor the subversive agendas of Islamist groups who have learned to charm politicians in
front of the cameras while preaching hate and radicalism from behind the pulpit.
Raheel Raza
President, Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow
6 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Islamic Society of Boston (ISB), one of New England’s most prominent religious institutions, has
long benefitted from the support of Massachusetts’s political, cultural, religious and media elite. ISB
officials have advised the Massachusetts governor, enjoyed the support of Boston’s mayors, spoken
at Boston’s largest synagogue, and been made the subject of admiring pieces in the Boston Globe.
This support is bewildering when one considers the wealth of evidence linking the ISB to the Muslim
Brotherhood and other extremist groups, its hosting of hate preachers, and its teaching of a radical
curriculum within the American Muslim community.
Clear evidence of this and more is based on years of research by counter-extremist groups and the
fallout from an abortive high-profile lawsuit against critics of the ISB’s terror links. This dossier
serves to document much of what we know about the ISB’s extremist links. It paints a troubling
picture, and should remind those in the state and federal government who think the ISB might make
a suitable interfaith or intercultural partner that they are sorely and dangerously wrong.
What we do know about the ISB is troubling and incontrovertible. The ISB was established as a key
component of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. Its founder, Abdulrahman Alamoudi, has been named
by the federal government as a key Al Qaeda operative and imprisoned for almost two decades. Other
trustees have included senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders who have repeatedly used antidemocratic, pro-terror and anti-Semitic rhetoric.
Today, the ISB remains closely connected with Muslim Brotherhood organizations, but also works
with other Islamist and Salafist groups, and continues to promote preachers from across the Islamist
spectrum.
Twelve leaders, donors and worshippers at the ISB’s two mosques have been either charged with
terrorism offenses, killed, deported or fugitives from the law. The surviving Boston marathon
bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who attended the ISB, used his last hours hiding from police to scribble
extremist rhetoric eerily similar to Islamist tracts found to be part of a Muslim Brotherhood training
program, named Tarbiya, a version of which is taught at the ISB.
The ISB has been financed by organizations and individuals based across the Middle East, from
Saudi Arabia to Kuwait, some of which are closely connected with Al Qaeda and the Muslim
Brotherhood. The ISB itself also gave $14,000 to the Holy Land Foundation, a terror-financing
charity that was shut down in 2001, with its leaders convicted in a high-profile trial, during which
several ISB trustees were implicated.
If there was once any suspicion that the ISB was simply misguided or merely included a few bad
apples, that notion was disproved long ago. The ISB is institutionally and ideologically extreme. Its
links to radical Islamism are indisputable, and its imams and preachers continue to peddle hate. The
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 7
ISB is not just a mosque; it is a key institution of American Islamism – or, as the writer Joy Brighton
labels it: Sharia-ism.
Perhaps one of the greatest injustices in the tale of the ISB has been the effect of the ISB’s extremist
agenda on Boston’s historically moderate Muslim community. Today, those Boston Muslims who
oppose the extremist ideals of the ISB and its affiliates have been intimidated into silence. Their
platform was taken away by the ISB, which sought to impose its own strain of Islamism upon
American Islam, facilitated by naively eager politicians keen to latch on to any Muslim voice.
For as long as Massachusetts’ media and political elite continue to empower the ISB, Islamism and
its violent ideas will continue to sow hatred for non-Muslims, foment extremist plots and
marginalize those among Boston’s Muslims who oppose such dangerous bigotry.
8 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
ORIGINS
The Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) was established in 1981 and officially incorporated in 1982 1 by
members of Muslim Students Associations based at Harvard University, Boston University, MIT,
Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute, Suffolk University, and Tufts University. 2
Until 2004, the ISB’s constitution declared: “The organization shall be affiliated with the Islamic
Society of North America, the Muslim Arab Youth Association, the North American Islamic Trust and
the Muslim Student Association.” 3 During the 2007 terror financing trial of the Holy Land
Foundation, these four organizations would be uncovered as the building blocks of the American
Muslim Brotherhood. 4
Muslim Student Associations (MSAs) across the United States were Sharia-ist groups founded and
managed by Muslim Brotherhood activists who came to study in the US in the 1960s. These MSAs
functioned as the organizational beachheads of Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] activism in the U.S.
and are the predecessors to most of today’s American Islamist bodies. 5
During the 1980s, the leaders of the MSAs established Islamic community centers. This process was
centrally directed by the Muslim Brotherhood leadership. In a 1982 talk at a national Muslim
Brotherhood conference, which was secretly recorded by the FBI and submitted as evidence during
the Holy Land Foundation terror financing trial, US Muslim Brotherhood leader Zeid al Noman,
described the process:
“The reality of the Movement is that it is a students’ Movement. What the movement
should be is to become a Movement for the residents…In the years ’80 and ’81, we started
to work on a new kind of plan which is planning at the regions’ level…The first change
was moving the Ikhwans from working at the branches of the MSA and the [Muslim Arab
Youth] Association as branches whose activities are based on universities…to what is
called at that time ‘The Muslim House’…a house near the university with Ikhwans living
in a part of it and the rest of it becoming a mosque…We notice that during the past two or
three years that many of the students’ gathering started to establish Islamic centers. This
Islamic Society of Boston, Articles of Organization, 1982, Commonwealth of Massachusetts: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/
uploads/sites/4/2016/05/ISB-Articles-of-Organization.pdf
1
“Islamic Society of Boston,” The Pluralism Project at Harvard University, 2009, accessed on 10/18/15: http://www.pluralism.org/profiles/view/
69268
2
Islamic Society of Boston, “The Society's Constitution”: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/ISB-OriginalConstitution.pdf
3
"An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America,” 1991, presented as Government Exhibit 003-0085,
U.S. v. HLF, et al., 2006. http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Muslim-Brotherhood-General-Strategic-Goalfor-North-America.pdf
4
"General Strategic Goal for North Americaa,” 1991, presented as Government Exhibit 003-0003, U.S. v. HLF, et al., 2006. http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Muslim-Brotherhood-History-in-the-US-1991.pdf
5
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 9
was also another healthy move for settling the Dawa’a, as the presence of the Islamic
center means the presence of residents…means permanent foundations in these cities.” 6
As with the MSAs, the Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA) was also active in Boston during the
1980s. When MAYA got around to officially incorporating as an Indiana corporation in 1993, ISB
trustee Osama Kandil, along with Osama Bin Laden’s extremist nephew, was one of its incorporating
directors. 7 According to the Muslim Brotherhood’s 1991 internal report on the history and future of
the Muslim Brotherhood in America:
“Muslim Arab Youth Association and its work centered around the Muslim Students
coming to America from all the Arab countries. It developed significantly during the
eighties and the Ikhwan play a fundamental role in leading and directing it at the
leadership and the grassroots levels.” 8
According to the FBI, MAYA’s leaders, “played pivotal roles in building HAMAS’s infrastructure
in the United States.” The FBI claims that "MAYA served as a conduit for money to HAMAS . . .
and served as a forum where HAMAS could promote its ideology and recruit new members.” 9
While the MSAs developed these regional Islamic centers, it also established the Islamic Society of
North America (ISNA), a national body to manage its expansion. According to the same 1991 internal
report:
“In 1980, the Muslim Students [Association] was developed into the Islamic Society in
North America (ISNA) to include all the Muslim congregation from immigrants and
citizens, and to be a nucleus for the Islamic Movement in North America.” 10
Today, the ISB is still closely associated with these parent Muslim Brotherhood organizations. The
ISB continued to maintain its tax exempt status under the umbrella of ISNA. 11 And ISB financial
records indicate that the ISB actively funded several local MSAs between 2000 and 2003 – giving the
MSA of UMass Lowell $800, the Harvard Islamic Society $1500, the MIT MSA $3000, and the
Islamic Society of Northeastern University a total of $9,816. 12 In 2000, the ISB donated $1,500 to
the Muslim Arab Youth Association. 13
6
"Ikhwan in America. Zeid," Investigative Project, accessed on 10/20/15: http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/26.pdf
Muslim Arab Youth Association, Articles of Organization, 1993, Indiana: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/
4/2016/05/MAYA-Articles-of-Incorporation.pdf
7
“Shura Council Report on the future of the Group,” Investigative Project, accessed on 10/20/15: http://www.investigativeproject.org/document/
21-shura-council-report-on-the-future-of-the-group
8
FBI Declaration in the Matter of Nabil Sadoun, Investigative Project, accessed on 01/23/16: http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/
misc/846.pdf
9
“Shura Council Report on the future of the Group,” Investigative Project, accessed on 10/20/15: http://www.investigativeproject.org/document/
21-shura-council-report-on-the-future-of-the-group
10
John Kennedy. "Internal Revenue Service Letter: ISB Exemption under ISNA Umbrella." Letter to Boston Herald. 3 November 2003: http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/ISB-ISNA-Tax-Exempt-Group-Determination.pdf
11
Islamic Society of Boston, Check for “MSA UMASS - Lowell”: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/ISBDonation-to-UMass-Lowell.pdf; Islamic Society of Boston, Check for “Event at Harvard with Jamal Badawi”: http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/ISB-Donations-to-Harvard-Islamic-Society.pdf; Islamic Society of Boston,
Check for “MIT MSA”: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/ISB-Donation-to-MIT-Muslim-StudentsAssociation.pdf; Islamic Society of Boston, Check for “Islamic Society of North Eastern Univ”: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/
uploads/sites/4/2016/05/ISB-Donations-to-Islamic-Society-of-Northeastern.pdf
12
Islamic Society of Boston, Check for “MAYA”: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/ISB-Donation-toMAYA.pdf
13
10 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
In the decades following the establishment of the ISB, a number of new Islamist bodies associated
with the ISB came to the fore. By 2008, control of the ISB’s mosque in Roxbury was handed over to
the Muslim American Society (MAS National), which federal prosecutors have labelled the “overt
arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America.” 14 ISB and Muslim American Society officials assumed
positions in each other’s organizations. 15
In July 2002, notes from a meeting of the ISB Board of trustees reported the establishment of a close
working relationship with the MAS: “[T]he relationship is a marriage and presently it is in the
engagement phase. MAS [National] shall run the day-to-day operations while the [ISB Trust Board of
Trustees] should be entrusted to oversee security and finance.” 16
In 2004, Walid Salaam, the then-Director of the ISB’s Cambridge mosque, and its Imam, Basyouni
Nehela, incorporated MAS Boston. 17 By 2008, MAS Boston had assumed responsibility of the ISBCC
- the ISB’s Roxbury-based mosque and cultural center. The previous managers, the ISB Trust, have
continued to own the land. Today, the ISBCC website states: “ISBCC is currently being managed
administratively by MAS-Boston. As such, the board members of MAS-Boston are your board
members!” 18
The leadership of the ISB Trust, and ISBCC Mosque/MAS Boston are closely intertwined:
ISB Trust
MAS Boston/ISBCC
Mosque
Hassan Al Alami
Trustee
President
Jamal Badawi
Trustee
Sameh El Difrawi
Trustee
Mohammad Attawia
Former Trustee
MAS National
Founder
Founding Director
Former Director
A significant connection between the ISB and terrorism is PTech, a small software company in Boston. In
2002, PTech was raided by counter-terrorism agents. PTech had come to the attention of the authorities
in the months following the 9/11 attacks, when PTech’s investor, Yassin Al Qadi, was identified by the
United States government as one of Osama bin Laden's “chief money launderers.” 19 Further
investigation found that a considerable number of PTech’s other staff and directors were affiliated
with Hamas and Al Qaeda networks. 20
14
United States of America v. Sabri Benkahla, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 07-4778.
