Celebration of the life of “America’s Imam”,Imam Warith Deen Mohammed
Imam Warith Al-Deen Mohammed is one of the most distinguished Muslim leaders in the United States, who passed away on September 8, this year. He has been the spiritual leader and inspiration of the Muslim community in general and African American Muslim community in Particular. It is indeed a great loss of leadership. Warith Deen Mohammad is recognized worldwide as a leading Islamic thinker, philosopher and a religious leader. Continued: http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2008/11/celebration-of-life-of-americas-imam.html
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The Essence of Thanksgiving
The Essence of thanksgiving
It is one of my favorite holidays; it is a day to express gratitude to all those who have helped shape our lives. It is also a day to express friendship and kindness to those who are struggling with the difficulties of life, Thanksgiving is a day of sharing. It is just not you, ask Bill Gates, whom God has blessed proportionately for his intelligence, he would answer, not enough! Ask the Homeless the same question; the answer is still the same, not enough. Who has enough then? Continue
It is one of my favorite holidays; it is a day to express gratitude to all those who have helped shape our lives. It is also a day to express friendship and kindness to those who are struggling with the difficulties of life, Thanksgiving is a day of sharing. It is just not you, ask Bill Gates, whom God has blessed proportionately for his intelligence, he would answer, not enough! Ask the Homeless the same question; the answer is still the same, not enough. Who has enough then? Continue
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Holy Land Foundation Verdict -11/24/08
Updates by the date.
Two items: MSA Press Release and World Net Report
Assalaamu Alaikum
Two pieces of bad news: (1) the forwarded report below on the subpoenas served on a number of CAIR officials; (2) and the GUILTY VERDICTS (on all counts) for all five brothers indicted in the Holy Land Foundation case. I just received a call a short time ago after the verdict came in. (May ALLAH fortify the individual and collective spirit of the brothers and their respective families.)
I hope that the substance of what is being alleged against the CAIR organization is not true; certainly time will bear this out one way or the other. With respect to the Holy Land Foundation, I strongly believe that the government's case was nothing more than a red herring (aided by prejudice) - and in the end, BIGOTRY WON!
The unfortunate reality, however, is that the bigotry which sealed the fate of these brothers in that Dallas courtroom today, was aided and abetted by fear and indifference within the Muslim community itself; and some of the biggest culprits toward this end were "Major Muslim Organizations" in America.
I'm going to take a little time to process what has happened, go to the foundational sources (Qur'an and Sunnah) in search of some clear perspective, and then share my deeper thoughts on this regrettable outcome later, insha'Allah. Please make du'a (prayer supplication) for these brothers and their families.
El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan
_____________________________________________________
Surprise! CAIR officials slapped with subpoenas
Terror-linked Muslim lobby's dinner turns into public relations nightmare
Posted: November 23, 2008 9:40 pm Eastern
By Joseph Farah
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
Nihad Awad, director of CAIR, being served a subpoena
WASHINGTON – When the Council on American-Islamic Relations held its 14th Annual Banquet at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel tonight, it was planning to raise funds and honor some of its supporters, but instead several top officials of the Muslim lobby group were served with subpoenas for various civil and criminal offenses.
The dramatic surprise, caught on video, was a result of the research work of the Mapping Sharia Project, headed by Dave Gaubatz. He personally served CAIR Director Nihad Awad at the banquet tonight while North Carolina state Sen. Larry Shaw, D-N.C., a CAIR national board member, was addressing the festivities.
Four CAIR clients have filed a federal civil complaint alleging criminal fraud and racketeering against CAIR, a self-described public interest civil rights law firm. The lawsuit also names CAIR's national leadership as individual defendants.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that Morris Days, the "resident attorney" and "manager for civil rights" at the now defunct CAIR MD/VA chapter in Herndon, Va., was in fact not an attorney and that he failed to provide legal services for clients who came to CAIR for assistance and who had paid for CAIR legal services.
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While attorney David Yerushalmi represents the four plaintiffs in this particular lawsuit, two of whom are African-American Muslims, the complaint alleges that, according to CAIR internal documents, there were hundreds of victims of fraud scheme by CAIR and Days.
According to the complaint, CAIR failed to conduct a background check on Days prior to hiring him and when the group discovered the fraud, it set about a cover-up.
The suit charges CAIR officials purposefully concealed the truth about Days from their clients, law enforcement, the Virginia and D.C. state bar associations and the media. When CAIR got irate calls from clients about Days' failure to provide competent legal services, CAIR is charged with fraudulently deceiving clients about Days' relationship to CAIR, concealing the fact that CAIR had fired him for criminal fraud.
"The evidence has long suggested that CAIR is a criminal organization set up by the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas to further its aims of stealth Jihad in the U.S.," Yerushalmi said referring to the fact that CAIR has been named by the federal government as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror financing trial. "But our investigation and this complaint makes clear that CAIR’s criminal activities know no bounds."
Yerushalmi alleges CAIR has engaged in a massive cover-up of a criminal fraud in which hundreds of CAIR clients have been victimized.
"The fact that CAIR has victimized Muslims and non-Muslims alike demonstrates that CAIR is only looking out for CAIR and its ongoing effort to bilk donors out of millions of dollars of charitable donations thinking they are supporting a legitimate organization," he said.
The complaint also alleges that in addition to covering up the Days fraud scheme, CAIR officials in D.C . forced angry clients who were demanding a return of their legal fees to sign a release that bought the client-victims' silence by prohibiting them from informing law enforcement or the media about the CAIR-Days fraud. According to the agreement, if the "settling" clients said anything to anyone about the fraud scheme, CAIR would be able to sue them for $25,000.
The four plaintiffs contacted their attorney David Yerushalmi only after they had spoken to Gaubatz, a private researcher who had been investigating CAIR for its connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and its ties to global jihad.
The complaint identifies CAIR as a racketeering enterprise under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which is a criminal racketeering statute that allows victims to sue the defendants in civil court. In addition to damages, the plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief under this and other statutes to shut down CAIR and to prevent the individual defendants from engaging in public interest legal work in the future.
The named defendants are: the Council on American-Islamic Relations Action Network Inc. (dba CAIR); Nihad Awad aka Nihad Hammad, who serves as executive director of CAIR National; Parvez Ahmed, who was the chairman of the board of CAIR National during the relevant time period; Tahra Goraya, who was the national director of CAIR but who has since resigned; Khadijah Athman, who is the manager of the "civil rights" division of CAIR; and Nadhira al-Khalili, Esq., who is in-house legal counsel for CAIR. All were handed subpoenas this evening.
According to the complaint, CAIR's in-house Washington, D.C.-based attorney Khalili was directly involved in taking the legal files out of the CAIR Virginia office and concealing them in the D.C. office.
Also named as defendants are Ibrahim Hooper and Amina Rubin, CAIR's director of communications and coordinator of communications, respectively. According to the complaint, these two were directly responsible for is suing fraudulent press releases about the Days fraud scheme, thus aiding and abetting the CAIR cover-up.
CAIR officials were not available for comment tonight.
Also addressing the dinner was Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the nation's first Muslim member of Congress. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, reportedly turned down an invitation to address the banquet.
As WND previously reported, CAIR allegedly defrauded a number of Muslims recently seeking help with citizenship delays, and then threatened to sue them if they complained to the media, according to a security watchdog group which has obtained internal CAIR documents.
The former legal director of CAIR's Maryland/Virginia chapter shook down Muslim hardship cases for thousands of dollars without providing promised services, officials with the Mapping Sharia Project charge.
CAIR, a nonprofit group, promoted the services of the employee, Morris L. "Jamil" Days, whom it publicly described as a civil-rights attorney, even after discovering Days was unlicensed and was fraudulently representing CAIR's clients.
CAIR's board allegedly covered up the scandal by paying defrauded Muslim families partial restitution payments while insisting they sign agreements releasing CAIR from legal liability, officials said.
The Mapping Sharia Project had threatened to sue CAIR for "damages in the amount of $25,000 for the purpose of conducting meetings, workshops, press releases, flyers and the like to reverse ... the damage to CAIR's reputation caused by the recipient's breach" of the agreement to remain silent about the "incident."
Earlier this year, the board also fired Days and closed the chapter's offices in Herndon, Va. The chapter director, Khalid Iqbal, is no longer with CAIR.
CAIR refused to respond to the allegations, which came to light only after American Muslims provided evidence to the Mapping Sharia Project.
"I really don't know anything about this," CAIR spokesman Ahmed Rehab said. He referred questions to CAIR communications director Ibrahim Hooper, who declined comment.
Earlier this year, CAIR launched a $250,000 fundraising campaign that included a promotional on its website touting its mission to help Muslims, particularly those confronting citizenship problems.
"Everyday, CAIR works hard to defend the rights of American Muslims who encounter a delay in gaining citizenship," the group said. In fact, CAIR has "victimized" poor Muslim immigrants, says Gaubatz.
"CAIR continues to put Muslim Americans at risk through the pretense that they represent them in any way," Gaubatz said. "CAIR is receiving support from big foreign donors, not because of their effectiveness in discrimination cases, but because of their false image in the media."
Gaubatz says CAIR, which last year was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal terror-financing case involving Hamas, controls some $7 million in real estate assets in Washington through a limited liability holding company that includes silent Middle Eastern investors.
He says his group has filed a formal complaint against CAIR concerning the alleged fraud w ith the District of Columbia.
WND has previously reported on CAIR's extensive ties to terrorism and extremism. Although CAIR is a nonprofit organization, it does not disclose complete directories of its staff or advisory boards, and even refuses to make its federal tax filings readily available to the public. But a review of federal criminal court documents, past IRS 990 tax records and Federal Election Commission records detailing donor occupations, reveals that Washington-based CAIR has been associated with a disturbing number of convicted terrorists or felons in terrorism probes, as well as suspected terrorists and active targets of terrorism investigations.
"Their offices have been a turnstile for terrorists and their supporters," said one FBI veteran familiar with recent and ongoing cases involving CAIR officials. WND has reported that at least 14 CAIR officials have been caught up in terror investigations.
Congressional leaders say they are warning lawmakers and other Washington officials to disassociate from the group due to its growing terror ties.
"Groups like CAIR have a proven record of senior officials being indicted and either imprisoned or deported from the United States," said U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., co-founder of the House Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus.
CAIR itself recently was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an alleged scheme to funnel $12 million to the terrorist group Hamas. In the Holy Land Foundation case, federal prosecutors also listed CAIR as a member of the U.S. branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a worldwide jihadist movement that gave rise to Hamas, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. The government will retry the Holy Land case, which ended in a hung jury.
"There was a lot of evidence presented at the recent Holy Land Foundation trial which exposed CAIR and others as front groups for the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States," Myrick said.