"Minutes of ISB BOT Annual Meeting in Boston, July 2-4, 2002”, Americans for Peace and Tolerance website, accessed 10/22/15: http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/09/ISB-BoT-Annual-Meeting-Minutes-July-2002.pdf
15
Islamic Society of Boston, Board of Trustees Annual Meeting Minutes, July 2002: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/
sites/4/2016/05/Exhibit-9-ISB-BoT-Annual-Meeting-Minutes-July-2002.pdf
16
MAS Boston Society, Articles of Organization, 2004, Commonwealth of Massachusetts: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/
sites/4/2016/05/Exhibit-10-MAS-Boston-Articles-of-Organization.pdf
17
Screenshot of ISBCC website, accessed 3/5/16: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Exhibit-7-ISBCCBoard-Members.pdf
18
Jeff Johnson, “Tearful FBI Agent Apologizes To Sept. 11 Families and Victims,” CNS News, 7 July 2008, accessed 5/20/16: http://cnsnews.com/
news/article/tearful-fbi-agent-apologizes-sept-11-families-and-victims-0
19
Rachel Ehrenfeld, “The Business of Terror,” Frontpage Magazine, 17 June 2005, accessed 5/20/16: http://archive.frontpagemag.com/
readArticle.aspx?ARTID=8245
20
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 11
A number of prosecutions followed. In 2005, PTech board member Suliman Buheiri was convicted
for his dealings with Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook. In 2008, PTech employee Muhamed
Mubayyid was convicted for his role in Care International, an Al Qaeda-linked group used as “a front
for the collection of donations…used to support violent jihadists.” 21
Then, in 2009, PTech founder Oussama Ziade was indicted on charges of dealing in the property of a
designated terrorist, failing to block the terrorist's assets and making false statements to federal
investigators. 22 He is currently a fugitive.
Ziade was a donor to the ISB. 23 Quite a few staff and directors of PTech, in fact, were closely
intertwined with the ISB. 24 Ziade’s co-founder of PTech, Abdulrahman Alamoudi, also originally
founded the ISB. Alamoudi is currently serving a jail sentence for his role in the attempted
assassination of a Saudi Crown Prince. 25
Other ISB connections include: Hossam Al Jabri, one of PTech’s software engineers, who is currently
a board member of the ISB’s Roxbury mosque; Saladin Ali-Salaam, a PTech network administrator
and the son of ISB leader Muhammad Ali-Salaam; and Suheil Laher, PTech’s “chief architect” and,
today, a frequent speaker at the ISB. 26
Other ISB figures who were not directly involved in PTech nevertheless lent their support. Basyouni
Nehela, an imam at the ISB, posted a message on the ISB’s website encouraging Muslims to support
PTech against their ‘oppressors.’ 27
As an institution, the ISB is evidently closely connected with the Muslim Brotherhood. Who, then,
are the key people involved?
“Former Officers of a Muslim Charity, Care International, Inc., Convicted,” Department of Justice, 11 January 2008, accessed 5/20/16: https://
www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2008/January/08_nsd_021.html
21
“Ptech Officials Indicted for Allegedly Concealing Terror Financier's Assets,” IPT News, 16 July 2009, accessed 5/20/16: http://
www.investigativeproject.org/1094/ptech-officials-indicted-for-allegedly-concealing
22
23
Oussama Ziade, Check for the ISBCC: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Ziade-Checks.pdf
David Bernstein, “The PTech connection?,” Boston Phoenix, 24 November 2008, accessed 5/20/16: http://thephoenix.com/boston/news/
72381-ptech-connection/
24
Thomas Crampton, “Muslim Advocate Sentenced to 23 Years for Libyan Dealings,” New York Times, 16 October 2004, accessed 5/20/16: http://
www.nytimes.com/2004/10/16/politics/muslim-advocate-sentenced-to-23-years-for-libyan-dealings.html?_r=0
25
“Friday Halaqah with Sh. Suheil Laher,” Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, 27 February 2013, accessed on 20/10/15: http://isbcc.org/
friday-halaqah-with-sh-suheil-laher/
26
Jonathan Wells, Jack Meyers, Maggie Mulvihill and Kevin Wisniewski, “Under suspicion: Hub mosque leader tied to radical groups,” Boston
Herald, 29 October 2003; Screenshot of Islamic Society of Boston website, 12 December 2002: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/
uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Nehelas-statement-on-Ptech.pdf
27
12 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
PEOPLE
Credit: Pluralism Project, Harvard University
Abdulrahman Alamoudi, ISB Founder
Abdulrahman Alamoudi, along with other students from Muslim Student Associations in
Massachusetts, founded the ISB in 1982, and incorporated its legal entity in 1982. 28
Some twenty years later, in 2004, Alamoudi pled guilty in a U.S. court to conspiring with the Libyan
regime to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. 29
The following year, the federal government stated that the “arrest of Alamoudi was a severe blow to
al Qaida, as Alamoudi had a close relationship with al Qaida and had raised money for al Qaida in
the United States.” Alamoudi, the U.S. government revealed, had given $1 million to the Al Qaeda
Islamic Society of Boston, Articles of Organization, 1982, Commonwealth of Massachusetts: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/
uploads/sites/4/2016/05/ISB-Articles-of-Organization.pdf
28
Thomas Crampton, “Muslim Advocate Sentenced to 23 Years for Libyan Dealings,” New York Times, 16 October 2004, accessed 5/20/16: http://
www.nytimes.com/2004/10/16/politics/muslim-advocate-sentenced-to-23-years-for-libyan-dealings.html?_r=0
29
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 13
operative Saad Al Faqih and his British-based organization, the Movement for Islamic Reform in
Arabia. 30
Alamoudi’s terrorism conviction should not have been a surprise. During the 1990s, he had
established and sat on the boards of a number of Hamas-linked organizations, such as the American
Muslim Council, as well as the Success Foundation and the Happy Hearts Trust, which funded the
Humanitarian Relief Association, a prominent Hamas front group. 31
Alamoudi also worked, alongside Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook, for the
United Association for Studies and Research, which, in 2000, federal
prosecutors revealed to be a component of a Hamas fundraising network in the
U.S.. 32 In 2001, Alamoudi attended a conference in Beirut with leaders of the
terror groups Al Qaeda, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. And in 2003,
federal court documents alleged Alamoudi funneled tens of thousands of
dollars to Hamas through other organizations under his control. 33
In the years after founding the ISB, Alamoudi was certainly not shy about his
terror connections. At a rally in Washington D.C., Alamoudi told the crowd:
“We are all supporters of Hamas, Allahu Akbar … I am also a supporter of
Hezbollah.” 34
The “arrest of
Alamoudi was a
severe blow to al
Qaida, as Alamoudi
had a close
relationship with al
Qaida and had
raised money for al
Qaida in the United
States.”
Despite Alamoudi’s open support for terrorist groups, and contrary to its claims to have broken ties
with him in the 1990s, the ISB paid for Alamoudi to travel to Boston and speak to the city’s Muslim
community less than a month after the D.C. rally. 35
Alamoudi believed that the Islamist struggle in America, however, should eschew terrorist violence
in favor of political infiltration and social engineering – in 1996, he told a crowd of Hamas
supporters: “This country will become a Muslim country. And I think if we outside this country we
can say ‘oh, Allah destroy America’, but once we are here, our mission in this country is to change it.
… There is nowhere for Muslims to be violent in America, nowhere at all. We have other means to do
it. You can be violent anywhere else but in America.” 36 The ISB, it seems, is a manifestation of this
approach.
Alamoudi was also a founder of PTech, a Massachusetts company funded by Yassin Al Qadi, who was
identified by the United States government as one of Osama bin Laden's “chief money launderers.” 37
“Treasury Designates MIRA for Support to Al Qaida,” JS-2632, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 14 July 2005, accessed 5/21/16: https://
www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/js2632.aspx
30
31
Matthew Levitt, Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), 187-188
Judith Miller, “Suit Accuses Islamic Charities Of Fund-Raising for Terrorism,” New York Times, 13 May 2000, accessed 5/21/16: http://
www.nytimes.com/2000/05/13/us/suit-accuses-islamic-charities-of-fund-raising-for-terrorism.html
32
33
United States of America v. Abdurahman Muhammad Alamoudi, United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, 30 September 2003
34
Mahdi Bray at Lafayette Park Rally, 28 October 2000, YouTube, accessed on 10/22/15: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBIcfigtbEU
Islamic Society of Boston, Check to Lightstar Travel for Alamoudi: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/
ISB-Check-to-LightStar-Travel-for-Alamoudi.pdf
35
36
Lorenzo Vidino, The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010), 216
Jeff Johnson, “Tearful FBI Agent Apologizes To Sept. 11 Families and Victims,” CNS News, 7 July 2008, accessed 5/20/16: http://
cnsnews.com/news/article/tearful-fbi-agent-apologizes-sept-11-families-and-victims-0
37
14 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
Osama Kandil, ISB Trustee
Long-serving ISB trustee Osama Kandil also founded the Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA),
along with Osama Bin Laden’s nephew, Abdullah Bin Laden. 38 In 1991, a Muslim Brotherhood
document identified MAYA as one of its front groups. 39 During its heyday in the late 1980s and 1990s,
MAYA’s organized conferences for young Islamists in America, and brought prominent Middle Eastern
terrorists to incite, recruit, and fundraise among them.
At a 1988 MAYA conference in Oklahoma, Osama Bin Laden’s mentor Abdullah Azzam told the audience
of American Muslims: “It has been revealed that you should perform Jihad with your lives and your
wealth.” 40 The current global leader of Hamas, Khalid Meshaal, was the keynote speaker at MAYA’s 1992
convention. In 1995, MAYA invited the Hamas military leader, Sheikh Muhammad Siyam, to address
one of its conferences. Siyam told the crowd: “Finish off the Israelis. Kill them all. Exterminate them.
No peace ever.” 41
By 2004, MAYA had been added to a U.S. government list of Islamic organizations that supported
terror. 42 That same year, the government named Kandil as a member of the SAFA Group, a network
of businesses and charities operating out of Virginia, accused of laundering funds for terrorist
groups. 43
In addition, Kandil, along with Abdulrahman Alamoudi and Osama Bin Laden’s nephew Abdullah
Bin Laden, was a director of an organization named Tabiah International, 44 which federal
prosecutors linked to Al Qaeda. 45
Osama Kandil was the original chairman of the board of trustees of the ISB. He remained as such for
over a decade. In 2004, following a media furor over the ISB’s extremist connections, the Boston
Globe reported that Kandil and his colleagues had been replaced by a “new leadership,” which would
work as a “moderating influence” and which was “free of extremist influences.” 46
This new face of the ISB was a facade – land registry records reveal that Kandil remains one of the
legal owners of the ISB’s mosques up until the present time. 47
Muslim Arab Youth Association, Articles of Organization, 1993, Indiana: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/
4/2016/05/MAYA-Articles-of-Incorporation.pdf
38
“Shura Council Report on the future of the Group,” Investigative Project, accessed on 10/20/15: http://www.investigativeproject.org/document/
21-shura-council-report-on-the-future-of-the-group
39
40
Steve Emerson, “American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us” (New York, The Free Press, 2002) 127
David Firestone, “F.B.I. Traces Hamas's Plan to Finance Attacks to '93,” New York Times, 6 December 2001, accessed 5/21/16: http://
www.nytimes.com/2001/12/06/international/middleeast/06HOLY.html
41
“Records Sought About Tax-exempt Organizations for Committee’s Terror Finance Probe,” United States Senate Committee on Finance, 14
January 2004
42
Safa Group: Officers and Directors & Their Related Businesses and Organizations, Investigative Proejct, accessed on 10/22/15: http://
www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/890.pdf
43
Taibah International Aid Organization, 2002 Annual Report, Commonwealth of Virginia, 18 November 2002, accessed 5/20/16: http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Taibah-International-2002-Annual-Report.pdf
44
Glenn Simpson, “Report Links Charity To an al Qaeda Front,” Wall Street Journal, 20 September 2002, accessed 5/21/16: http://www.wsj.com/
articles/SB1032477911855657875
45
“A moderating mosque,” Boston Globe, 15 October 2004, accessed 5/21/16: http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/
articles/2004/10/15/a_moderating_mosque/
46
47
"Appointment of Trustee," Islamic Society of Boston Trust, Middlesex, South District, Registry of Deeds, 4 July 2007
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 15
Walid Fitaihi, ISB Treasurer
Walid Fitaihi is a treasurer of the ISB, but he was also an inaugural trustee of the Islamic Society of
Boston Trust, a body established in 1993 to to hold the legal ownership of the land on which the
ISB’s mosques were built.
In 2000, Fitaihi
described Jews
as the
“murderers of
prophets”
In 2000, Fitaihi described Jews as the “murderers of prophets” and claimed that
they would be “scourged” for their “oppression, murder and rape of the
worshippers of Allah.” 48
In 2005, the ISB filed a lawsuit against a number of Boston media and human
rights activists who had exposed the ISB’s extremist connections. The case
dragged on for several years. In 2007, after a Massachusetts judge ruled that
Fitaihi and his fellow trustees must be joined as plaintiffs to the suit and submit
themselves to the discovery process, Fitaihi quickly resigned as a trustee before he would have to
comply. 49 A few months later, the ISB dropped its lawsuit entirely, upon which Fitaihi was suddenly
reappointed as a trustee. 50
According to bank records obtained during the ISB’s failed lawsuit, Fitaihi and his family donated
over $2 million to the ISB. 51
Yusuf Al Qaradawi, Spiritual Leader of the Muslim
Brotherhood and ISB Trustee
Yusuf Al Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the global Muslim
Brotherhood, was one of the original trustees of the ISB, and
remained listed as such on IRS filings until 2000. 52 He was also
listed as an “additional trustee” of the Islamic Society of Boston
Trust. 53
Dean Barnett, “The Islamists Are Coming!” The Weekly Standard, Vol. 12, No. 37, 11 June 2007, accessed 5/21/16: http://
www.weeklystandard.com/the-islamists-are-coming/article/14838;
Also see: Floyd Abrams, “Be Careful What You Sue For,” Wall Street Journal, 6 June 2007, accessed 5/21/16: http://www.wsj.com/articles/
SB118109777647426054
48
“Resignation of Trustee,” Islamic Society of Boston Trust, Middlesex Registry of Deeds, 7 March 2007: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wpcontent/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Walid-Fitaihi-resignation.pdf
49
"Appointment of Trustee," Islamic Society of Boston Trust, Middlesex, South District, Registry of Deeds, 4 July 2007: http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Walid-Fitaihi-reappointment.pdf
50
“Islamic Society of Boston's Saudi Funding Ledger,” Americans for Peace and Tolerance, accessed on 10/22/15: www.scribd.com/doc/257176825/
Islamic-Society-of-Boston-s-Saudi-Funding-Ledger
51
Islamic Society of Boston, Form 990, Internal Revenue Service, 2000: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/
ISB-990-2000.pdf
52
Declaration of Trust, Islamic Society of Boston Trust, Middlesex Registry of Deeds, 30 November 1993, http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wpcontent/uploads/sites/4/2015/09/Qaradawi-ISB-trust-land-records-1993.pdf
53
16 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
The ISB later claimed that the inclusion of Qaradawi as a trustee on its IRS
forms was a “clerical error.” 54 But in 2002, two years after being banned from
entering the United States, Qaradawi was still listed on the ISB website as a
trustee. 55 That same year, Qaradawi produced a fundraising appeal on
videotape for an ISB event. 56
Qaradawi is currently the subject of an Interpol wanted notice, brought after
Egyptian prosecutors charged him with “incitement and assistance to commit
intentional murder.” 57 He has claimed that Hitler was “divine punishment” for
the Jews and has expressed support for suicide bombings. 58
Qaradawi claims
that Hitler was
“divine
punishment” for
the Jews and has
expressed support
for suicide
bombings.
Muhammad Attawia, ISB Trustee
Muhammad Attawia is another original trustee of the ISB Trust. For a long time, among all the ISB
trustees, he was relatively unknown. In 2007, however, the terror financing trial of the Holy Land
Foundation produced a vast cache of Muslim Brotherhood documents detailing the Islamist
movement’s strategies, activities and membership in America.
In particular, Government Exhibit 003-0034 revealed a 1991 Muslim Brotherhood leadership
telephone directory, in which Muhammad Attawia is named as the regional leader of the Muslim
Brotherhood’s New England branch. 59
Attawia was also once the vice-president of the Muslim American Society, 60 which federal
prosecutors have labeled the “overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America.” 61 In 2002, the ISB
established a formal relationship with the Boston branch of the Muslim American Society, which was
put in charge of the ISB’s Roxbury mosque. 62
Attawia is currently a member of the board of Islamic Relief USA, the American branch of a Britishbased Muslim Brotherhood charity, Islamic Relief Worldwide. 63
Dean Barnett, “Mosque Meltdown,” The Weekly Standard, 23 March 2006, accessed 5/20/16: http://www.weeklystandard.com/mosquemeltdown/article/13148
54
Screenshot of ISB website in 2002, Americans for Peace and Tolerance website, accessed on 12/20/15: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wpcontent/uploads/sites/4/2015/12/Qaradawi-ISB-website.png
55
Dean Barnett, “The Islamists Are Coming!” The Weekly Standard, Vol. 12, No. 37, 11 June 2007, accessed 5/21/16: http://
www.weeklystandard.com/the-islamists-are-coming/article/14838
56
57
ALQARADAWI, YOUSF, Interpol website, accessed 10/22/15: http://www.interpol.int/notice/search/wanted/2014-58772
Qaradawi Video Compilation, Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Watch website, accessed 10/22/15: http://www.globalmbwatch.com/
2010/03/20/recommended-viewing-qaradawi-video-compilation/
58
Muslim Brotherhood 1991 Phone Directory, Government exhibit 003-0034, Americans for Peace and Tolerance website, accessed 10/22/15:
http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/09/MB-1991-Phone-Directory.pdf
59
MAS National - Annual Reports, 1998, 2000, and 2004: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/MASNational-Annual-Reports-1998-2000-2004.pdf
60
61
United States of America v. Sabri Benkahla, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 07-4778.
"Minutes of ISB BOT Annual Meeting in Boston, July 2-4, 2002”, Americans for Peace and Tolerance website, accessed 10/22/15: http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/09/ISB-BoT-Annual-Meeting-Minutes-July-2002.pdf
62
Samuel Westrop, “Britain’s Hamas Appeal,” Gatestone Institute, 10 September 2014, accessed 5/20/16: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/
4688/britain-hamas-appeal
63
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 17
One of Islamic Relief’s founding trustees, Essam El-Haddad, became the national security advisor to
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood President, Muhammad Morsi. 64 Islamic Relief’s branches work closely
with extremist preachers and a number of organizations implicated in Al Qaeda terrorism. 65 And in
Gaza, Islamic Relief funds the Al Falah Benevolent Society, which is run by Ramadan Tamboura,
whom the newspaper Ha'aretz describes as a “well-known Hamas figure.” 66 In 2014, the United Arab
Emirates listed Islamic Relief Worldwide as a terrorist organization. 67
In 2014, Israel banned Islamic Relief Worldwide from operating in the West Bank due to its ties to
Hamas. 68 As far back as 2006, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office was warning that “The IRW’s
activities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip are carried out by social welfare organizations
controlled and staffed by Hamas operatives. The intensive activities of these associations are
designed to further Hamas’s ideology among the Palestinian population.” 69
Between 2000 and 2007, the ISB gave $168,331 to Islamic Relief USA. 70 Since 2008, the ISB has
hosted or advertised a number of Islamic Relief USA fundraisers in the Boston area. 71 Former ISBCC
Imam Suhaib Webb claims that he raised $300,000 for Islamic Relief USA in 2014. 72
Jamal Badawi, ISB Trustee
Jamal Badawi, a senior Muslim Brotherhood cleric, was appointed as a
trustee of the ISB in 2007. 73
That same year, Badawi was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in
the Holy Land Foundation terrorism trial for his role in participating in
Hamas “fundraising activitie s on be half of the Holy Land
Eric Trager, Katie Kiraly, Cooper Klose, and Eliot Calhoun, “Who's Who in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood,” The Washington Institute,
September 2012, accessed 5/20/16: http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/whos-who-in-the-muslim-brotherhood
64
“Islamic Relief Continues to Promote Hate Preachers,” Stand for Peace website, 13 June 2013, accessed 10/22/15: http://
standforpeace.org.uk/islamic-relief-continues-to-promote-hate-preachers/
See also: “Islamic Relief Worldwide,” Stand for Peace website, 4 July 2013, accessed 10/22/15: http://standforpeace.org.uk/islamic-reliefworldwide-terror-connections-and-promotion-of-hate-preachers/
65
Avi Issacharoff, “Hamas May Not Be Moderate, but It's Cracking Down on Extremism,” Ha’aretz, 3 December 2009, accessed 5/21/16: http://
www.haaretz.com/hamas-may-not-be-moderate-but-it-s-cracking-down-on-extremism-1.2836
66
“UAE Cabinet approves list of designated terrorist organisations, groups,” Emirates News Agency, 15 November 2014, accessed 01/25/16:
https://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates-international/1395272478814.html
67
“Israel bans UK-based Muslim charity accused of funding Hamas,” Reuters, 19 June 2014, accessed 5/20/16: http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Exhibit-32-Israel-bans-UK-based-Muslim-charity-accused-of-fundingHamas-_-Reuters.pdf
68
“British national arrested for assisting Hamas,” Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 29 May 2006, accessed 5/20/16: http://web.archive.org/
web/20130120194747/http:/www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Terrorism+and+Islamic+Fundamentalism-/British
+national+arrested+for+assisting+Hamas+29-May-2006.htm
69
List of ISB donations to National Islamic Organizations: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/
Exhibit-92-ISB-Finanical-Relationship-with-National-Islamic-Orgs.pdf
70
“Palestine Humanitarian Crisis Emergency Fundraiser,” Islamic Relief flyer, accessed 5/20/16: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wpcontent/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Exhibit-31-gaza_flyer_roxbury.pdf
71
Suhaib Webb, Facebook page (screenshot), accessed 5/20/16: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/
Exhibit-51-Please-donate-to-IRUSA.pdf
72
"Appointment of Trustee," Islamic Society of Boston Trust, Middlesex, South District, Registry of Deeds, 20 February 2007: http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Badawi-appointment-ISB.pdf
73
18 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
Foundation...” 74 Documents uncovered in the trial reveal that Badawi appears in an internal
Brotherhood members’ directory from 1992. 75 He has expressed opposition to democracy, and
describes suicide bombers and Hamas terrorists as freedom fighters and “martyrs” who ought to be
compared to those who fought the Nazis. He also supports the right of men to beat their wives. 76
Mustafa Abu Sway, ISB President 1990-1992
According to his own curriculum vitae, Mustafa Abu Sway was the President of the ISB from
1990-1992. 77 The Israeli government, however, claims that Abu Sway “is known as an activist” in the
terrorist group Hamas. 78 In addition, Abu Sway has written school textbooks for the Palestinian
Authority, in which he explains the “virtues of jihad” and glorifies martyrdom. 79
Hamas’ own website has cited Abu Sway’s work, such as his study of Hamas’
attitude towards Jews, in which Sway appears to argue that Hamas is not
institutionally anti-Semitic but its attitude towards Jews is the unavoidable
product of the Palestinians’ circumstances. 80 The Al Zaytouna Centre, which
published Abu Sway’s study, has previously published a book containing
writings of senior Hamas leaders, which sought to “present Hamas’ perspective
towards political and social reform.” 81 In 2012, Hamas leader Khalid Meshal
thanked the Al Zaytouna Center directly for organizing a conference
for Islamist operatives. During his speech the Center, Meshal reaffirmed his
commitment to “jihad and armed resistance” as the “correct and authentic
means for the liberation of Palestine and the restoration of all rights.” 82
The Israeli
government
claims that Abu
Sway “is known as
an activist” in the
terrorist group
Hamas.