Still, C AIR is lobbying House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and other sympathetic members of Congress to pressure the Justice Department to expunge its name from the case, arguing the negative publicity has hurt membership and fundraising.
The federal judge during the trial refused a written request by the group to strike its name from the list of co-conspirators. The petition is still pending before the court.
CAIR, which runs 33 offices and chapters nationwide, also recently helped defeat an anti-terror plan by Los Angeles police to map the local Muslim community for extremist neighborhoods.
Critics counter that CAIR has no legitimate voice to make such complaints, because the group is itself an extremist organization that has employed or appointed to its boards of directors and advisers an inordinate number of radical co-conspirators, suspected and convicted terrorists, and other criminals.
Indeed, the list is long and growing, and includes:
Indeed, the list is long and growing, and includes:
Muthanna al-Hanooti: The CAIR director's home was raided last year by FBI agents in connection with an active terrorism investigation. Agents also searched the offices of his advocacy group, Focus on Advocacy and Advancement of International Relations, which al-Hanooti operates out of Dearborn, Mich., and Washington, D.C.
FAAIR claims to be a consulting firm raising awareness of Sunni grievances in Iraq, but investigators suspect it's a front supporting the Sunni-led insurgency.
Muthanna al-Hanooti, wearing traditional headgarb
Al-Hanooti, who emigrated to the U.S. from Iraq, formerly helped run a suspected Hamas terror front called LIFE for Relief and Development. Its Michigan offices also were raided last September. In 2004, LIFE's Baghdad office was raided by U.S. troops, who seized files and computers.
Al-Hanooti is related to Shiek Mohammed al-Hanooti, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He currently leads prayers at a Washington-area mosque that aided some of the 9/11 hijackers.
The FBI alleges al-Hanooti, an ethnic-Palestinian who also emigrated from Iraq, raised money for Hamas. In fact, "Al-Hanooti collected over $6 million for support of Hamas," according to a 2001 FBI report, and was present with CAIR and Holy Land officials at a secret Hamas fundraising summit held last decade at a Philadelphia hotel.
Prosecutors recently added his name to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
Al-Hanooti denies supporting Hamas, although he's praised Palestinian suicide bombers as "martyrs" who are "alive in the eyes of Allah."
Earlier this year, his younger brother, Hamid al-Hanooti, was found dead in Iraq after reportedly being held by local security forces as a suspected terrorist.
Laura Jaghlit: A civil-rights coordinator for CAIR, her Washington-area home was raided by federal agents after 9/11 as part of an investigation into terrorist financing, money laundering and tax fraud. Her husband Mohammed Jaghlit, a key leader in the Saudi-backed SAAR network, is a target of the still-active probe.
Last decade, Jaghlit sent two letters accompanying donations – one for $10,000, the other for $5,000 – from the SAAR Foundation to Sami al-Arian, now a convicted terrorist. In each letter, according to a federal affidavit, "Jaghlit instructed al-Arian not to disclose the contribution publicly or to the media."
Investigators suspect the funds were intended for Palestinian terrorists via a U.S. front called WISE, which at the time employed an official who personally delivered a satellite phone battery to Osama bin Laden. The same official also worked for Jaghlit's group.
In addition, Jaghlit donated a total of $37,200 to the Holy Land Foundation, which prosecutors say is a Hamas front. Jaghlit subsequently was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the ongoing case.
Abdurahman Alamoudi: Another CAIR director, he is serving 23 years in federal prison for plotting terrorism. Alamoudi, who was caught on tape complaining bin Laden hadn't killed enough Americans in the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, was one of al-Qaida's top fund-raisers in America, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Nihad Awad
Nihad Awad: For the first time, wiretap evidence from the Holy Land case puts CAIR's executive director at a Philadelphia meeting of Hamas leaders and activists that was secretly recorded by the FBI. Participants allegedly hatched a plot to disguise payments to Hamas terrorists as charitable giving.
During the meeting, according to FBI transcripts, Awad was recorded discussing the propaganda effort. He mentions Ghassan Dahduli, whom he worked with at the time at the Islamic Association for Palestine, another Hamas front. Both were IAP officers. Dahduli's name also was listed in the address book of bin Laden's personal secretary, Wadi al-Hage, who is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in the U.S. embassy bombings. Dahduli, an ethnic-Palestinian like Awad, was deported to Jordan after 9/11 for refusing to cooperate in the terror investigation.
Awad's and Dahduli's phone numbers are listed in a Muslim Brotherhood document seized by federal investigators revealing "important phone numbers" for the "Palestine Section" of the Brotherhood in America. The court exhibit shows Hamas fugitive Mousa Abu Marzook listed on the same page with Awad.
Omar Ahmad
Omar Ahmad: U.S. prosecutors also named CAIR's founder and chairman emeritus as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land case. Ahmad too was placed at the Philly meeting, FBI special agent Lara Burns testified at the trial. Prosecutors also designated him as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's "Palestine Committee" in America. Ahmad, like his CAIR partner Awad, is ethnic-Palestinian.
(Though both Ahmad and Awad were senior leaders of IAP, the Hamas front, neither of their biographical sketches posted on CAIR's website mentions their IAP past.)
Nabil Sadoun: A current CAIR board member, Sadoun has served on the board of the United Association for Studies and Research, which investigators believe to be a key Hamas front in America. In fact, Sadoun co-founded UASR with Hamas leader Marzook. The Justice Department added UASR to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
Mohamed Nimer
Mohamed Nimer: CAIR's current research director also served as a board director for UASR, the strategic arm for Hamas in the U.S.
(Tellingly, CAIR neglects to mention Nimer's and Sadoun's roles in UASR in their bios.)
Rafeeq Jaber: A founding director of CAIR, Jaber was the long-time president of the Islamic Association for Palestine. In 2002, a federal judge found that "the Islamic Association for Palestine has acted in support of Hamas." In his capacity as IAP chief, Jaber praised Hezbollah attacks on Israel. He also served on the board of a radical mosque in the Chicago area.
Rabith Hadid: The CAIR fund-raiser was a founder of the Global Relief Foundation, which after 9/11 was blacklisted by Treasury for financing al-Qaida and other terror groups. Its assets were frozen in December 2001. Hadid was arrested on terror-related charges and deported to Lebanon in 2003.
Siraj Wahhaj
Siraj Wahhaj: A member of CAIR's board of advisers, Wahhaj was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The radical Brooklyn imam was close to convicted terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, and defended him during his trial.
He was also a featured speaker at tonight's dinner.
Randall "Ismail" Royer: The former CAIR communications specialist and civil-rights coordinator is serving 20 years in prison in connection with the Virginia Jihad Network, which he led while employed by CAIR at its Washington headquarters. The group trained to kill U.S. soldiers overseas, cased the FBI headquarters, and cheered the space shuttle Columbia tragedy. Al-Qaida operative Ahmed Abu Ali, convicted of plotting to assassinate President Bush, was among those who trained with Royer's Northern Virginia cell.
Bassam Khafagi: Another CAIR official, Khafagi was arrested in 2003 while serving as CAIR's director of community affairs. He pleaded guilty to charges of bank and visa fraud stemming from a federal counterterror probe of his leadership role in the Islamic Assembly of North America, which has supported al-Qaida and advocated suicide attacks on America. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison and deported to his native Egypt.
Ghassan Elashi
Ghassan Elashi: One of CAIR's founding directors, he was convicted in 2004 of illegally shipping high-tech goods to terror state Syria, and is serving 80 months in prison. He's also charged with providing material support to Hamas in the Holy Land Foundation trial. He was chairman of the charity, which provided seed capital to CAIR. Elashi is related to Hamas leader Marzook.
Hamza Yusuf: The FBI investigated the CAIR board member after 9/11, because just two days before the attacks, he made an ominous prediction to a Muslim audience.
"This country is facing a terrible fate and the reason for that is because this country stands condemned," Yusuf warned. "It stands condemned like Europe stood condemned because of what it did. And lest people forget, Europe suffered two world wars after conquering the Muslim lands."
CAIR, which receives financial backing from Saudi and Emirati royalty, denies charges that it has a secret agenda to Islamize America. But a Muslim Brotherhood document declassified in the Holy Land case reveals that CAIR's parent was among Muslim organizations enlisted in a secret plot to destroy the American system from within and eventually take over the country.
Written early last decade in Arabic, the manifesto lays bare the subversive role of CAIR's forerunner, the Islamic Association for Palestine, and other Muslim groups in America to carry out a "grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by the hands of the believers, so that it is eliminated and Allah's religion is made victorious over all other religions."
CAIR's founder Ahmad, while claiming to be a moderate and patriotic American, last decade told a group of Muslims in Northern California that they are in America to help assert Islam's rule over the country.
"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant," a local reporter quoted him as saying, adding, "The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth."
Ahmad insists he was misquoted. However, an FBI wiretap transcript quotes Ahmad agreeing with terrorist suspects gathered last decade at the secret Philly meeting to "camouflage" their true intentions.
He compared it to the head fake in basketball. "This is like one who plays basketball: He makes a player believe that he is doing this, while he does something else," Ahmad said. "I agree with you. Like they say, politics is a completion of war."
What's more, Hooper, CAIR's communications director, also has expressed his wish to overturn the U.S. system of government in favor of an "Islamic" state.
"I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future," Hooper said in a 1993 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education."
Though conceding he made the remark, Hooper argues that he's never advocated violence. He says he and Muslims like him should work instead through the media and use "education" to help turn America into an Islamic state.
For media inquiries, e-mail Tricia, or call (910) 270-8966.
Surprise! CAIR officials slapped with subpoenas
Terror-linked Muslim lobby's dinner turns into public relations nightmare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: November 23, 2008
9:40 pm Eastern
By Joseph Farah
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
Nihad Awad, director of CAIR, being served a subpoena
WASHINGTON – When the Council on American-Islamic Relations held its 14th Annual Banquet at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel tonight, it was planning to raise funds and honor some of its supporters, but instead several top officials of the Muslim lobby group were served with subpoenas for various civil and criminal offenses.
The dramatic surprise, caught on video, was a result of the research work of the Mapping Sharia Project, headed by Dave Gaubatz. He personally served CAIR Director Nihad Awad at the banquet tonight while North Carolina state Sen. Larry Shaw, D-N.C., a CAIR national board member, was addressing the festivities.
Four CAIR clients have filed a federal civil complaint alleging criminal fraud and racketeering against CAIR, a self-described public interest civil rights law firm. The lawsuit also names CAIR's national leadership as individual defendants.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that Morris Days, the "resident attorney" and "manager for civil rights" at the now defunct CAIR MD/VA chapter in Herndon, Va., was in fact not an attorney and that he failed to provide legal services for clients who came to CAIR for assistance and who had paid for CAIR legal services.
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While attorney David Yerushalmi represents the four plaintiffs in this particular lawsuit, two of whom are African-American Muslims, the complaint alleges that, according to CAIR internal documents, there were hundreds of victims of fraud scheme by CAIR and Days.
According to the complaint, CAIR failed to conduct a background check on Days prior to hiring him and when the group discovered the fraud, it set about a cover-up.
The suit charges CAIR officials purposefully concealed the truth about Days from their clients, law enforcement, the Virginia and D.C. state bar associations and the media. When CAIR got irate calls from clients about Days' failure to provide competent legal services, CAIR is charged with fraudulently deceiving clients about Days' relationship to CAIR, concealing the fact that CAIR had fired him for criminal fraud.
"The evidence has long suggested that CAIR is a criminal organization set up by the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas to further its aims of stealth Jihad in the U.S.," Yerushalmi said referring to the fact that CAIR has been named by the federal government as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror financing trial. "But our investigation and this complaint makes clear that CAIR’s criminal activities know no bounds."
Yerushalmi alleges CAIR has engaged in a massive cover-up of a criminal fraud in which hundreds of CAIR clients have been victimized.
"The fact that CAIR has victimized Muslims and non-Muslims alike demonstrates that CAIR is only looking out for CAIR and its ongoing effort to bilk donors out of millions of dollars of charitable donations thinking they are supporting a legitimate organization," he said.
The complaint also alleges that in addition to covering up the Days fraud scheme, CAIR officials in D.C . forced angry clients who were demanding a return of their legal fees to sign a release that bought the client-victims' silence by prohibiting them from informing law enforcement or the media about the CAIR-Days fraud. According to the agreement, if the "settling" clients said anything to anyone about the fraud scheme, CAIR would be able to sue them for $25,000.
The four plaintiffs contacted their attorney David Yerushalmi only after they had spoken to Gaubatz, a private researcher who had been investigating CAIR for its connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and its ties to global jihad.
The complaint identifies CAIR as a racketeering enterprise under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which is a criminal racketeering statute that allows victims to sue the defendants in civil court. In addition to damages, the plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief under this and other statutes to shut down CAIR and to prevent the individual defendants from engaging in public interest legal work in the future.
The named defendants are: the Council on American-Islamic Relations Action Network Inc. (dba CAIR); Nihad Awad aka Nihad Hammad, who serves as executive director of CAIR National; Parvez Ahmed, who was the chairman of the board of CAIR National during the relevant time period; Tahra Goraya, who was the national director of CAIR but who has since resigned; Khadijah Athman, who is the manager of the "civil rights" division of CAIR; and Nadhira al-Khalili, Esq., who is in-house legal counsel for CAIR. All were handed subpoenas this evening.
According to the complaint, CAIR's in-house Washington, D.C.-based attorney Khalili was directly involved in taking the legal files out of the CAIR Virginia office and concealing them in the D.C. office.
Also named as defendants are Ibrahim Hooper and Amina Rubin, CAIR's director of communications and coordinator of communications, respectively. According to the complaint, these two were directly responsible for is suing fraudulent press releases about the Days fraud scheme, thus aiding and abetting the CAIR cover-up.
CAIR officials were not available for comment tonight.
Also addressing the dinner was Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the nation's first Muslim member of Congress. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, reportedly turned down an invitation to address the banquet.
As WND previously reported, CAIR allegedly defrauded a number of Muslims recently seeking help with citizenship delays, and then threatened to sue them if they complained to the media, according to a security watchdog group which has obtained internal CAIR documents.
The former legal director of CAIR's Maryland/Virginia chapter shook down Muslim hardship cases for thousands of dollars without providing promised services, officials with the Mapping Sharia Project charge.
CAIR, a nonprofit group, promoted the services of the employee, Morris L. "Jamil" Days, whom it publicly described as a civil-rights attorney, even after discovering Days was unlicensed and was fraudulently representing CAIR's clients.
CAIR's board allegedly covered up the scandal by paying defrauded Muslim families partial restitution payments while insisting they sign agreements releasing CAIR from legal liability, officials said.
The Mapping Sharia Project had threatened to sue CAIR for "damages in the amount of $25,000 for the purpose of conducting meetings, workshops, press releases, flyers and the like to reverse ... the damage to CAIR's reputation caused by the recipient's breach" of the agreement to remain silent about the "incident."
Earlier this year, the board also fired Days and closed the chapter's offices in Herndon, Va. The chapter director, Khalid Iqbal, is no longer with CAIR.
CAIR refused to respond to the allegations, which came to light only after American Muslims provided evidence to the Mapping Sharia Project.
"I really don't know anything about this," CAIR spokesman Ahmed Rehab said. He referred questions to CAIR communications director Ibrahim Hooper, who declined comment.
Earlier this year, CAIR launched a $250,000 fundraising campaign that included a promotional on its website touting its mission to help Muslims, particularly those confronting citizenship problems.
"Everyday, CAIR works hard to defend the rights of American Muslims who encounter a delay in gaining citizenship," the group said. In fact, CAIR has "victimized" poor Muslim immigrants, says Gaubatz.
"CAIR continues to put Muslim Americans at risk through the pretense that they represent them in any way," Gaubatz said. "CAIR is receiving support from big foreign donors, not because of their effectiveness in discrimination cases, but because of their false image in the media."
Gaubatz says CAIR, which last year was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal terror-financing case involving Hamas, controls some $7 million in real estate assets in Washington through a limited liability holding company that includes silent Middle Eastern investors.
He says his group has filed a formal complaint against CAIR concerning the alleged fraud w ith the District of Columbia.
WND has previously reported on CAIR's extensive ties to terrorism and extremism. Although CAIR is a nonprofit organization, it does not disclose complete directories of its staff or advisory boards, and even refuses to make its federal tax filings readily available to the public. But a review of federal criminal court documents, past IRS 990 tax records and Federal Election Commission records detailing donor occupations, reveals that Washington-based CAIR has been associated with a disturbing number of convicted terrorists or felons in terrorism probes, as well as suspected terrorists and active targets of terrorism investigations.
"Their offices have been a turnstile for terrorists and their supporters," said one FBI veteran familiar with recent and ongoing cases involving CAIR officials. WND has reported that at least 14 CAIR officials have been caught up in terror investigations.
Congressional leaders say they are warning lawmakers and other Washington officials to disassociate from the group due to its growing terror ties.
"Groups like CAIR have a proven record of senior officials being indicted and either imprisoned or deported from the United States," said U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., co-founder of the House Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus.
CAIR itself recently was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an alleged scheme to funnel $12 million to the terrorist group Hamas. In the Holy Land Foundation case, federal prosecutors also listed CAIR as a member of the U.S. branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a worldwide jihadist movement that gave rise to Hamas, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. The government will retry the Holy Land case, which ended in a hung jury.
"There was a lot of evidence presented at the recent Holy Land Foundation trial which exposed CAIR and others as front groups for the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States," Myrick said.
Still, C AIR is lobbying House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and other sympathetic members of Congress to pressure the Justice Department to expunge its name from the case, arguing the negative publicity has hurt membership and fundraising.
The federal judge during the trial refused a written request by the group to strike its name from the list of co-conspirators. The petition is still pending before the court.
CAIR, which runs 33 offices and chapters nationwide, also recently helped defeat an anti-terror plan by Los Angeles police to map the local Muslim community for extremist neighborhoods.
Critics counter that CAIR has no legitimate voice to make such complaints, because the group is itself an extremist organization that has employed or appointed to its boards of directors and advisers an inordinate number of radical co-conspirators, suspected and convicted terrorists, and other criminals.
Indeed, the list is long and growing, and includes:
Muthanna al-Hanooti: The CAIR director's home was raided last year by FBI agents in connection with an active terrorism investigation. Agents also searched the offices of his advocacy group, Focus on Advocacy and Advancement of International Relations, which al-Hanooti operates out of Dearborn, Mich., and Washington, D.C.
FAAIR claims to be a consulting firm raising awareness of Sunni grievances in Iraq, but investigators suspect it's a front supporting the Sunni-led insurgency.
Muthanna al-Hanooti, wearing traditional headgarb
Al-Hanooti, who emigrated to the U.S. from Iraq, formerly helped run a suspected Hamas terror front called LIFE for Relief and Development. Its Michigan offices also were raided last September. In 2004, LIFE's Baghdad office was raided by U.S. troops, who seized files and computers.
Al-Hanooti is related to Shiek Mohammed al-Hanooti, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He currently leads prayers at a Washington-area mosque that aided some of the 9/11 hijackers.
The FBI alleges al-Hanooti, an ethnic-Palestinian who also emigrated from Iraq, raised money for Hamas. In fact, "Al-Hanooti collected over $6 million for support of Hamas," according to a 2001 FBI report, and was present with CAIR and Holy Land officials at a secret Hamas fundraising summit held last decade at a Philadelphia hotel.
Prosecutors recently added his name to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
Al-Hanooti denies supporting Hamas, although he's praised Palestinian suicide bombers as "martyrs" who are "alive in the eyes of Allah."
Earlier this year, his younger brother, Hamid al-Hanooti, was found dead in Iraq after reportedly being held by local security forces as a suspected terrorist.
Laura Jaghlit: A civil-rights coordinator for CAIR, her Washington-area home was raided by federal agents after 9/11 as part of an investigation into terrorist financing, money laundering and tax fraud. Her husband Mohammed Jaghlit, a key leader in the Saudi-backed SAAR network, is a target of the still-active probe.
Last decade, Jaghlit sent two letters accompanying donations – one for $10,000, the other for $5,000 – from the SAAR Foundation to Sami al-Arian, now a convicted terrorist. In each letter, according to a federal affidavit, "Jaghlit instructed al-Arian not to disclose the contribution publicly or to the media."
Investigators suspect the funds were intended for Palestinian terrorists via a U.S. front called WISE, which at the time employed an official who personally delivered a satellite phone battery to Osama bin Laden. The same official also worked for Jaghlit's group.
In addition, Jaghlit donated a total of $37,200 to the Holy Land Foundation, which prosecutors say is a Hamas front. Jaghlit subsequently was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the ongoing case.
Abdurahman Alamoudi: Another CAIR director, he is serving 23 years in federal prison for plotting terrorism. Alamoudi, who was caught on tape complaining bin Laden hadn't killed enough Americans in the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, was one of al-Qaida's top fund-raisers in America, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Nihad Awad
Nihad Awad: For the first time, wiretap evidence from the Holy Land case puts CAIR's executive director at a Philadelphia meeting of Hamas leaders and activists that was secretly recorded by the FBI. Participants allegedly hatched a plot to disguise payments to Hamas terrorists as charitable giving.