Abu Sway has also served on the board for two Hamas organizations in Jerusalem, the Heritage
Foundation and the Foundation for the Development of Society. 83
Oren Dorell, “Mosque that Boston suspects attended has radical ties,” USA Today, 25 April 2013, accessed 5/21/16:http://www.usatoday.com/
story/news/nation/2013/04/23/boston-mosque-radicals/2101411/
74
1992 Muslim Brotherhood Phone Directory, Government Exhibit 003-0079, U.S. v HLF, et al., accessed 10/22/15: http://
www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/1083.pdf
75
“Jamal Badawi: Enduring Link to ISNA's Radical Past,” Investigative Project website, 8 May 2012, accessed 10/22/15: http://
www.investigativeproject.org/3569/jamal-badawi-enduring-link-to-isna-radical-past; “Wife Beating in Islamic Perspective,” Archive of
IslamOnline.net website, accessed 10/22/15: http://web.archive.org/web/20060323035225/http:/www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?
pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503544256
76
77
“Curriculum Vitae: Dr. Mustafa Abu-Sway,” accessed 10/22/15: http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/abuswaycv.htm
Daniel Pipes & Asaf Romirowsky, “Fulbright's Terrorist Tie,” New York Post, 20 October 2003, accessed 5/21/16: http://www.danielpipes.org/
1287/fulbrights-terrorist-tie
78
Daniel Pipes, “Mustafa Abu Sway, Islamist,” DanielPipes.org website, 4 April 2005, accessed 10/22/15: http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/
2003/11/mustafa-abu-sway-islamist
79
“Refereed Academic Study: Hamas’ Conceptualization of the Other: Its stance towards Judaism, Jews, Zionism, Zionists and Israel,” Hamas
website, 3 October 2014, accessed 10/22/15: http://hamas.ps/en/post/22/refereed-academic-study-hamas
80
“Islamic Resistance Movement-Hamas: Studies of Thought and Experience,” Al Zaytouna Centre website, accessed 10/22/15: http://
www.alzaytouna.net/en/publications/books/151745-islamic-resistance-movement–hamas-studies-of-thought-and-experience.html
81
Khalid Mishaal, “Hamas’ political thought and stances in light of the Arab uprisings,” Middle East Monitor website, accessed 10/22/15:
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/downloads/documents/130319_KhalidMishaal_HamasPoliticalThoughtandStances.pdf
82
Daniel Pipes and Asaf Romirowsky, “Hamas in Florida Classroom,” New York Sun, 27 January 2004, accessed 5/20/16: http://
www.danielpipes.org/1487/hamas-in-florida-classroom
83
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 19
Basyouni Nehela, ISB Imam
Basyouni Nehela is an Imam at the ISB’s Cambridge mosque, as well as a founding director of the
Muslim American Society’s Boston branch. 84
Nehela manages the Muslim Brotherhood’s national Tarbiya program in the United States, a
religious innovation of the Muslim Brotherhood in which students embark on a course of study of
Islamist texts written by pro-terror and anti-Western ideologues. 85
In 2002, Nehela posted a message on the ISB’s website encouraging Muslims to support Ptech, a
company funded by Al Qaeda financier Yassin Al Qadi, who was identified by the United States
government as one of Osama bin Laden's “chief money launderers.” 86 A few weeks before Nehela
posted the message, PTech was raided by federal agents investigating its terrorist links. Nehela
described the investigation as “oppression” and declared that Muslims are “obligated to stand with
the oppressed ones regardless of their religion or origin.” 87 Three of PTech’s members were accused
of terrorism links, of whom two were eventually convicted. 88
Hossam Al Jabri, ISB Trustee
In the late 1990s, Hossam Al Jabri was an ISB representative. 89 He is the former President of the
Boston branch of the Muslim American Society, a Muslim Brotherhood organization; 90 and he is a
current board member of the ISB’s Roxbury mosque and vice-President of MAS Boston. 91
MAS Boston Society, Articles of Organization, 2004, Commonwealth of Massachusetts: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/
sites/4/2016/05/Exhibit-10-MAS-Boston-Articles-of-Organization.pdf
84
“Revealed: Jihadist Lessons at the Boston Marathon Bombers’ Mosque,” Americans for Peace and Tolerance website, accessed 10/22/15:
http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/2015/04/03/revealed-jihadist-lessons-at-the-boston-marathon-bombers-mosque/
85
Jeff Johnson, “Tearful FBI Agent Apologizes To Sept. 11 Families and Victims,” CNS News, 7 July 2008, accessed 5/20/16: http://cnsnews.com/
news/article/tearful-fbi-agent-apologizes-sept-11-families-and-victims-0
86
Screenshot of the ISB website, 12 December 2002: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Nehelasstatement-on-Ptech.pdf; Jonathan Wells, Jack Meyers, Maggie Mulvihill and Kevin Wisniewski, “Under suspicion: Hub mosque leader tied to
radical groups,” Boston Herald, 29 October 2003, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1010353/posts
87
David Bernstein, “The PTech connection?,” Boston Phoenix, 24 November 2008, accessed 5/20/16: http://thephoenix.com/boston/news/
72381-ptech-connection/
88
Elizabeth Dewar, “Islamic Students Celebrate Awareness,” The Harvard Crimson, 3 December 1998, accessed 5/21/16: http://
www.thecrimson.com/article/1998/12/3/islamic-students-celebrate-awareness-pthis-week/
89
Annual Report 2006/2007, Muslim American Society - Boston Chapter: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/
4/2016/05/MASBostonAnnualReport2006-2007.pdf
90
“Your Board Members,” ISBCC website, accessed 5/21/16: http://isbcc.org/your-board-members/; Business Entity Summary: MAS Boston
Society Inc., Corporations Division, Commonwealth of Massachusetts: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/
4/2016/05/MAS-Boston-Business-Entity-Summary-MA-Sec-State.pdf
91
20 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
Furthermore, Jabri was a software engineer at the terror-linked company PTech. While he was
employed there, he donated tens of thousands of dollars to the ISB. 92 Jabri personally donated
money to the Holy Land Foundation, the terror charity shut down by the U.S. government in 2007,
during the period it was sending funds to Hamas. 93
Mahdi Bray, ISB PR officer
The ISB employed Mahdi Bray, the director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, to
lead a PR campaign during the ISB’s lawsuits against counter-extremist campaigners. 94
Bray has a long history of expressing support for terrorist groups and
convicted terrorists. In 2000, Bray appeared with ISB founder
Abdulrahman Alamoudi, later linked to Al Qaeda, at a rally in support
of Hamas and Hezbollah. 95 In 2002, Bray was chairman of a “Support
Committee for Imam Jamil Al-Amin,” an Islamic jihadist who
murdered a police officer. 96 In 2003, Bray condemned the conviction
of Sami Al Arian, a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 97 And in 2005,
Bray expressed support for Ali Al Tamimi, whom a U.S. court found guilty on charges that he
encouraged followers to join the Taliban and fight U.S. troops. 98
Bray was chairman of a
“Support Committee for
Imam Jamil Al-Amin,” a
Islamic jihadist who
murdered a police officer.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s main English-language website has reported that Bray and other leaders
of the Muslim American Society have travelled to Egypt on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood. 99
Muhammad Ali Salaam, ISB leader and BRA official
Muhammad Ali Salaam was a city official tasked with directly overseeing a real estate deal between
the ISB and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), with which the ISB was planning to build
its mosque in Roxbury.
David Bernstein, “The PTech connection?,” Boston Phoenix, 24 November 2008, accessed 5/20/16: http://thephoenix.com/boston/news/
72381-ptech-connection/
92
"HLF Donors - Partial List, presented as Government Exhibit 001-0237, U.S. v. HLF, et al., 2006: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wpcontent/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/HLF-Partial-List-of-Donors.pdf ; “Texas Terrorism Trial Ties Boston Mosque Leaders to Extremist Network,”
KHQ website, accessed 10/22/15: http://www.khq.com/story/9449507/texas-terrorism-trial-ties-boston-mosque-leaders-to-extremist-network
93
Islamic Society of Boston, Check for Mahdi Bray: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/ConsultingCheck-to-Mahdi-Bray.pdf
94
95
“MASterful Lies,” IPT News, 23 October 2007, accessed 10/22/15: http://www.investigativeproject.org/530/masterful-lies
Daniel Pipes, “Jamil Al-Amin Goes to Jail,” DanielPipes.org website, 23 February 2010, accessed 10/22/15: http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/
2002/03/jamil-al-amin-goes-to-jail
96
“TBCJP Statement about Dr. Al-Arian's Arrest,” Free Sami Al-Arian website, 26 February 2003, accessed 10/22/15: http://
www.freesamialarian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=508&Itemid=63
97
Timothy Dwyer, “Prosecution Called 'Overzealous',” The Washington Post, accessed 10/22/15: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
content/article/2005/04/26/AR2005042601548.html
98
99
“Military trials in Egypt?” IkhwanWeb, 2 January 2008, accessed 10/22/15: http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=15117
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 21
Ali Salaam, however, was not an impartial arbiter. While working as the Deputy Director of the BRA,
he was also assuming leadership roles in the ISB. In May 1999, in a letter written on BRA stationery,
Ali Salaam negotiated with a contractor to provide a lower price for the ISB. 100
In the winter of 1999, Ali Salaam took part in an ISB fundraising trip to the Middle East to fundraise
for the mosque project, at the request of ISB trustees. 101 During that same period, Ali Salaam cosigned a letter with ISB trustees sent to the President of Roxbury Community College, upon which
the new ISB mosque was to be built. The letter included a check for the College of $10,000. 102
Ali Salaam also donated $11,690 of his own money to the ISB’s mosque project in Roxbury. 103
There was a flagrant conflict of interest. In February 1999, in a confidential memorandum, Ali
Salaam advised the ISB Board on how to obtain favorable terms from the BRA. Although he is a city
employee, Ali Salaam refers to the City of Boston as “they” and to the ISB as “we.” 104
In March 2000, the Roxbury land was valued by the city at $2,010,966. 105 But a few months later, in
June 2000, the BRA agreed to sell the land for the Roxbury mosque to the ISB for $401,187.50, of
which the ISB was only required to pay a paltry $175,000 in cash and make up the rest in public
benefits. These benefits – which included a series of public lectures, books on Islamic law and the
history of Islam, and maintenance of a nearby park – were never delivered.