During the meeting, according to FBI transcripts, Awad was recorded discussing the propaganda effort. He mentions Ghassan Dahduli, whom he worked with at the time at the Islamic Association for Palestine, another Hamas front. Both were IAP officers. Dahduli's name also was listed in the address book of bin Laden's personal secretary, Wadi al-Hage, who is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in the U.S. embassy bombings. Dahduli, an ethnic-Palestinian like Awad, was deported to Jordan after 9/11 for refusing to cooperate in the terror investigation.
Awad's and Dahduli's phone numbers are listed in a Muslim Brotherhood document seized by federal investigators revealing "important phone numbers" for the "Palestine Section" of the Brotherhood in America. The court exhibit shows Hamas fugitive Mousa Abu Marzook listed on the same page with Awad.
Omar Ahmad
Omar Ahmad: U.S. prosecutors also named CAIR's founder and chairman emeritus as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land case. Ahmad too was placed at the Philly meeting, FBI special agent Lara Burns testified at the trial. Prosecutors also designated him as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's "Palestine Committee" in America. Ahmad, like his CAIR partner Awad, is ethnic-Palestinian.
(Though both Ahmad and Awad were senior leaders of IAP, the Hamas front, neither of their biographical sketches posted on CAIR's website mentions their IAP past.)
Nabil Sadoun: A current CAIR board member, Sadoun has served on the board of the United Association for Studies and Research, which investigators believe to be a key Hamas front in America. In fact, Sadoun co-founded UASR with Hamas leader Marzook. The Justice Department added UASR to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
Mohamed Nimer
Mohamed Nimer: CAIR's current research director also served as a board director for UASR, the strategic arm for Hamas in the U.S.
(Tellingly, CAIR neglects to mention Nimer's and Sadoun's roles in UASR in their bios.)
Rafeeq Jaber: A founding director of CAIR, Jaber was the long-time president of the Islamic Association for Palestine. In 2002, a federal judge found that "the Islamic Association for Palestine has acted in support of Hamas." In his capacity as IAP chief, Jaber praised Hezbollah attacks on Israel. He also served on the board of a radical mosque in the Chicago area.
Rabith Hadid: The CAIR fund-raiser was a founder of the Global Relief Foundation, which after 9/11 was blacklisted by Treasury for financing al-Qaida and other terror groups. Its assets were frozen in December 2001. Hadid was arrested on terror-related charges and deported to Lebanon in 2003.
Siraj Wahhaj
Siraj Wahhaj: A member of CAIR's board of advisers, Wahhaj was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The radical Brooklyn imam was close to convicted terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, and defended him during his trial.
He was also a featured speaker at tonight's dinner.
Randall "Ismail" Royer: The former CAIR communications specialist and civil-rights coordinator is serving 20 years in prison in connection with the Virginia Jihad Network, which he led while employed by CAIR at its Washington headquarters. The group trained to kill U.S. soldiers overseas, cased the FBI headquarters, and cheered the space shuttle Columbia tragedy. Al-Qaida operative Ahmed Abu Ali, convicted of plotting to assassinate President Bush, was among those who trained with Royer's Northern Virginia cell.
Bassam Khafagi: Another CAIR official, Khafagi was arrested in 2003 while serving as CAIR's director of community affairs. He pleaded guilty to charges of bank and visa fraud stemming from a federal counterterror probe of his leadership role in the Islamic Assembly of North America, which has supported al-Qaida and advocated suicide attacks on America. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison and deported to his native Egypt.
Ghassan Elashi
Ghassan Elashi: One of CAIR's founding directors, he was convicted in 2004 of illegally shipping high-tech goods to terror state Syria, and is serving 80 months in prison. He's also charged with providing material support to Hamas in the Holy Land Foundation trial. He was chairman of the charity, which provided seed capital to CAIR. Elashi is related to Hamas leader Marzook.
Hamza Yusuf: The FBI investigated the CAIR board member after 9/11, because just two days before the attacks, he made an ominous prediction to a Muslim audience.
"This country is facing a terrible fate and the reason for that is because this country stands condemned," Yusuf warned. "It stands condemned like Europe stood condemned because of what it did. And lest people forget, Europe suffered two world wars after conquering the Muslim lands."
CAIR, which receives financial backing from Saudi and Emirati royalty, denies charges that it has a secret agenda to Islamize America. But a Muslim Brotherhood document declassified in the Holy Land case reveals that CAIR's parent was among Muslim organizations enlisted in a secret plot to destroy the American system from within and eventually take over the country.
Written early last decade in Arabic, the manifesto lays bare the subversive role of CAIR's forerunner, the Islamic Association for Palestine, and other Muslim groups in America to carry out a "grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by the hands of the believers, so that it is eliminated and Allah's religion is made victorious over all other religions."
CAIR's founder Ahmad, while claiming to be a moderate and patriotic American, last decade told a group of Muslims in Northern California that they are in America to help assert Islam's rule over the country.
"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant," a local reporter quoted him as saying, adding, "The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth."
Ahmad insists he was misquoted. However, an FBI wiretap transcript quotes Ahmad agreeing with terrorist suspects gathered last decade at the secret Philly meeting to "camouflage" their true intentions.
He compared it to the head fake in basketball. "This is like one who plays basketball: He makes a player believe that he is doing this, while he does something else," Ahmad said. "I agree with you. Like they say, politics is a completion of war."
What's more, Hooper, CAIR's communications director, also has expressed his wish to overturn the U.S. system of government in favor of an "Islamic" state.
"I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future," Hooper said in a 1993 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education."
Though conceding he made the remark, Hooper argues that he's never advocated violence. He says he and Muslims like him should work instead through the media and use "education" to help turn America into an Islamic state.
For media inquiries, e-mail Tricia, or call (910) 270-8966.
Two items: MSA Press Release and World Net Report
Assalaamu Alaikum
Two pieces of bad news: (1) the forwarded report below on the subpoenas served on a number of CAIR officials; (2) and the GUILTY VERDICTS (on all counts) for all five brothers indicted in the Holy Land Foundation case. I just received a call a short time ago after the verdict came in. (May ALLAH fortify the individual and collective spirit of the brothers and their respective families.)
I hope that the substance of what is being alleged against the CAIR organization is not true; certainly time will bear this out one way or the other. With respect to the Holy Land Foundation, I strongly believe that the government's case was nothing more than a red herring (aided by prejudice) - and in the end, BIGOTRY WON!
The unfortunate reality, however, is that the bigotry which sealed the fate of these brothers in that Dallas courtroom today, was aided and abetted by fear and indifference within the Muslim community itself; and some of the biggest culprits toward this end were "Major Muslim Organizations" in America.
I'm going to take a little time to process what has happened, go to the foundational sources (Qur'an and Sunnah) in search of some clear perspective, and then share my deeper thoughts on this regrettable outcome later, insha'Allah. Please make du'a (prayer supplication) for these brothers and their families.
El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan
_____________________________________________________
Surprise! CAIR officials slapped with subpoenas
Terror-linked Muslim lobby's dinner turns into public relations nightmare
Posted: November 23, 2008 9:40 pm Eastern
By Joseph Farah
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
Nihad Awad, director of CAIR, being served a subpoena
WASHINGTON – When the Council on American-Islamic Relations held its 14th Annual Banquet at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel tonight, it was planning to raise funds and honor some of its supporters, but instead several top officials of the Muslim lobby group were served with subpoenas for various civil and criminal offenses.
The dramatic surprise, caught on video, was a result of the research work of the Mapping Sharia Project, headed by Dave Gaubatz. He personally served CAIR Director Nihad Awad at the banquet tonight while North Carolina state Sen. Larry Shaw, D-N.C., a CAIR national board member, was addressing the festivities.
Four CAIR clients have filed a federal civil complaint alleging criminal fraud and racketeering against CAIR, a self-described public interest civil rights law firm. The lawsuit also names CAIR's national leadership as individual defendants.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that Morris Days, the "resident attorney" and "manager for civil rights" at the now defunct CAIR MD/VA chapter in Herndon, Va., was in fact not an attorney and that he failed to provide legal services for clients who came to CAIR for assistance and who had paid for CAIR legal services.
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While attorney David Yerushalmi represents the four plaintiffs in this particular lawsuit, two of whom are African-American Muslims, the complaint alleges that, according to CAIR internal documents, there were hundreds of victims of fraud scheme by CAIR and Days.
According to the complaint, CAIR failed to conduct a background check on Days prior to hiring him and when the group discovered the fraud, it set about a cover-up.
The suit charges CAIR officials purposefully concealed the truth about Days from their clients, law enforcement, the Virginia and D.C. state bar associations and the media. When CAIR got irate calls from clients about Days' failure to provide competent legal services, CAIR is charged with fraudulently deceiving clients about Days' relationship to CAIR, concealing the fact that CAIR had fired him for criminal fraud.
"The evidence has long suggested that CAIR is a criminal organization set up by the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas to further its aims of stealth Jihad in the U.S.," Yerushalmi said referring to the fact that CAIR has been named by the federal government as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror financing trial. "But our investigation and this complaint makes clear that CAIR’s criminal activities know no bounds."
Yerushalmi alleges CAIR has engaged in a massive cover-up of a criminal fraud in which hundreds of CAIR clients have been victimized.
"The fact that CAIR has victimized Muslims and non-Muslims alike demonstrates that CAIR is only looking out for CAIR and its ongoing effort to bilk donors out of millions of dollars of charitable donations thinking they are supporting a legitimate organization," he said.
The complaint also alleges that in addition to covering up the Days fraud scheme, CAIR officials in D.C . forced angry clients who were demanding a return of their legal fees to sign a release that bought the client-victims' silence by prohibiting them from informing law enforcement or the media about the CAIR-Days fraud. According to the agreement, if the "settling" clients said anything to anyone about the fraud scheme, CAIR would be able to sue them for $25,000.
The four plaintiffs contacted their attorney David Yerushalmi only after they had spoken to Gaubatz, a private researcher who had been investigating CAIR for its connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and its ties to global jihad.
The complaint identifies CAIR as a racketeering enterprise under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which is a criminal racketeering statute that allows victims to sue the defendants in civil court. In addition to damages, the plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief under this and other statutes to shut down CAIR and to prevent the individual defendants from engaging in public interest legal work in the future.
The named defendants are: the Council on American-Islamic Relations Action Network Inc. (dba CAIR); Nihad Awad aka Nihad Hammad, who serves as executive director of CAIR National; Parvez Ahmed, who was the chairman of the board of CAIR National during the relevant time period; Tahra Goraya, who was the national director of CAIR but who has since resigned; Khadijah Athman, who is the manager of the "civil rights" division of CAIR; and Nadhira al-Khalili, Esq., who is in-house legal counsel for CAIR. All were handed subpoenas this evening.
According to the complaint, CAIR's in-house Washington, D.C.-based attorney Khalili was directly involved in taking the legal files out of the CAIR Virginia office and concealing them in the D.C. office.