Ali Salaam’s son, Saladin Ali-Salaam, worked as a “network administrator,” along with several other
ISB representatives, at PTech, the Massachusetts company linked to Hamas and Al Qaeda. 106
Suhaib Webb, Imam
Suhaib Webb served as the Imam of the ISB’s Roxbury mosque from 2011 to 2014. Webb has claimed
that animosity toward Jews is understandable, believes that eye contact between the sexes is a sin,
and has suggested that homosexuals are cursed. 107 He has described secularism as a “radical, lunatic
ideology.” 108
Muhammad Ali Salaam, Letter to Kaye Lynn Johnson, Americans for Peace and Tolerance website, accessed 10/22/15: http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2009/02/salaam_letter_contractor.pdf
100
Basyouni Nehlah, Letter to Paul McCann, Americans for Peace and Tolerance website, accessed 10/22/15: http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2009/02/ISB_salaam_trip_request.pdf
101
ISB letter to Grace Brown, Americans for Peace and Tolerance website, accessed 10/22/15: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/
uploads/sites/4/2009/02/letter_to_brown.pdf
102
Muhammad Ali Salaam, Checks for Islamic Society of Boston: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/AliSalaam-Checks.pdf
103
Muhammad Ali Salaam, Email to ISB trustees, Americans for Peace and Tolerance website, accessed 10/22/15: http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2009/02/salaam_isb_advice.pdf
104
Muhammad Ali Salaam, Boston Redevelopment Authority, Letter to Robert Fleming, City of Boston Trust Office. 29 March 2000: http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Ali-Salaam-Letter-re-2-Million-Valuation.pdf
105
David Bernstein, “The PTech connection?,” Boston Phoenix, 24 November 2008, accessed 5/20/16: http://thephoenix.com/boston/news/
72381-ptech-connection/
106
“Boston Imam Webb spouts off about Jews,” YouTube, 31 October 2013, accessed 10/22/15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=yvk9YFvV6wM; “Suhaib Webb's Neanderthal Views on Sexuality,” YouTube, 30 October 2013, accessed 10/22/15: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=jXtugus9MfU; “Boston mosque Imam Suhaib Webb says gays are cursed,” YouTube, 25 April 2013, accessed 10/22/15: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaoKv1zRkjA
107
“Boston Imam Suhaib Webb Attacks Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Secularism,” YouTube, 30 October 2013, accessed 10/22/15: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HES6TpiVC-g
108
22 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
In addition, according to FBI surveillance documents, Webb spoke at a dinner in 2001 alongside the
late Al Qaeda leader, Anwar Al Awlaki, to raise money for the legal defense of Jamil Abdullah Al
Amin, who murdered two police officers in Georgia. 109
Abdullah Faaruuq, ISB Imam
Abdullah Faaruuq is an Imam who frequently preaches at the ISB’s
Roxbury mosque. Faaruuq is also the Imam at the Mosque for the
Praising of Allah, where he worked closely with Aafia Siddiqui in the
1990s. 110 Siddiqui later became a prominent Al Qaeda operative, who
was convicted for attempted murder in 2010.
Siddiqui worked with Faaruuq to radicalize the
local Muslim population at prisons in which Faaruuq served as a chaplain.
According to Deborah Scroggins, author of a book on Siddiqui: “Aafia ordered
hundreds of Islamic books in English, usually from Saudi Arabia, and Faaruuq
distributed them to the prisoners he visited. Faaruuq said the books included
works by the famous Egyptian Islamist [and Muslim Brotherhood ideologue]
Sayyid Qutb.” 111
Faaruuq
encouraged
Boston Muslims
to “grab onto the
gun and the
sword.”
In response to Aafia Siddiqui’s arrest, Faaruuq encouraged Boston Muslims to “grab onto the gun
and the sword” to defend her. 112 In addition, at a fundraiser for Siddiqui, Faaruuq said of her arrest
in Afghanistan: “They say she took up a machine gun while they held her captive in the other room
and was ready to attack her captors. What a brave woman she is. And if my mother was in the same
place, she would have taken her West Indian machete and cut her way through those kafirs
[infidels].” 113
Faaruuq is also a supporter of Tarek Mehanna, a terrorist operative convicted on charges including
“conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda” and “conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign
country.” 114
Patrick Howley, “Boston imam shared ties with senior al-Qaida operative,” Daily Caller, 27 June 2013, accessed 10/22/15: http://
dailycaller.com/2013/06/27/dzhokhar-tsarnaevs-imam-shares-ties-with-senior-al-qaeda-operative/
109
“Video Exposes Northeastern University’s Muslim Chaplain as an Islamist Extremist,” Counter-Jihad report, 7 September 2012, accessed
10/22/15: http://counterjihadreport.com/tag/abdullah-faaruuq/
110
Deborah Scroggins, Wanted Women: Faith, Lies & The War on Terror: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali & Aafia Siddiqui, (New York: Harper
Collins, 2012,) 96
111
“Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and the Imam,” YouTube, 28 May 2010, accessed 10/22/15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=qUYIHRRaPmA
112
“Raising Money for ‘Lady Al-Qaida,’” IPT News, 19 December 2011, accessed 10/22/15: http://www.investigativeproject.org/3350/raisingmoney-for-lady-al-qaida
113
Lisa Wangsness and Shelley Murphy, “An imam of fiery words and a fatherly presence,” Boston Globe, 30 August 2015, accessed 5/21/16:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/29/man-prayer-and-protest/h8bWNZoGLZFFOOJSl3IffK/story.html
114
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB |23
TERRORISM
Over the past decade, twelve congregants, supporters, staff and donors of the ISB have been
imprisoned, deported, killed or are on the run.
Abdulrahman Alamoudi – the founder of the ISB and Al Qaeda operative. He
was jailed by an American court in 2004 for conspiring with the Libyan regime to
assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. 115
Yusuf Qaradawi – a former trustee of the ISB and the spiritual leader of the
global Muslim Brotherhood. He is a fugitive after being charged by the Egyptian
government with “incitement and assistance to commit intentional murder.” 116
Aafia Siddiqui – formerly, a regular worshipper at the ISB, now a jailed Al Qaeda
operative. When arrested, Siddiqui was found to be in possession of plans to carry
out large scale attacks on New York. 117
Tarek Mehanna – a worshipper at the ISB who was convicted of attempting to
murder Americans and providing support to Al Qaeda. 118
Thomas Crampton, “Muslim Advocate Sentenced to 23 Years for Libyan Dealings,” New York Times, 16 October 2004, accessed 5/21/16: http://
www.nytimes.com/2004/10/16/politics/muslim-advocate-sentenced-to-23-years-for-libyan-dealings.html;
Also see: “Treasury Designates MIRA for Support to Al Qaida,” JS-2632, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 14 July 2005
115
116
ALQARADAWI, YOUSF, Interpol website, accessed 10/22/15: http://www.interpol.int/notice/search/wanted/2014-58772
Sally Jacobs, “The woman ISIS wanted back,” Boston Globe, 28 December 2014, accessed 5/21/16: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/
2014/12/27/aafia/T1A0evotz4pbEf5U3vfLKJ/story.html
117
“Tarek Mehanna Sentenced in Boston to 17 Years in Prison on Terrorism-Related Charges,” Federal Bureau of Investigation, April 12, 2012,
accessed 5/21/16: https://www.fbi.gov/boston/press-releases/2012/tarek-mehanna-sentenced-in-boston-to-17-years-in-prison-on-terrorismrelated-charges
118
24 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
Ahmad Abousamra – a key official in the Islamic State terror group who is on
the FBI’s ‘Most Wanted’ list. In June 2015, the media reported Abousamra may
have been killed in an airstrike carried out by Iraq forces. Abousamra is the son of
Abdulbadi Abousamra, the vice-president of the Muslim American Society’s Boston
branch, which runs the ISB’s Roxbury mosque. In 2014, the New York Post
reported that Ahmad Abousamra was a “regular worshipper” at the ISB’s
mosques. 119
Rezwan Ferdaus – an Al Qaeda operative convicted in 2012 for attempting to
organize terrorist attacks. Ferdaus was a congregant of the ISB for about six
months. 120
Oussama Ziade – one of the ISB’s donors. In 2009, he was indicted by the FBI
on charges of dealing in the property of a designated terrorist, failing to block the
terrorist's assets and making false statements to federal investigators. He is
currently a fugitive. 121
Hafiz Masood – a former leader of Muslim American Society’s Boston branch,
which runs the ISB’s Roxbury mosque. Hafiz Masood is the brother of Pakistani
terrorist Hafiz Saeed, who masterminded the 2008 Mumbai Massacre, in which
164 people were murdered. The Times of India reports that Hafiz Masood was
raising money and recruiting for his brother’s terrorist group while living in the
Boston area. 122 After being deported by the government for filing a fraudulent visa
application, Hafiz Masood has since become a spokesperson for Jamaat-ud-Dawa,
a branch of his brother’s terrorist group, Lashkar-i-Taiba. 123
Paul Sperry, “Boston bombers’ mosque tied to ISIS,” New York Post, 7 September 2014, accessed 5/21/16: http://nypost.com/2014/09/07/
jihadi-behind-beheading-videos-linked-to-notorious-us-mosque/
119
Scot Yount, “Rezwan Ferdaus Asked to Leave Mosque for Radical Behavior,” NECN, 21 March 2014, accessed 5/21/16: http://www.necn.com/
news/new-england/_NECN__Rezwan_Ferdaus_Asked_to_Leave_Mosque_for_Radical_Behavior_NECN-251574711.html
120
“Former Ptech Officer Arrested for SBA Loan Fraud,” Federal Bureau of Investigation, 15 July 2009, accessed 5/20/16: https://www.fbi.gov/
boston/press-releases/2009/bs071509.htm
121
Indrani Bagchi, “In US, LeT chief's kin raised funds for jihad,” Times of India, 12 January 2009, accessed 5/21/16: http://
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-US-LeT-chiefs-kin-raised-funds-for-jihad/articleshow/3964960.cms
122
Richard Leiby, “Pakistani brothers reflect their country’s contradictions,” Washington Post, 28 October 2012, accessed 5/21/16: https://
www.washingtonpost.com/world/pakistani-brothers-reflect-their-countrys-contradictions/2012/10/28/
f29af3ea-1c52-11e2-8817-41b9a7aaabc7_story.html
123
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB |25
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev – the Boston marathon
bombers. Tamerlan died while attempting to flee from Boston
police. In May 2015, Dzhokhar was sentenced to death by a federal
court for his role in the attacks. Both the Tsarnaev brothers
worshipped at the ISB. 124
Khairullozhon Matanov – a close friend of the Boston marathon bombers. In
June 2015, Matanov was imprisoned for obstructing the authorities’ investigation
of the Boston Marathon bombings. On the night of the bombings, Matanov invited
the Tsarnaev brothers for dinner, and deleted documents and photos from his
computer. 125 Matanov had first met Tamerlan Tsarnaev at the ISB’s Cambridge
mosque.