Also named as defendants are Ibrahim Hooper and Amina Rubin, CAIR's director of communications and coordinator of communications, respectively. According to the complaint, these two were directly responsible for is suing fraudulent press releases about the Days fraud scheme, thus aiding and abetting the CAIR cover-up.
CAIR officials were not available for comment tonight.
Also addressing the dinner was Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the nation's first Muslim member of Congress. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, reportedly turned down an invitation to address the banquet.
As WND previously reported, CAIR allegedly defrauded a number of Muslims recently seeking help with citizenship delays, and then threatened to sue them if they complained to the media, according to a security watchdog group which has obtained internal CAIR documents.
The former legal director of CAIR's Maryland/Virginia chapter shook down Muslim hardship cases for thousands of dollars without providing promised services, officials with the Mapping Sharia Project charge.
CAIR, a nonprofit group, promoted the services of the employee, Morris L. "Jamil" Days, whom it publicly described as a civil-rights attorney, even after discovering Days was unlicensed and was fraudulently representing CAIR's clients.
CAIR's board allegedly covered up the scandal by paying defrauded Muslim families partial restitution payments while insisting they sign agreements releasing CAIR from legal liability, officials said.
The Mapping Sharia Project had threatened to sue CAIR for "damages in the amount of $25,000 for the purpose of conducting meetings, workshops, press releases, flyers and the like to reverse ... the damage to CAIR's reputation caused by the recipient's breach" of the agreement to remain silent about the "incident."
Earlier this year, the board also fired Days and closed the chapter's offices in Herndon, Va. The chapter director, Khalid Iqbal, is no longer with CAIR.
CAIR refused to respond to the allegations, which came to light only after American Muslims provided evidence to the Mapping Sharia Project.
"I really don't know anything about this," CAIR spokesman Ahmed Rehab said. He referred questions to CAIR communications director Ibrahim Hooper, who declined comment.
Earlier this year, CAIR launched a $250,000 fundraising campaign that included a promotional on its website touting its mission to help Muslims, particularly those confronting citizenship problems.
"Everyday, CAIR works hard to defend the rights of American Muslims who encounter a delay in gaining citizenship," the group said. In fact, CAIR has "victimized" poor Muslim immigrants, says Gaubatz.
"CAIR continues to put Muslim Americans at risk through the pretense that they represent them in any way," Gaubatz said. "CAIR is receiving support from big foreign donors, not because of their effectiveness in discrimination cases, but because of their false image in the media."
Gaubatz says CAIR, which last year was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal terror-financing case involving Hamas, controls some $7 million in real estate assets in Washington through a limited liability holding company that includes silent Middle Eastern investors.
He says his group has filed a formal complaint against CAIR concerning the alleged fraud w ith the District of Columbia.
WND has previously reported on CAIR's extensive ties to terrorism and extremism. Although CAIR is a nonprofit organization, it does not disclose complete directories of its staff or advisory boards, and even refuses to make its federal tax filings readily available to the public. But a review of federal criminal court documents, past IRS 990 tax records and Federal Election Commission records detailing donor occupations, reveals that Washington-based CAIR has been associated with a disturbing number of convicted terrorists or felons in terrorism probes, as well as suspected terrorists and active targets of terrorism investigations.
"Their offices have been a turnstile for terrorists and their supporters," said one FBI veteran familiar with recent and ongoing cases involving CAIR officials. WND has reported that at least 14 CAIR officials have been caught up in terror investigations.
Congressional leaders say they are warning lawmakers and other Washington officials to disassociate from the group due to its growing terror ties.
"Groups like CAIR have a proven record of senior officials being indicted and either imprisoned or deported from the United States," said U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., co-founder of the House Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus.
CAIR itself recently was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an alleged scheme to funnel $12 million to the terrorist group Hamas. In the Holy Land Foundation case, federal prosecutors also listed CAIR as a member of the U.S. branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a worldwide jihadist movement that gave rise to Hamas, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. The government will retry the Holy Land case, which ended in a hung jury.
"There was a lot of evidence presented at the recent Holy Land Foundation trial which exposed CAIR and others as front groups for the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States," Myrick said.
Still, C AIR is lobbying House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and other sympathetic members of Congress to pressure the Justice Department to expunge its name from the case, arguing the negative publicity has hurt membership and fundraising.
The federal judge during the trial refused a written request by the group to strike its name from the list of co-conspirators. The petition is still pending before the court.
CAIR, which runs 33 offices and chapters nationwide, also recently helped defeat an anti-terror plan by Los Angeles police to map the local Muslim community for extremist neighborhoods.
Critics counter that CAIR has no legitimate voice to make such complaints, because the group is itself an extremist organization that has employed or appointed to its boards of directors and advisers an inordinate number of radical co-conspirators, suspected and convicted terrorists, and other criminals.
Indeed, the list is long and growing, and includes:
Indeed, the list is long and growing, and includes:
Muthanna al-Hanooti: The CAIR director's home was raided last year by FBI agents in connection with an active terrorism investigation. Agents also searched the offices of his advocacy group, Focus on Advocacy and Advancement of International Relations, which al-Hanooti operates out of Dearborn, Mich., and Washington, D.C.
FAAIR claims to be a consulting firm raising awareness of Sunni grievances in Iraq, but investigators suspect it's a front supporting the Sunni-led insurgency.
Muthanna al-Hanooti, wearing traditional headgarb
Al-Hanooti, who emigrated to the U.S. from Iraq, formerly helped run a suspected Hamas terror front called LIFE for Relief and Development. Its Michigan offices also were raided last September. In 2004, LIFE's Baghdad office was raided by U.S. troops, who seized files and computers.
Al-Hanooti is related to Shiek Mohammed al-Hanooti, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He currently leads prayers at a Washington-area mosque that aided some of the 9/11 hijackers.
The FBI alleges al-Hanooti, an ethnic-Palestinian who also emigrated from Iraq, raised money for Hamas. In fact, "Al-Hanooti collected over $6 million for support of Hamas," according to a 2001 FBI report, and was present with CAIR and Holy Land officials at a secret Hamas fundraising summit held last decade at a Philadelphia hotel.
Prosecutors recently added his name to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
Al-Hanooti denies supporting Hamas, although he's praised Palestinian suicide bombers as "martyrs" who are "alive in the eyes of Allah."
Earlier this year, his younger brother, Hamid al-Hanooti, was found dead in Iraq after reportedly being held by local security forces as a suspected terrorist.
Laura Jaghlit: A civil-rights coordinator for CAIR, her Washington-area home was raided by federal agents after 9/11 as part of an investigation into terrorist financing, money laundering and tax fraud. Her husband Mohammed Jaghlit, a key leader in the Saudi-backed SAAR network, is a target of the still-active probe.
Last decade, Jaghlit sent two letters accompanying donations – one for $10,000, the other for $5,000 – from the SAAR Foundation to Sami al-Arian, now a convicted terrorist. In each letter, according to a federal affidavit, "Jaghlit instructed al-Arian not to disclose the contribution publicly or to the media."
Investigators suspect the funds were intended for Palestinian terrorists via a U.S. front called WISE, which at the time employed an official who personally delivered a satellite phone battery to Osama bin Laden. The same official also worked for Jaghlit's group.
In addition, Jaghlit donated a total of $37,200 to the Holy Land Foundation, which prosecutors say is a Hamas front. Jaghlit subsequently was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the ongoing case.
Abdurahman Alamoudi: Another CAIR director, he is serving 23 years in federal prison for plotting terrorism. Alamoudi, who was caught on tape complaining bin Laden hadn't killed enough Americans in the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, was one of al-Qaida's top fund-raisers in America, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Nihad Awad
Nihad Awad: For the first time, wiretap evidence from the Holy Land case puts CAIR's executive director at a Philadelphia meeting of Hamas leaders and activists that was secretly recorded by the FBI. Participants allegedly hatched a plot to disguise payments to Hamas terrorists as charitable giving.
During the meeting, according to FBI transcripts, Awad was recorded discussing the propaganda effort. He mentions Ghassan Dahduli, whom he worked with at the time at the Islamic Association for Palestine, another Hamas front. Both were IAP officers. Dahduli's name also was listed in the address book of bin Laden's personal secretary, Wadi al-Hage, who is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in the U.S. embassy bombings. Dahduli, an ethnic-Palestinian like Awad, was deported to Jordan after 9/11 for refusing to cooperate in the terror investigation.
Awad's and Dahduli's phone numbers are listed in a Muslim Brotherhood document seized by federal investigators revealing "important phone numbers" for the "Palestine Section" of the Brotherhood in America. The court exhibit shows Hamas fugitive Mousa Abu Marzook listed on the same page with Awad.
Omar Ahmad
Omar Ahmad: U.S. prosecutors also named CAIR's founder and chairman emeritus as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land case. Ahmad too was placed at the Philly meeting, FBI special agent Lara Burns testified at the trial. Prosecutors also designated him as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's "Palestine Committee" in America. Ahmad, like his CAIR partner Awad, is ethnic-Palestinian.
(Though both Ahmad and Awad were senior leaders of IAP, the Hamas front, neither of their biographical sketches posted on CAIR's website mentions their IAP past.)
Nabil Sadoun: A current CAIR board member, Sadoun has served on the board of the United Association for Studies and Research, which investigators believe to be a key Hamas front in America. In fact, Sadoun co-founded UASR with Hamas leader Marzook. The Justice Department added UASR to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
Mohamed Nimer
Mohamed Nimer: CAIR's current research director also served as a board director for UASR, the strategic arm for Hamas in the U.S.
(Tellingly, CAIR neglects to mention Nimer's and Sadoun's roles in UASR in their bios.)
Rafeeq Jaber: A founding director of CAIR, Jaber was the long-time president of the Islamic Association for Palestine. In 2002, a federal judge found that "the Islamic Association for Palestine has acted in support of Hamas." In his capacity as IAP chief, Jaber praised Hezbollah attacks on Israel. He also served on the board of a radical mosque in the Chicago area.
Rabith Hadid: The CAIR fund-raiser was a founder of the Global Relief Foundation, which after 9/11 was blacklisted by Treasury for financing al-Qaida and other terror groups. Its assets were frozen in December 2001. Hadid was arrested on terror-related charges and deported to Lebanon in 2003.
Siraj Wahhaj
Siraj Wahhaj: A member of CAIR's board of advisers, Wahhaj was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The radical Brooklyn imam was close to convicted terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, and defended him during his trial.
He was also a featured speaker at tonight's dinner.
Randall "Ismail" Royer: The former CAIR communications specialist and civil-rights coordinator is serving 20 years in prison in connection with the Virginia Jihad Network, which he led while employed by CAIR at its Washington headquarters. The group trained to kill U.S. soldiers overseas, cased the FBI headquarters, and cheered the space shuttle Columbia tragedy. Al-Qaida operative Ahmed Abu Ali, convicted of plotting to assassinate President Bush, was among those who trained with Royer's Northern Virginia cell.
Bassam Khafagi: Another CAIR official, Khafagi was arrested in 2003 while serving as CAIR's director of community affairs. He pleaded guilty to charges of bank and visa fraud stemming from a federal counterterror probe of his leadership role in the Islamic Assembly of North America, which has supported al-Qaida and advocated suicide attacks on America. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison and deported to his native Egypt.
Ghassan Elashi
Ghassan Elashi: One of CAIR's founding directors, he was convicted in 2004 of illegally shipping high-tech goods to terror state Syria, and is serving 80 months in prison. He's also charged with providing material support to Hamas in the Holy Land Foundation trial. He was chairman of the charity, which provided seed capital to CAIR. Elashi is related to Hamas leader Marzook.
Hamza Yusuf: The FBI investigated the CAIR board member after 9/11, because just two days before the attacks, he made an ominous prediction to a Muslim audience.
"This country is facing a terrible fate and the reason for that is because this country stands condemned," Yusuf warned. "It stands condemned like Europe stood condemned because of what it did. And lest people forget, Europe suffered two world wars after conquering the Muslim lands."
CAIR, which receives financial backing from Saudi and Emirati royalty, denies charges that it has a secret agenda to Islamize America. But a Muslim Brotherhood document declassified in the Holy Land case reveals that CAIR's parent was among Muslim organizations enlisted in a secret plot to destroy the American system from within and eventually take over the country.
Written early last decade in Arabic, the manifesto lays bare the subversive role of CAIR's forerunner, the Islamic Association for Palestine, and other Muslim groups in America to carry out a "grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by the hands of the believers, so that it is eliminated and Allah's religion is made victorious over all other religions."
CAIR's founder Ahmad, while claiming to be a moderate and patriotic American, last decade told a group of Muslims in Northern California that they are in America to help assert Islam's rule over the country.
"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant," a local reporter quoted him as saying, adding, "The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth."
Ahmad insists he was misquoted. However, an FBI wiretap transcript quotes Ahmad agreeing with terrorist suspects gathered last decade at the secret Philly meeting to "camouflage" their true intentions.
He compared it to the head fake in basketball. "This is like one who plays basketball: He makes a player believe that he is doing this, while he does something else," Ahmad said. "I agree with you. Like they say, politics is a completion of war."
What's more, Hooper, CAIR's communications director, also has expressed his wish to overturn the U.S. system of government in favor of an "Islamic" state.
"I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future," Hooper said in a 1993 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education."
Though conceding he made the remark, Hooper argues that he's never advocated violence. He says he and Muslims like him should work instead through the media and use "education" to help turn America into an Islamic state.
For media inquiries, e-mail Tricia, or call (910) 270-8966.
Surprise! CAIR officials slapped with subpoenas
Terror-linked Muslim lobby's dinner turns into public relations nightmare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: November 23, 2008
9:40 pm Eastern
By Joseph Farah
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
Nihad Awad, director of CAIR, being served a subpoena
WASHINGTON – When the Council on American-Islamic Relations held its 14th Annual Banquet at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel tonight, it was planning to raise funds and honor some of its supporters, but instead several top officials of the Muslim lobby group were served with subpoenas for various civil and criminal offenses.
The dramatic surprise, caught on video, was a result of the research work of the Mapping Sharia Project, headed by Dave Gaubatz. He personally served CAIR Director Nihad Awad at the banquet tonight while North Carolina state Sen. Larry Shaw, D-N.C., a CAIR national board member, was addressing the festivities.
Four CAIR clients have filed a federal civil complaint alleging criminal fraud and racketeering against CAIR, a self-described public interest civil rights law firm. The lawsuit also names CAIR's national leadership as individual defendants.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that Morris Days, the "resident attorney" and "manager for civil rights" at the now defunct CAIR MD/VA chapter in Herndon, Va., was in fact not an attorney and that he failed to provide legal services for clients who came to CAIR for assistance and who had paid for CAIR legal services.
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While attorney David Yerushalmi represents the four plaintiffs in this particular lawsuit, two of whom are African-American Muslims, the complaint alleges that, according to CAIR internal documents, there were hundreds of victims of fraud scheme by CAIR and Days.
According to the complaint, CAIR failed to conduct a background check on Days prior to hiring him and when the group discovered the fraud, it set about a cover-up.
The suit charges CAIR officials purposefully concealed the truth about Days from their clients, law enforcement, the Virginia and D.C. state bar associations and the media. When CAIR got irate calls from clients about Days' failure to provide competent legal services, CAIR is charged with fraudulently deceiving clients about Days' relationship to CAIR, concealing the fact that CAIR had fired him for criminal fraud.
"The evidence has long suggested that CAIR is a criminal organization set up by the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas to further its aims of stealth Jihad in the U.S.," Yerushalmi said referring to the fact that CAIR has been named by the federal government as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror financing trial. "But our investigation and this complaint makes clear that CAIR’s criminal activities know no bounds."
Yerushalmi alleges CAIR has engaged in a massive cover-up of a criminal fraud in which hundreds of CAIR clients have been victimized.
"The fact that CAIR has victimized Muslims and non-Muslims alike demonstrates that CAIR is only looking out for CAIR and its ongoing effort to bilk donors out of millions of dollars of charitable donations thinking they are supporting a legitimate organization," he said.
The complaint also alleges that in addition to covering up the Days fraud scheme, CAIR officials in D.C . forced angry clients who were demanding a return of their legal fees to sign a release that bought the client-victims' silence by prohibiting them from informing law enforcement or the media about the CAIR-Days fraud. According to the agreement, if the "settling" clients said anything to anyone about the fraud scheme, CAIR would be able to sue them for $25,000.
The four plaintiffs contacted their attorney David Yerushalmi only after they had spoken to Gaubatz, a private researcher who had been investigating CAIR for its connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and its ties to global jihad.
The complaint identifies CAIR as a racketeering enterprise under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which is a criminal racketeering statute that allows victims to sue the defendants in civil court. In addition to damages, the plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief under this and other statutes to shut down CAIR and to prevent the individual defendants from engaging in public interest legal work in the future.
The named defendants are: the Council on American-Islamic Relations Action Network Inc. (dba CAIR); Nihad Awad aka Nihad Hammad, who serves as executive director of CAIR National; Parvez Ahmed, who was the chairman of the board of CAIR National during the relevant time period; Tahra Goraya, who was the national director of CAIR but who has since resigned; Khadijah Athman, who is the manager of the "civil rights" division of CAIR; and Nadhira al-Khalili, Esq., who is in-house legal counsel for CAIR. All were handed subpoenas this evening.
According to the complaint, CAIR's in-house Washington, D.C.-based attorney Khalili was directly involved in taking the legal files out of the CAIR Virginia office and concealing them in the D.C. office.
Also named as defendants are Ibrahim Hooper and Amina Rubin, CAIR's director of communications and coordinator of communications, respectively. According to the complaint, these two were directly responsible for is suing fraudulent press releases about the Days fraud scheme, thus aiding and abetting the CAIR cover-up.
CAIR officials were not available for comment tonight.
Also addressing the dinner was Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the nation's first Muslim member of Congress. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, reportedly turned down an invitation to address the banquet.
As WND previously reported, CAIR allegedly defrauded a number of Muslims recently seeking help with citizenship delays, and then threatened to sue them if they complained to the media, according to a security watchdog group which has obtained internal CAIR documents.
The former legal director of CAIR's Maryland/Virginia chapter shook down Muslim hardship cases for thousands of dollars without providing promised services, officials with the Mapping Sharia Project charge.
CAIR, a nonprofit group, promoted the services of the employee, Morris L. "Jamil" Days, whom it publicly described as a civil-rights attorney, even after discovering Days was unlicensed and was fraudulently representing CAIR's clients.
CAIR's board allegedly covered up the scandal by paying defrauded Muslim families partial restitution payments while insisting they sign agreements releasing CAIR from legal liability, officials said.
The Mapping Sharia Project had threatened to sue CAIR for "damages in the amount of $25,000 for the purpose of conducting meetings, workshops, press releases, flyers and the like to reverse ... the damage to CAIR's reputation caused by the recipient's breach" of the agreement to remain silent about the "incident."
Earlier this year, the board also fired Days and closed the chapter's offices in Herndon, Va. The chapter director, Khalid Iqbal, is no longer with CAIR.
CAIR refused to respond to the allegations, which came to light only after American Muslims provided evidence to the Mapping Sharia Project.
"I really don't know anything about this," CAIR spokesman Ahmed Rehab said. He referred questions to CAIR communications director Ibrahim Hooper, who declined comment.
Earlier this year, CAIR launched a $250,000 fundraising campaign that included a promotional on its website touting its mission to help Muslims, particularly those confronting citizenship problems.
"Everyday, CAIR works hard to defend the rights of American Muslims who encounter a delay in gaining citizenship," the group said. In fact, CAIR has "victimized" poor Muslim immigrants, says Gaubatz.
"CAIR continues to put Muslim Americans at risk through the pretense that they represent them in any way," Gaubatz said. "CAIR is receiving support from big foreign donors, not because of their effectiveness in discrimination cases, but because of their false image in the media."
Gaubatz says CAIR, which last year was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal terror-financing case involving Hamas, controls some $7 million in real estate assets in Washington through a limited liability holding company that includes silent Middle Eastern investors.
He says his group has filed a formal complaint against CAIR concerning the alleged fraud w ith the District of Columbia.
WND has previously reported on CAIR's extensive ties to terrorism and extremism. Although CAIR is a nonprofit organization, it does not disclose complete directories of its staff or advisory boards, and even refuses to make its federal tax filings readily available to the public. But a review of federal criminal court documents, past IRS 990 tax records and Federal Election Commission records detailing donor occupations, reveals that Washington-based CAIR has been associated with a disturbing number of convicted terrorists or felons in terrorism probes, as well as suspected terrorists and active targets of terrorism investigations.
"Their offices have been a turnstile for terrorists and their supporters," said one FBI veteran familiar with recent and ongoing cases involving CAIR officials. WND has reported that at least 14 CAIR officials have been caught up in terror investigations.
Congressional leaders say they are warning lawmakers and other Washington officials to disassociate from the group due to its growing terror ties.
"Groups like CAIR have a proven record of senior officials being indicted and either imprisoned or deported from the United States," said U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., co-founder of the House Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus.
CAIR itself recently was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an alleged scheme to funnel $12 million to the terrorist group Hamas. In the Holy Land Foundation case, federal prosecutors also listed CAIR as a member of the U.S. branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a worldwide jihadist movement that gave rise to Hamas, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. The government will retry the Holy Land case, which ended in a hung jury.