KI LL ED
Usaama Rahim – a Boston Muslim under round-the-clock surveillance by an
anti-terrorism task force. In June 2015, Rahim was shot and killed by a Boston
police officer and an FBI agent after he lunged at them with a “military knife.” 126
Rahim had worked as a security guard at the ISB, and his brother, Ibrahim Rahim,
is an imam who has frequently spoken at the ISB. 127
Jaweed Kaleem, “Boston Bomber Suspects Had Attended Cambridge Mosque, Officials Say,” Huffington Post, 26 April 2013, accessed
5/21/16: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/20/boston-bombers-mosque-cambridge_n_3125192.html
124
Deborah Feyerick, “Officials wonder why extremists are drawn to Cambridge mosque,” CNN website, 9 September 2014, accessed 10/23/15:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/08/us/cambridge-mosque/
125
Evan Allen, Laura Crimaldi and Lisa Wangsness, “Man shot in Roslindale was under 24-hour surveillance,” Boston Globe, 2 June 2015,
accessed 5/21/16: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/06/02/boston-police-officer-shoots-and-wounds-man-roslindale/
Akg16CkZJa719BLrBGFOdL/story.html
126
Ray Sanchez, Evan Pérez and Shimon Prokupecz, “Source: Man fatally shot by officers in Boston was under terror investigation,” CNN
website, 3 June 2015, accessed 10/23/15: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/02/us/boston-police-shooting/; “Friday Sermon by Imam Ibrahim
Rahim ‘Ihsan: Maintaining awareness of Allah,’” YouTube, 4 April 2014, accessed 10/23/15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=JU40PBR1VJM
127
26 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
TERROR FINANCE
In 2005, the ISB filed lawsuits against a number of media organizations and individuals who had
spent several years exposing the ISB’s extremist links. One of ISB’s complaints to the courts
concerned “false information that the ‘ISB receives funds from Wahabbis and/or Mustlem [sic]
Brotherhood and/or other Saudi/Middle Eastern sources,’ a libel which the Defendants did
subsequently publish.” 128
The ISB’s legal attacks, however, would backfire spectacularly. As the lawsuit continued, and new
defendants were added by the ISB, the discovery process produced the ISB’s bank records, which,
contrary to the ISB’s claims, did in fact show total donations to the ISB of over $8.6 million from
Wahhabi, Gulf and Muslim Brotherhood sources. 129
Between 2000 and 2006, the ISB received:
• $1 million loan from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), which, at the time, was funded by
governments of Saudi Arabia, Iran and Libya. 130 The IDB has a long history of supporting
Palestinian terrorism. In 2001 alone, the IDB transferred $538 million, raised through Saudi
telethons, to support the Palestinian “resistance” and the families of suicide bombers. 131
• $50,000 through Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank (NCB). 132 In 1999, in response to
international pressure, the Saudi government audited the bank. It was chaired at the time by
Osama Bin Laden’s brother-in-law. The audit revealed several millions of dollars had been
diverted to terrorist organizations. Documents made available after 9/11 revealed that this terror
financing continued after the audit. 133
The NCB was founded by the late Saudi financier Khalid Bin Mahfouz, who also established the
Muwafaq Foundation, accused by the U.S. government of being an Al Qaeda fundraising body. 134
The Islamic Society of Boston, et al., v. Boston Herald Inc., et al., Support the Mosque website, accessed 10/23/15: http://
www.supportthemosque.org/files/ISB_Complaint.pdf
128
“Islamic Society of Boston Direct Bank Records Showing $8.6 million in Saudi Funding,” Americans for Peace and Tolerance, accessed
10/23/15: https://www.scribd.com/doc/257241253/islamic-society-of-boston-direct-bank-records-showing-8-6-million-in-saudi-funding
129
“Islamic Society of Boston's Saudi Funding Ledger,” Americans for Peace and Tolerance, accessed on 10/22/15: www.scribd.com/doc/
257176825/Islamic-Society-of-Boston-s-Saudi-Funding-Ledger
130
Caroline Glick, “Exposing the puppetmasters,” Jerusalem Post, 14 January 2011, accessed 5/21/16: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/
Columnists/Column-One-Exposing-the-puppetmasters
131
“Islamic Society of Boston Direct Bank Records Showing $8.6 million in Saudi Funding,” Americans for Peace and Tolerance, accessed
10/23/15: https://www.scribd.com/doc/257241253/islamic-society-of-boston-direct-bank-records-showing-8-6-million-in-saudi-funding
132
Written Testimony of Jean-Charles Brisard, International Expert on Terrorism, Financing Lead Investigator, 911 Lawsuit
Ceo, Jcb Consulting International, Before the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, United States Senate, 22 October 2003,
accessed 10/23/15: http://www.banking.senate.gov/public/_files/brisard.pdf
133
Mark Hosenball, “Terror Watch: Paying For Terror,” Newsweek, 11 May 2004, accessed 5/21/16: http://www.newsweek.com/terror-watchpaying-terror-127743
134
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 27
Mahfouz funded the Muwafaq Foundation with $30 million of his own money. 135 The director of
Muwafaq, in fact, was Yassin Al Qadi, who was identified by the United States government as one
of Osama bin Laden's “chief money launderers.” 136 Al Qadi also funded PTech, the terror-linked
Boston company at which several ISB officials and associates were involved.
• $50,000 from Ahmed Salem Bin Mahfouz, the brother of Khalid Bin Mahfouz. A French
parliamentary report claims that one subsidiary of Sedco, a company owned by the Mahfouz
family, is “suspected by the US of having made donations to Osama Bin Laden.” 137 Walid Fitaihi,
the ISB’s former trustee, is a regular speaker at Sedco conferences. 138
Ahmed Mahfouz also founded the International Development Foundation, which the same French
report also claims had “points of contact” with Al Qaeda.
135
Nathan Vardi, “Sins of the Father?” Forbes, 18 March 2002, accessed 10/23/15: http://www.forbes.com/global/2002/0318/047.html
Jeff Johnson, “Tearful FBI Agent Apologizes To Sept. 11 Families and Victims,” CNS News, 7 July 2008, accessed 5/20/16: http://
cnsnews.com/news/article/tearful-fbi-agent-apologizes-sept-11-families-and-victims-0
136
National Report on the obstacles to the control and suppression of financial crime and laundering of capital in Europe, 11th Legislature of the
National Assembly, accessed 10/23/15: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/legislatures/11/pdf/rap-info/i2311-5.pdf
137
138
“Multaqa SEDCO 2014: Dr. Walid Fitaihi” YouTube, accessed 10/23/15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY-9ys9uEJc
28 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
• $6,450 from Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, whom Zacarias Moussaoui, the 9/11 terrorist, has
named, during sworn testimony, as an Al Qaeda donor. 139
• $1,458.56 from Lajnat al Dawa al Islamia, a charity connected to the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood
and which, in 2004, the U.S. Government designated as a terrorist entity. 140
Scott Shane, “Moussaoui Calls Saudi Princes Patrons of Al Qaeda,” New York Times, 3 February 2015, accessed 5/21/16: http://
www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/us/zacarias-moussaoui-calls-saudi-princes-patrons-of-al-qaeda.html?_r=0
139
Additional Background Information on Charities Designated Under Executive Order 13224, U.S. Treasury Department, accessed 10/23/15:
http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/terrorist-illicit-finance/Pages/protecting-charities_execorder_13224-i.aspx
140
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 29
In addition to this incoming money, the ISB also gave money to terror-linked organizations. The ISB
granted:
• $14,907 to the Benevolence International Foundation, which later, in 2002, the US government
designated as a “financier of terrorism.” 141
The U.S. Treasury claims that the Foundation’s chief executive, Enaam Arnaout, had a “close
relationship” with Bin Laden, and that “Various documents also established that Arnaout worked
with others – including members of al Qaida – to purchase rockets, mortars, rifles, and offensive
and defensive bombs, and to distribute them to various mujahideen camps, including camps
operated by al Qaida.” 142
• $50,728 to LIFE for Relief and Development. In 2006, LIFE offices were raided by FBI agents.
Terrorism investigators have claimed that LIFE’s staff are involved with the Iraqi Islamic Party, a
branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. 143
LIFE’s PR coordinator, Muthanna Al Hanooti, is the son of the late Muslim Brotherhood leader,
Mohammed Al Hanooti. In 2011, Muthanna Al Hanooti was found guilty of working with Saddam
Hussein’s Iraqi Intelligence Services.
Benevolence International Foundation 990 form, 1996, Americans for Peace and Tolerance, accessed 10/23/15: https://www.scribd.com/doc/
283145975/Benevolence-International-Foundation-990-form-1996
141
“Treasury Designates Benevolence International Foundation and Related Entities as Financiers of Terrorism,” U.S. Treasury Department, 19
November 2002, accessed 5/21/16: https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/po3632.aspx
142
Glenn Simpson, “Islamic Charities Draw More Scrutiny,” Wall Street Journal, 23 February 2008, accessed 5/21/16: http://www.wsj.com/
articles/SB120372644333987125
143
30 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
• $14,221 to the Holy Land Foundation, 144 a Muslim Brotherhood charity that funneled at least
$12.4 million dollars to the terror group, Hamas. 145 ISB trustees Muhammad Attawia, Jamal
Badawi and Hossam Al Jabri were all implicated in documents uncovered during the Holy Land
Foundation trial. 146
Islamic Society of Boston, Checks for the Holy Land Foundation: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/
HLF-Checks-Complete.pdf
144
“Federal Judge Hands Downs Sentences in Holy Land Foundation Case,” U.S. Department of Justice, 27 May 2009, accessed 5/21/16: https://
www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-judge-hands-downs-sentences-holy-land-foundation-case
145
Muslim Brotherhood 1991 Phone Directory, Government exhibit 003-0034, Americans for Peace and Tolerance website, accessed 10/22/15:
http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/09/MB-1991-Phone-Directory.pdf; 1992 Muslim Brotherhood Phone
Directory, Government Exhibit 003-0079, U.S. v HLF, et al., accessed 10/22/15: http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/
1083.pdf; "HLF Donors - Partial List, presented as Government Exhibit 001-0237, U.S. v. HLF, et al., 2006: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/
wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/HLF-Partial-List-of-Donors.pdf
146
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 31
ISB IDEOLOGY
Da’wah
As we have demonstrated, the ISB is a key component of the Muslim Brotherhood in America. But,
as with many other Muslim Brotherhood organizations in the West, the ISB works closely with
groups belonging to other Islamist movements.
ISB officials, for instance, have frequently spoken at events organized by the Islamic Circle of North
America, which has identified itself as the outpost of Jamaat-e-Islami, a South Asian Islamist
movement. 147 A 1991 Muslim Brotherhood document, in fact, describes the ICNA as one of the
“organizations of our friends.” 148
The ISB also collaborates with other Islamic groups to provide da’wah [proselytization; literally: a
call to God] – a form of social outreach in Islam.
Under Sharia-ism, da’wah can mean a number of things. For ordinary Muslims, da’wah simply
means inviting non-Muslims to embrace Islam; and for Islamist missionary organizations such as
Tablighi Jamaat, da’wah is the task of encouraging Muslims to become more pious.
But for the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist networks, da’wah can mean the creation of grassroots
support networks. Groups like the ISB gather volunteers, establish charities and community groups
and provide welfare – all to persuade ordinary Muslims of the virtues of the Muslim Brotherhood
cause.
For the Muslim Brotherhood terror group Hamas in Gaza, writes the counter-terrorism expert
Matthew Levitt, da’wah efforts are “crucial to terrorist activity: they provide cover for raising,
laundering, and transferring funds, facilitate the group's propaganda and recruitment efforts,
provide employment to its operatives, and serve as a logistical support network for its terrorist
operations.” 149
Salafist terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda also subscribe to this very same da’wah model. In 2012,
The Times reported, areas in Mali under the control of Al Qaeda terrorists enjoyed “subsidized state
utilities, capped food prices and…welfare payments to the needy.” 150
“ICNA-Jamaat al-Muslimeen Unity Meeting,” CNS News archive, accessed 10/23/15: http://web.archive.org/web/20070205193049/http://
www.cnsnews.com/pdf/2005/unity.pdf
147
"An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America,” 1991, presented as Government Exhibit
003-0085, U.S. v. HLF, et al., 2006. http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/Muslim-Brotherhood-GeneralStrategic-Goal-for-North-America.pdf
148
149
Matthew Levitt, Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), 23
Jerome Starkey, “Al-Qaeda superstar wins friends in Mali with cheap food and charm,” The Times, 29 November 2012, accessed 5/21/16:
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/africa/article3614434.ece
150
32 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
Thousands of miles away in Boston, the ISB’s da’wah efforts have produced the mosques in
Cambridge and Roxbury, as well as outreach work with students, interfaith groups and a close
collaboration with a number of Islamic charities. In spite of the ISB’s extremist links, its da’wah
efforts have served to sanitize the ISB’s reputation and legitimize its officials as the moral and
political voices of American Islam.