"There was a lot of evidence presented at the recent Holy Land Foundation trial which exposed CAIR and others as front groups for the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States," Myrick said.
Still, C AIR is lobbying House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and other sympathetic members of Congress to pressure the Justice Department to expunge its name from the case, arguing the negative publicity has hurt membership and fundraising.
The federal judge during the trial refused a written request by the group to strike its name from the list of co-conspirators. The petition is still pending before the court.
CAIR, which runs 33 offices and chapters nationwide, also recently helped defeat an anti-terror plan by Los Angeles police to map the local Muslim community for extremist neighborhoods.
Critics counter that CAIR has no legitimate voice to make such complaints, because the group is itself an extremist organization that has employed or appointed to its boards of directors and advisers an inordinate number of radical co-conspirators, suspected and convicted terrorists, and other criminals.
Indeed, the list is long and growing, and includes:
Muthanna al-Hanooti: The CAIR director's home was raided last year by FBI agents in connection with an active terrorism investigation. Agents also searched the offices of his advocacy group, Focus on Advocacy and Advancement of International Relations, which al-Hanooti operates out of Dearborn, Mich., and Washington, D.C.
FAAIR claims to be a consulting firm raising awareness of Sunni grievances in Iraq, but investigators suspect it's a front supporting the Sunni-led insurgency.
Muthanna al-Hanooti, wearing traditional headgarb
Al-Hanooti, who emigrated to the U.S. from Iraq, formerly helped run a suspected Hamas terror front called LIFE for Relief and Development. Its Michigan offices also were raided last September. In 2004, LIFE's Baghdad office was raided by U.S. troops, who seized files and computers.
Al-Hanooti is related to Shiek Mohammed al-Hanooti, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He currently leads prayers at a Washington-area mosque that aided some of the 9/11 hijackers.
The FBI alleges al-Hanooti, an ethnic-Palestinian who also emigrated from Iraq, raised money for Hamas. In fact, "Al-Hanooti collected over $6 million for support of Hamas," according to a 2001 FBI report, and was present with CAIR and Holy Land officials at a secret Hamas fundraising summit held last decade at a Philadelphia hotel.
Prosecutors recently added his name to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
Al-Hanooti denies supporting Hamas, although he's praised Palestinian suicide bombers as "martyrs" who are "alive in the eyes of Allah."
Earlier this year, his younger brother, Hamid al-Hanooti, was found dead in Iraq after reportedly being held by local security forces as a suspected terrorist.
Laura Jaghlit: A civil-rights coordinator for CAIR, her Washington-area home was raided by federal agents after 9/11 as part of an investigation into terrorist financing, money laundering and tax fraud. Her husband Mohammed Jaghlit, a key leader in the Saudi-backed SAAR network, is a target of the still-active probe.
Last decade, Jaghlit sent two letters accompanying donations – one for $10,000, the other for $5,000 – from the SAAR Foundation to Sami al-Arian, now a convicted terrorist. In each letter, according to a federal affidavit, "Jaghlit instructed al-Arian not to disclose the contribution publicly or to the media."
Investigators suspect the funds were intended for Palestinian terrorists via a U.S. front called WISE, which at the time employed an official who personally delivered a satellite phone battery to Osama bin Laden. The same official also worked for Jaghlit's group.
In addition, Jaghlit donated a total of $37,200 to the Holy Land Foundation, which prosecutors say is a Hamas front. Jaghlit subsequently was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the ongoing case.
Abdurahman Alamoudi: Another CAIR director, he is serving 23 years in federal prison for plotting terrorism. Alamoudi, who was caught on tape complaining bin Laden hadn't killed enough Americans in the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, was one of al-Qaida's top fund-raisers in America, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Nihad Awad
Nihad Awad: For the first time, wiretap evidence from the Holy Land case puts CAIR's executive director at a Philadelphia meeting of Hamas leaders and activists that was secretly recorded by the FBI. Participants allegedly hatched a plot to disguise payments to Hamas terrorists as charitable giving.
During the meeting, according to FBI transcripts, Awad was recorded discussing the propaganda effort. He mentions Ghassan Dahduli, whom he worked with at the time at the Islamic Association for Palestine, another Hamas front. Both were IAP officers. Dahduli's name also was listed in the address book of bin Laden's personal secretary, Wadi al-Hage, who is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in the U.S. embassy bombings. Dahduli, an ethnic-Palestinian like Awad, was deported to Jordan after 9/11 for refusing to cooperate in the terror investigation.
Awad's and Dahduli's phone numbers are listed in a Muslim Brotherhood document seized by federal investigators revealing "important phone numbers" for the "Palestine Section" of the Brotherhood in America. The court exhibit shows Hamas fugitive Mousa Abu Marzook listed on the same page with Awad.
Omar Ahmad
Omar Ahmad: U.S. prosecutors also named CAIR's founder and chairman emeritus as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land case. Ahmad too was placed at the Philly meeting, FBI special agent Lara Burns testified at the trial. Prosecutors also designated him as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's "Palestine Committee" in America. Ahmad, like his CAIR partner Awad, is ethnic-Palestinian.
(Though both Ahmad and Awad were senior leaders of IAP, the Hamas front, neither of their biographical sketches posted on CAIR's website mentions their IAP past.)
Nabil Sadoun: A current CAIR board member, Sadoun has served on the board of the United Association for Studies and Research, which investigators believe to be a key Hamas front in America. In fact, Sadoun co-founded UASR with Hamas leader Marzook. The Justice Department added UASR to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
Mohamed Nimer
Mohamed Nimer: CAIR's current research director also served as a board director for UASR, the strategic arm for Hamas in the U.S.
(Tellingly, CAIR neglects to mention Nimer's and Sadoun's roles in UASR in their bios.)
Rafeeq Jaber: A founding director of CAIR, Jaber was the long-time president of the Islamic Association for Palestine. In 2002, a federal judge found that "the Islamic Association for Palestine has acted in support of Hamas." In his capacity as IAP chief, Jaber praised Hezbollah attacks on Israel. He also served on the board of a radical mosque in the Chicago area.
Rabith Hadid: The CAIR fund-raiser was a founder of the Global Relief Foundation, which after 9/11 was blacklisted by Treasury for financing al-Qaida and other terror groups. Its assets were frozen in December 2001. Hadid was arrested on terror-related charges and deported to Lebanon in 2003.
Siraj Wahhaj
Siraj Wahhaj: A member of CAIR's board of advisers, Wahhaj was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The radical Brooklyn imam was close to convicted terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, and defended him during his trial.
He was also a featured speaker at tonight's dinner.
Randall "Ismail" Royer: The former CAIR communications specialist and civil-rights coordinator is serving 20 years in prison in connection with the Virginia Jihad Network, which he led while employed by CAIR at its Washington headquarters. The group trained to kill U.S. soldiers overseas, cased the FBI headquarters, and cheered the space shuttle Columbia tragedy. Al-Qaida operative Ahmed Abu Ali, convicted of plotting to assassinate President Bush, was among those who trained with Royer's Northern Virginia cell.
Bassam Khafagi: Another CAIR official, Khafagi was arrested in 2003 while serving as CAIR's director of community affairs. He pleaded guilty to charges of bank and visa fraud stemming from a federal counterterror probe of his leadership role in the Islamic Assembly of North America, which has supported al-Qaida and advocated suicide attacks on America. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison and deported to his native Egypt.
Ghassan Elashi
Ghassan Elashi: One of CAIR's founding directors, he was convicted in 2004 of illegally shipping high-tech goods to terror state Syria, and is serving 80 months in prison. He's also charged with providing material support to Hamas in the Holy Land Foundation trial. He was chairman of the charity, which provided seed capital to CAIR. Elashi is related to Hamas leader Marzook.
Hamza Yusuf: The FBI investigated the CAIR board member after 9/11, because just two days before the attacks, he made an ominous prediction to a Muslim audience.
"This country is facing a terrible fate and the reason for that is because this country stands condemned," Yusuf warned. "It stands condemned like Europe stood condemned because of what it did. And lest people forget, Europe suffered two world wars after conquering the Muslim lands."
CAIR, which receives financial backing from Saudi and Emirati royalty, denies charges that it has a secret agenda to Islamize America. But a Muslim Brotherhood document declassified in the Holy Land case reveals that CAIR's parent was among Muslim organizations enlisted in a secret plot to destroy the American system from within and eventually take over the country.
Written early last decade in Arabic, the manifesto lays bare the subversive role of CAIR's forerunner, the Islamic Association for Palestine, and other Muslim groups in America to carry out a "grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by the hands of the believers, so that it is eliminated and Allah's religion is made victorious over all other religions."
CAIR's founder Ahmad, while claiming to be a moderate and patriotic American, last decade told a group of Muslims in Northern California that they are in America to help assert Islam's rule over the country.
"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant," a local reporter quoted him as saying, adding, "The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth."
Ahmad insists he was misquoted. However, an FBI wiretap transcript quotes Ahmad agreeing with terrorist suspects gathered last decade at the secret Philly meeting to "camouflage" their true intentions.
He compared it to the head fake in basketball. "This is like one who plays basketball: He makes a player believe that he is doing this, while he does something else," Ahmad said. "I agree with you. Like they say, politics is a completion of war."
What's more, Hooper, CAIR's communications director, also has expressed his wish to overturn the U.S. system of government in favor of an "Islamic" state.
"I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future," Hooper said in a 1993 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education."
Though conceding he made the remark, Hooper argues that he's never advocated violence. He says he and Muslims like him should work instead through the media and use "education" to help turn America into an Islamic state.
For media inquiries, e-mail Tricia, or call (910) 270-8966.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Muslims beware: Wikipedia Blunders on Kaaba
MUSLIMS BEWARE
Wikipedia Blunders on Kaaba
Mike Ghouse Nov 22, 2008
I cannot believe Wikipedia is taken as a gospel by so many, every word in it is taken as the ultimate truth. You will discover it's danger in the following report. A statement is made "While destroying each idol, Muhammad recited [Qur'an 17:81] which says "Truth has arrived and falsehood has perished for falsehood is by its nature bound to perish."[28][29] . A few of my Hindu friends have assumed that Terrorism has it's origin in the above act, of course the very same statement is a fodder to the Neocons, who rejoice and pass it one to every one with a comment, "I told you so, Islam is an intolerant religion".
Continued: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/WorldMuslimCongress/Articles/Kaaba-and-the-wikipedia-blunder.asp
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Wall Street Journal - Should Muslims play the Game?
The Wall Street Journal - Should Muslims play the Game?