Despite these successes, the ISB da’wah has been missing the power of a grassroots volunteer body.
Consequently, the ISB has recently entered into a partnership with the Islamic Education and
Research Academy (iERA), a Salafist da’wah group established in Britain in 2008.
According to the ISB’s website, “Muslim Now is the new Muslim department of iERA dedicated to
welcome, empower and provide education for New Muslims … Existing Muslims should also take
note of this course material so that they may better communicate Islamic practices to new Muslims
and non Muslims. It highly recommended for New Muslims to visit the local Mosque for one on one
training.” 151
But what sort of da’wah partner has the ISB embraced?
The iERA is, in fact, run by some of the West’s most extreme Islamic preachers. The iERA was
established by Abdur Raheem Green, a former jihadist in Afghanistan who warns Muslims of a
Jewish “stench.” 152 Other officials include Zakir Naik, who has said that “every Muslim should be a
terrorist,” and Abdullah Hakim Quick, who has called upon God to “clean and purify al-Aqsa from
the filth of the Yahood [Jews]” and “clean all of the lands from the filth of the Kuffar [nonbelievers].” 153 The iERA works closely with Sheikh Mohammad Al Arifi, a Saudi cleric banned from
the United Kingdom after he was accused of radicalizing young Western Muslims now fighting for
the Islamic State terror movement. 154 In 2013, in fact, five members of an iERA “da’wah team” left
for Syria to join the Islamic State. 155
Tarbiya
In 2013, as he lay wounded, Boston bomber fugitive Dzhokhar Tsarnaev penciled a confession on the
walls of the boat in which he had sought refuge. Four days earlier, he and his brother had exploded
twin homemade pressure cooker bombs at the 2013 Boston Marathon, murdering three and injuring
264.
Some of Dzhokhar’s scribblings are mirrored in the writings of prominent Islamist ideologues, whose
teachings are today propagated among young Boston Muslims:
151
“Islam Q & A,” Islamic Society of Boston website, accessed 10/23/15: http://isbcambridge.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/islam-q-and-a.html
152
Abdurraheem Green, The Islamic Far-Right in Britain, accessed 10/23/15: http://tifrib.com/abdurraheem-green/
Shiraz Maher, “Britain's Newest Guest: "Every Muslim Should Be a Terrorist,” Gatestone Institute, accessed 10/23/15: http://
www.gatestoneinstitute.org/1364/britain-every-muslim-should-be-a-terrorist; “6/6 The History of the Crusades by Sheikh Abdul Hakim Quik,”
YouTube, 17 May 2012, accessed 10/23/15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlOrJu9Oqyo
153
“Britain bans controversial Saudi cleric al-Arifi,” Al-Arabiya, 25 June 2014, accessed 10/23/15: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/
2014/06/25/Controversial-cleric-al-Arifi-banned-from-UK-.html
154
Samuel Westrop, “UK Salafist Group Linked to British ISIS Fighters,” Gatestone Institute, 19 November 2014, accessed 10/23/15: http://
www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4892/iera-isis-fighters
155
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 33
“We will pursue this evil force to its own lands, invade its Western heartland, and struggle
to overcome it until all the world shouts by the name of the Prophet and the teachings of
Islam spread throughout the world. […]
“Regularly make the intention to go on jihad with the ambition to die as a martyr. You
should be ready for this right now. […]
“A Muslim has no relatives except those who share the belief in Allah. […]
“To be true Muslims, we must be Mujahideen. We can no more sit back passively; we
must try, actively, to change history, that is, wage Jihad.” 156
Dzhokhar was paraphrasing Muslim Brotherhood luminaries Hassan Al Banna, Sayyid Qutb and
Fathi Yakan; as well as Abul A’la Maududi, the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami – the Muslim
Brotherhood’s South Asian cousin.
These teachings can also be found in the library of the ISB. 157 The Tsarnaev brothers, in fact, were
attendees of the ISB mosques. 158
Extremist tracts at the ISB are, in fact, part of an intensive Islamist teaching program aimed at
Boston’s historically moderate Muslim community. This program is known as “Tarbiya,” and is
another important component of the ISB’s da’wah’ efforts. Tarbiya is not a tenet of historical Islam;
it is a religious innovation of the cultic Muslim Brotherhood. 159
One particular Tarbiya program, named “Young Muslims,” was explicitly endorsed by Suhaib Webb,
the long-serving, recently retired Imam of the ISB’s mosque in the Roxbury neighborhood of
Boston. 160
Documents for the program include a reading list of books by Muslim Brotherhood figures such
as Hassan Al Banna and Sayyid Qutb; the South Asian jihadist ideologist Abul A'la Maududi;
and Yusuf Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, whom the Anti-Defamation
League describes as the “Theologian of Terror.” 161
The Muslim American Society, which runs the ISB’s Cambridge mosque, describes Tarbiya as a
“rigorous educational curriculum,” which serves “to groom members who… are equipped with the
necessary knowledge, understanding, and skills to make a difference in society.” 162
Eric Levenson, “Here’s the Note Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Wrote Inside the Boat Where He Was Captured,” Boston.com, 10 March 2015, accessed
10/23/15: https://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/03/10/here-the-note-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-wrote-inside-the-boat-wherewas-captured/h7xFrSTXKT6L4Euc8N5bEN/story.html
156
Islamic Society of Boston, List of Library Books: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/ISB-LibraryList.pdf
157
Oren Dorell, “Mosque that Boston suspects attended has radical ties,” USA Today, 25 April 2013, accessed 5/21/16: http://
www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/23/boston-mosque-radicals/2101411/
158
Ehud Rosen, “The Muslim Brotherhood's Concept of Education,” Hudson Institute, 11 November 2008, accessed 5/20/16: http://
www.hudson.org/research/9881-the-muslim-brotherhood-s-concept-of-education
159
“Imam Suhaib Webb Shoutout to YoungMuslims,” YouTube, 1 July 2012, accessed 10/23/15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=hJvrX_8fuug
160
“Young Muslims Personal Collective Development Plan,” Americans for Peace and Tolerance, accessed 10/23/15: https://www.scribd.com/
doc/259858290/Young-Muslims-Personal-Collective-Development-Plan; “Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi: Theologian of Terror,” Anti-Defamation
League, 3 May 2013, accessed 10/23/15: http://www.adl.org/anti-semitism/muslim-arab-world/c/sheik-yusf-al-qaradawi.html
161
“MAS Tarbiya,” Muslim American Society website, accessed 10/23/15: http://muslimamericansociety.org/support/mas-departments/mastarbiya/
162
34 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
The Tabriya course relies on texts that are today considered among the most important Islamist
tracts, used by groups across the globe to justify jihad against non-Muslims. Abul A’la Maududi’s
Towards Understanding the Quran, for example, advocates jihad against Jews and Christians so that
“they should be forced to pay Jizyah [a tax on non-Muslims] in order to put an end to their
independence and supremacy.” 163
As can be seen throughout this report, links to terror and support for extremist ideas are not foreign
concepts for the ISB. It appears that many of the attitudes displayed by officials of the ISB towards
women, minorities, terrorism and Western society, in fact, reflect the ideals of radical Islamist
groups across the globe. What are worshippers at the ISB taught?
Misogyny
Before increased attention caused the ISB to sanitize its public posts, the ISB kept a treatise on its
website titled “40 Recommendations for the Muslim Home.” The text advocated physical abuse of
disobedient wives: “As to those women on whose part you fear ill-conduct, admonish them (first),
(next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly, if it is useful).” The article also
advised parents to “hit” children who fail to pray and encouraged Muslim men to “hang up the whip
where the members of the household can see it.”
The ISB’s Tarbiya program encourages students to study the teachings of a text written by Ghulam
Sarwar, titled “Islam: Belief and Teachings.” In this pamphlet, Sarwar writes that, “In the West,
women have been reduced almost to a plaything of enjoyment and fancy. Women have tended to
degrade themselves probably unwittingly in modern times for the sake of real or imaginary equality.
“UK Islamic Mission – The Syllabus,” The Islamic Far-Right in Britain, 30 October 2013, accessed 10/23/15: http://tifrib.com/2013/10/30/
uk-islamic-mission-the-syllabus/
163
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 35
They have become objects of exploitation by men and the slogans of liberty and equality have
virtually reduced them to playful commodities.” 164
A number of Bangladeshi groups have accused Ghulam Sarwar of complicity in Jamaat-e-Islami’s
mass-murder of Bangladeshi journalists and intellectuals during the 1971 Liberation War. 165
Anti-Semitism
A number of ISB officials have expressed anti-Semitic ideas. ISB imam, Suhaib Webb, has said that
animosity toward Jews is understandable. 166 Walid Fitaihi, an ISB trustee, called Jews “murderers of
prophets.” 167
The prescribed texts of the Tarbiya program also encourage anti-Semitism. Milestones, written by
the Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, states that the “purpose” of “world Jewry… is to
eliminate all limitations, especially the limitations imposed by faith and religion, so that the Jews
may penetrate into body politic of the whole world and then may be free to perpetuate their evil
designs. At the top of the list of these activities is usury, the aim of which is that all the wealth of
mankind end up in the hands of Jewish financial institutions which run on interest.” 168
Homophobia
ISB imam Suhaib Webb has condemned homosexuality as an “evil inclination.” 169 He has also
described effeminate men as “cursed.” 170
Former ISB trustee Yusuf Qaradawi has written, in his treatise The Lawful and the Prohibited in
Islam, that homosexuality is a “perverted act … a reversal of the natural order, a corruption of man’s
sexuality. … The jurists of Islam have held differing opinions concerning the punishment for this
abominable practice. Should it be the same as the punishment for fornication, or should both the
active and passive participants be put to death? While such punishments may seem cruel, they have
been suggested to maintain the purity of the Islamic society and to keep it clean of perverted
elements.” 171
Ghulam Sarwar, “Islam: Beliefs and Teachings,” Islamic Bulletin website, accessed 10/23/15: http://www.islamicbulletin.org/
free_downloads/kids/islam_children.pdf
164
“The Leading Collaborators of 1971 and their Present Whereabouts,” Liberation War Museum website, accessed 10/23/15: http://
www.banglagallery.com/LWM/collabo.html
165
“Boston Imam Webb spouts off about Jews,” YouTube, 31 October 2013, accessed 10/22/15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=yvk9YFvV6wM
166
167
Dean Barnett, “The Islamists Are Coming!” The Weekly Standard, Vol. 12, No. 37, 11 June 2007
168
Sayyid Qutb, Milestones, The Mother Mosque Foundation, 1981, 110
Lisa Wangsness, “In life and words, Muslim leader bridges cultures,” Boston Globe, 12 May 2013, accessed 5/21/16: http://
www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/05/11/imam-william-suhaib-webb-emerges-face-boston-muslim-community-time-crisis/
Kd8v0O48vkHSZAnOpYCqOI/story.html
169
“Boston mosque Imam Suhaib Webb says gays are cursed,” YouTube, 25 April 2013, accessed 10/22/15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=QaoKv1zRkjA
170
“UK Islamic Mission – The Syllabus,” The Islamic Far-Right in Britain, 30 October 2013, accessed 10/23/15: http://tifrib.com/2013/10/30/
uk-islamic-mission-the-syllabus/
171
36 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
Extremists at the Pulpit
Along with the extremist views held by many of its officials, the ISB has a history of inviting
extremist preachers to address its worshippers.
In 2012, Yasir Qadhi spoke at the ISB. 172 He had appeared a number of times before. Qadhi is a
notorious hate preacher. In 2001, he told an audience of Muslims:
“Hitler never intended to mass-destroy the Jews. There are a number of books out on this
written by Christians, you should read them. The Hoax of the Holocaust, I advise you to
read this book and write this down, the Hoax of the Holocaust, a very good book. All of
this is false propaganda and I know it sounds so far-fetched, but read it. The evidences
[sic] are very strong. And they’re talking about newspaper articles, clippings, everything
and look up yourself what Hitler really wanted to do. We’re not defending Hitler, by the
way, but the Jews, the way that they portray him, also is not correct.” 173
In 2008, Qadhi claimed to have renounced his anti-Semitism. At the same time, however, Qadhi
expressed support for the British Holocaust denier David Irving. 174
Qadhi is also a staff member at the terror-linked Al Maghrib Institute, where his colleagues include
Said Rageah, a Canadian Islamist preacher who has preached that God should “destroy” the enemies
of Islam and that the Christians and Jews are “damned”; 175 and Abdullah Hakim Quick, a preacher
who has called upon God to “clean and purify Al-Aqsa from the filth of the Yahood [Jews].” 176
Another Al Maghrib official, Abdulbary Yahya, has also spoken at the ISB. 177
The Muslim Brotherhood preacher Salah Soltan was a frequent speaker at the ISB during the first
half of the ‘00s. 178 Sultan is a member, along with former ISB trustee Jamal Badawi, of the
International Union of Muslim Scholars, a body of Muslim Brotherhood clerics led by the
Brotherhood’s spiritual leader and former ISB trustee, Yusuf Qaradawi. 179
In an interview with a Hamas television station, Soltan claimed that Jews use Christian blood to
make matzoh bread. He has also praised the Al Qaeda operative Abd Al Majid Al Zindani, called
upon Muslims to prepare themselves for Jihad against Israel, and claimed that Jews were
deliberately entering Egypt to infect Egyptian girls with the AIDS virus. 180 In 2015, Soltan was
Islamic Society of Boston Hosts Virulently Anti-Semitic Preacher,” Americans for Peace and Tolerance: http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/
2012/10/18/islamic-society-of-boston-hosts-virulently-anti-semitic-preacher/
172
173
“YQ1,” Vimeo website, accessed 10/23/15: https://vimeo.com/5496661
“Qadhi Does It Again,” Harry’s Place website, 15 December 2008, accessed 10/23/15: http://hurryupharry.org/2008/12/15/qadhi-does-itagain/
174
Ron Nurwisah, “Toronto imam preaching ‘hate instead of harmony,’” National Post, 21 October 2009, accessed 5/21/16: http://
news.nationalpost.com/holy-post/toronto-imam-preaching-hate-instead-of-harmony
175
“6/6 The History of the Crusades by Sheikh Abdul Hakim Quik,” YouTube, 17 May 2012, accessed 10/23/15: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=hlOrJu9Oqyo
176
“Shaykh Abdulbary Yahya - (ISBCC Khutba 6/22/2012),” YouTube, 27 July 2012, accessed 10/23/15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=9CxkbnVXDGY
177
"Minutes of ISB BOT Annual Meeting in Boston, July 2-4, 2002”, Americans for Peace and Tolerance website, accessed 10/22/15: http://
www.peaceandtolerance.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/09/ISB-BoT-Annual-Meeting-Minutes-July-2002.pdf
178
179
“Members,” International Union of Muslims Scholars website, accessed 10/23/15: http://iumsonline.org/portal/en-US/members/38/
180
Salah Sultan, Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Watch, accessed 10/23/15: http://www.globalmbwatch.com/salah-sultan/
THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB | 37
sentenced to death by an Egyptian court, along with other senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders, for
inciting murder. 181
Other recent speakers at the ISB have included Tariq Ramadan, a Muslim Brotherhood writer and
public commentator who has said killing Israeli schoolchildren is “contextually explicable”; 182 and
Omar Suleiman, who describes homosexuality as a “disease” and a “repugnant shameless sin.” 183
In October 2015, the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) hosted a two-day conference on behalf of the
Qalam Institute. One of the keynote speakers, Mufti Hussain Kamani, has a history of expressing
extremist statements. Kamani has called upon God to “reward the martyrs of Palestine.” 184 And in a
pamphlet titled, ‘The Prophetic Code,’ published by the Qalam Institute, Kamani cites Quranic verse
and commentary, in which he tells Muslims: “do not resemble the Jews.” Parents are also advised to
“beat” their children “if they do not [pray].” 185
In a talk titled ‘Sex, Masturbation and Islam,’ Kamani explains that a Muslim man must only fulfill
his sexual desires “with his spouse…[or] with a female slave that belongs to him.” 186 Muslims must
not be led astray by Western society, Kamani declares, in which “we are surrounded by filth … our
environment is full of this filth, everywhere we turn.”
Those who commit adultery or have sex outside of marriage, Kamani also states, must be “stoned to
death.” 187 During another talk on ‘Rights of a Wife in Islam,’ Kamani explains “how to deal with the
women folk” and how Muslim husbands can “train their wives.” Beating women, Kamani advises,
should only be a “last measure.” 188
Another speaker at the conference is the founder of the Qalam Institute, Abdul Nasir Jangda, who
frequently presents sermons about the iniquities and treacheries of the Jews during the time of
Islam’s Prophet. Jangda describes Jews in this period as a “really bad people” who opposed the
peaceful message of Islam and “liked the trouble because they were able to pull the strings and
maintain some type of advantage in the community through political maneuvering. … They were very
hateful, very spiteful.” 189
El-Sayed Gamal El-Din, “Badie, Muslim Brotherhood figures sentenced to death in 'Rabaa Control Room' case,” Ahram Online, 16 March
2015, accessed 10/23/15: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/125400/Egypt/Politics-/Badie,-Muslim-Brotherhood-figuressentenced-to-dea.aspx
181
“The Dismissal of Tariq Ramadan,” Wall Street Journal, 19 August 2009, accessed 5/21/16: http://www.wsj.com/articles/
SB10001424052970203550604574360193435076088
182
Laura Clark, Inderdeep Bains and David Williams, “'Trojan Horse' fear over six leading Muslim schools: Ofsted to warn Minister of 'serious
concerns,’” Daily Mail, 20 November 2014, accessed 5/21/16: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2841916/Islamic-extremism-rife-CofEschool-East-London-institution-special-measures-inspectors-discovered-pupils-segregated-sixth-formers-posted-links-hardline-preachersFacebook.html
183
184
Hussain Kamani, Facebook, 14 July 2014, accessed 10/23/15: https://www.facebook.com/MuftiHussainKamani/posts/858697094158954
185
Hussain Kamani, “The Prophetic Code,” Qalam Institute, accessed 10/23/15: http://www.qalaminstitute.org/propheticcode.pdf
“Sex, Masterbation _ Islam - The Cure by Mufti Hussain Kamani_FULL.mp4,” YouTube, 1 June 2012, accessed 10/23/15: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6dpxBhA3K0
186
“Islam's Position on Adultery and Fornication [Part 2/6],” YouTube, 24 January 2009, accessed 10/23/15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=tjqphNTOFdk
187
“Rights Of A Wife In Islam | HD | Mufti Hussain Kamani,” YouTube, 27 July 2012, accessed 10/23/15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ezCoHA5FSfE
188
“What Leads to Hellfire? - Abdul Nasir Jangda - Quran Weekly,” YouTube, 31 March 2012, accessed 10/23/15: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=vJXHV3VjA1I; “Seerah – Life of the Prophet: The First birth and death in Madinah,” Qalam Institute website, 17 June 2014, accessed
10/23/15: http://www.qalaminstitute.org/2014/06/seerah-life-of-the-prophet-the-first-birth-and-death-in-madinah
189
38 | THE CASE AGAINST THE ISB
Jangda is also an instructor at the Al Maghrib Institute. His colleagues at Al Maghrib include
Abu Eesa Niamatullah, who has said of Jews, “They find it so easy and natural to do what they
do….Look at them today, look at the way they massacre. They blow up babies like as if it’s a computer
game. They have no humanity, no morality, no ethics.” 190
The founder of Al Maghrib, Muhammad Al Shareef, has written a paper titled, ‘Why the Jews Were
Cursed,’ in which he claims that Jews control the media and murder prophets, and advises Muslims
not to “take Jews as our close allies.” 191 The infamous ‘underwear’ bomber, Umar Farouk
Abdulmutallab, attended seminars run by Al Maghrib in both London and Houston, where one of his
instructors was Yasir Qadhi, a notorious hate preacher and a frequent speaker at the ISB. 192
According to detailed notes published by one of Jangda’s students, during a seminar that Jangda
presented at the Al Maghrib Institute, Jangda defended the use of female sex slaves within Islam.
Jangda reportedly concluded that, “Slavery in Islam ... is vastly different and superior morally and
spiritually to the atrocious, obscene, and vile Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.” 193
Furthermore, Jangda apparently expressed support for the killing of apostates and adulterers;
claimed that a wife cannot refuse her husband sex: “The thing to understand is that the husband has
his set of divinely given rights one of which is the right to have his physical desires satisfied”; and
called for people who drink alcohol to be beaten: “One of the largest causes of death in the United
States is drunk driving. Such policies would help curb them immensely and avoid harm to the people
at large.” 194
The other speakers at the ISB’s conference included a mixture of ISB and Qalam Institute officials
and students. The link between the two groups is due to AbdelRahman Murphy, a “visiting imam” at
the ISB, a speaker at the upcoming conference, and a “instructor” at the Qalam Institute. 195
Murphy has claimed “There is no such thing as an innocent Israeli.” 196 He also accuses Israel of
perpetrating a “New Holocaust” against Gaza and that the terror group Hamas only exists because
“Israel massacred civilians.” 197
The ISB has repeatedly claimed to have rejected the extremist beliefs of its founding trustees and
former officials. Its continued embrace of some of America’s most radical preachers, however,
suggests otherwise.
“The Decree Upon Israel - For Killing #FREEPALESTINE,” YouTube, 22 July 2014, accessed 10/23/15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=qQ-z8GTszgo
190
Muhammad Alshareef, “Why the Jews are Cursed,” Sunnah Online, accessed 10/23/15: http://web.archive.org/web/20140418033106/http://
sunnahonline.com/ilm/jihaad/0006.htm
191
“Terror suspect attended 2008 Islamic 'knowledge fest' in Houston,” CNN website, accessed 10/23/15: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/
12/30/terror.suspect.seminar/
192
Abdul Nasir Jangda, "Firm Ground, Al Maghrib,” accessed 10/23/15: https://drive.google.com/file/d/
0B89y9kKMY4MxNnVnVG56aURGemM/view
193
194
Ibid.
195
AbdelRahman Murphy, Twitter account, accessed 10/23/15: https://twitter.com/abdelrahmanm
AbdelRahman Murphy, Twitter post, accessed 10/23/15: http://standforpeace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ScreenShot-2015-09-01-at-19.10.09.png
196
AbdelRahman Murphy, Twitter posts, accessed 10/23/15: http://standforpeace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ScreenShot-2015-09-01-at-19.07.20.png and http://standforpeace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Screen-Shot-2015-09-01-at-19.06.39.png
197
MUSLIMSFACINGTOMORROW.COM
PEACEANDTOLERANCE.ORG