Mike Ghouse, November 15, 2008
“Muslims, you are puppets, and you will do exactly what we want you to do, and not what your Prophet or God wants. You will play our game”
Today’s Wall Street Journal: Professor Kalisch delivers a jolt; he thinks it's likely that Prophet Muhammad Never Existed. Fellow Muslims, Just let it go. No need to react, it will die down on its own.
Muslims, we want you to burn our effigies;
Muslims, we want you to take up protests on the street;
Muslims, we want you to open up a fatwa factory and issue fatwas;
Muslims, we want you to get your women folk carry banners death to some one or the other
Muslims, we want you to.....
“Guess what, we will irritate you more”, and we will keep you suckers busy in doing thing we want you to do”; “we will prevent you from doing good things to humanity that your prophet wants you to do”. Are you ready to react to the statement of Professor Muhammad Sven Kalisch?
STOP IT
Those who want to obey the masters, please feel free to do it, and do it as your own act and NOT as a directive of Islam or a Muslim act.
Whoever loudly claims to be a Muslim and a follower of Islam has a responsibility to preserve the good name of the faith, and those around him have a greater responsibility NOT to let that man abuse the faith. He does not need to be on the TV; instead he can go and pray. Prayer must bring peace and tranquility and not anger. Keep praying until prayer it makes you peaceful.
The more you react to Prophet’s cartoons, the more the agitators will have fun. You are merely a pawn to them. The professor in Germany thinks that the Prophet may not have existed.
THE TRUTH
Continued at: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/WorldMuslimCongress/Articles/Should-Muslims-Play-the-Game-The-Wall-Street-Journal.asp
Mike Ghouse, November 15, 2008
“Muslims, you are puppets, and you will do exactly what we want you to do, and not what your Prophet or God wants. You will play our game”
Today’s Wall Street Journal: Professor Kalisch delivers a jolt; he thinks it's likely that Prophet Muhammad Never Existed. Fellow Muslims, Just let it go. No need to react, it will die down on its own.
Muslims, we want you to burn our effigies;
Muslims, we want you to take up protests on the street;
Muslims, we want you to open up a fatwa factory and issue fatwas;
Muslims, we want you to get your women folk carry banners death to some one or the other
Muslims, we want you to.....
“Guess what, we will irritate you more”, and we will keep you suckers busy in doing thing we want you to do”; “we will prevent you from doing good things to humanity that your prophet wants you to do”. Are you ready to react to the statement of Professor Muhammad Sven Kalisch?
STOP ITThose who want to obey the masters, please feel free to do it, and do it as your own act and NOT as a directive of Islam or a Muslim act.
Whoever loudly claims to be a Muslim and a follower of Islam has a responsibility to preserve the good name of the faith, and those around him have a greater responsibility NOT to let that man abuse the faith. He does not need to be on the TV; instead he can go and pray. Prayer must bring peace and tranquility and not anger. Keep praying until prayer it makes you peaceful.
The more you react to Prophet’s cartoons, the more the agitators will have fun. You are merely a pawn to them. The professor in Germany thinks that the Prophet may not have existed.
THE TRUTH
Continued at: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/WorldMuslimCongress/Articles/Should-Muslims-Play-the-Game-The-Wall-Street-Journal.asp
An Open letter to Barack Obama
Open letter to Barack Obama
Aijaz Zaka Syed Aijaz.syed@hotmail.com
http://www.arabnews.com
Dear Mr. Obama,
Salaam, I am not sure if this will ever pass your eyes. At a time when the whole world is excited about your landmark election, this is likely to be dismissed as just another outpouring of emotions from the Middle East. But write I must. And I hope to God it does find its way to your table. Even if it doesn't, I'll at least have the consolation of having tried to persuade you what the world, especially the Middle East, expects from you and what a great opportunity you have of changing it for the better.
I may be ridiculed for my naïve idealism and for daring to hope the agenda of the reigning superpower could be influenced by individuals sitting thousands of miles away in Dubai. But there's no harm in trying, is there? Besides, after your own incredible victory riding on a wave of idealism and message of hope, no one can ever suggest idealism doesn't work. You wouldn't be where you are today without idealism and faith and the incredible power of dreams. It's this power that can take a "skinny kid with a funny name" to White House. By now you must be conscious of the impossibly high expectations the Americans and the rest of the world have of you.
These hopes are only natural considering what the world has been through over the past eight years under the current incumbent. Your predecessor has somehow managed to gang up the whole world against America, a feat that eluded even Richard Nixon. From the total destruction of Iraq to the shame of Abu Ghraib, from spying on Americans to abduction of innocents by CIA, and from dumping hundreds of civilians as enemy combatants down the hole called the Guantanamo Bay, this administration has never been short on ever-new ideas of violating human dignity.
But to give your predecessor his due, he's been equally indifferent to the business of governance at home. So while New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, was being ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, the leader of the free world went biking. Ditto the current economic crisis. W. slept while the Wall Street burned.
Dear Mr. Obama, the Americans have elected you hoping you could put out the Bush fires. They believe you could clear this spectacular mess.
By electing you they have in one stroke changed global perceptions about America, restoring the world's faith in the land of the free.
Because at heart we are all Americans and love America and all that it stands for - or once stood for. Your election proves, as you argued in the thrilling election night speech in Chicago, that all things are possible inAmerica. But if your victory was groundbreaking, the hopes and expectations it has generated in and outsideAmerica and challenges you face now are equally formidable.
If anyone can meet these daunting tasks confronting America and the world at large, it's you. Your unusual life story is a celebration of the audacity of hope. You are after all the blessed one. Barack in Arabic, as you must know, means blessing. So perhaps there's a design in your being chosen for this most difficult of all jobs. I am sure you can, and will, successfully negotiate your great country through the minefield of difficult times ahead.
But your responsibility does not end with America. There's a message in the frenzied adulation for you and celebrations around the world over your victory: The world sees you as its leader and expects leadership from you.
Which is why it's heartening to see you move with remarkable alacrity to put America back on track. Even though you are yet to formally take over from Bush, you already have your team in place and are taking steps to reverse the divisive and most disastrous policies of this administration.
The world is already delighted by your decision to shut the Guantanamo Bay and either free the detainees or try them in the US courts. This is something that your heroes Lincoln, Emerson and King would all approve. But in all honesty, most of those men at the Bay have already suffered enough for crimes they did not commit.
Did you know that one of them, Omar Khadr, was captured in Afghanistan during the US invasion in 2001 when he was only 15? He has spent six years of his life in a hole. His crime? Being the son of parents who had been working in Afghanistan. There are hundreds of Omar Khadrs out there. And all of them deserve justice.
Others who demand your attention are Palestinians. They too have been paying for crimes they did not commit for nearly seven decades now. Or rather, they've been paying for someone else's crimes. The Palestinians are being victimized for Europe's crimes against Jews, as Ahmadinejad says. Today, prisoners in their own land and their ghettos, they are fighting for survival, literally! Throughout your campaign, you've talked of hope and change and America believed in you. It has embraced you because it knows it needs someone like you to bring it the change it badly needs.
Mr. Obama, we in the Middle East believe in you too. I know there are some who are already nervous about your choice for the White House chief of staff. But I would rather look at the big picture. A Jewish chief of staff doesn't necessarily mean you are anti-Arab or anti-Muslim. What matters is the general direction and outcome of your policies.
I still believe that if anyone can bring hope and change to the world's most volatile region, it's you. With your unusual background, representing both Christianity and Islam, both black and white and both East and West, you are uniquely placed to bring hope and change to the region that has been the cradle of civilizations and three great faiths. And you must begin this mission right away, before you get used to power; or power and its compulsions get the better of you. The Middle East, more specifically Palestine, is the key to world peace. From the war in Iraq to militancy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, everything is linked to Palestine. You bring peace to the Middle East and the world will find its peace. You change the Middle East and you'll change the world.
Aijaz Zaka Syed Aijaz.syed@hotmail.com
http://www.arabnews.com
Dear Mr. Obama,
Salaam, I am not sure if this will ever pass your eyes. At a time when the whole world is excited about your landmark election, this is likely to be dismissed as just another outpouring of emotions from the Middle East. But write I must. And I hope to God it does find its way to your table. Even if it doesn't, I'll at least have the consolation of having tried to persuade you what the world, especially the Middle East, expects from you and what a great opportunity you have of changing it for the better.
I may be ridiculed for my naïve idealism and for daring to hope the agenda of the reigning superpower could be influenced by individuals sitting thousands of miles away in Dubai. But there's no harm in trying, is there? Besides, after your own incredible victory riding on a wave of idealism and message of hope, no one can ever suggest idealism doesn't work. You wouldn't be where you are today without idealism and faith and the incredible power of dreams. It's this power that can take a "skinny kid with a funny name" to White House. By now you must be conscious of the impossibly high expectations the Americans and the rest of the world have of you.
These hopes are only natural considering what the world has been through over the past eight years under the current incumbent. Your predecessor has somehow managed to gang up the whole world against America, a feat that eluded even Richard Nixon. From the total destruction of Iraq to the shame of Abu Ghraib, from spying on Americans to abduction of innocents by CIA, and from dumping hundreds of civilians as enemy combatants down the hole called the Guantanamo Bay, this administration has never been short on ever-new ideas of violating human dignity.
But to give your predecessor his due, he's been equally indifferent to the business of governance at home. So while New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, was being ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, the leader of the free world went biking. Ditto the current economic crisis. W. slept while the Wall Street burned.
Dear Mr. Obama, the Americans have elected you hoping you could put out the Bush fires. They believe you could clear this spectacular mess.
By electing you they have in one stroke changed global perceptions about America, restoring the world's faith in the land of the free.
Because at heart we are all Americans and love America and all that it stands for - or once stood for. Your election proves, as you argued in the thrilling election night speech in Chicago, that all things are possible inAmerica. But if your victory was groundbreaking, the hopes and expectations it has generated in and outsideAmerica and challenges you face now are equally formidable.
If anyone can meet these daunting tasks confronting America and the world at large, it's you. Your unusual life story is a celebration of the audacity of hope. You are after all the blessed one. Barack in Arabic, as you must know, means blessing. So perhaps there's a design in your being chosen for this most difficult of all jobs. I am sure you can, and will, successfully negotiate your great country through the minefield of difficult times ahead.
But your responsibility does not end with America. There's a message in the frenzied adulation for you and celebrations around the world over your victory: The world sees you as its leader and expects leadership from you.
Which is why it's heartening to see you move with remarkable alacrity to put America back on track. Even though you are yet to formally take over from Bush, you already have your team in place and are taking steps to reverse the divisive and most disastrous policies of this administration.
The world is already delighted by your decision to shut the Guantanamo Bay and either free the detainees or try them in the US courts. This is something that your heroes Lincoln, Emerson and King would all approve. But in all honesty, most of those men at the Bay have already suffered enough for crimes they did not commit.
Did you know that one of them, Omar Khadr, was captured in Afghanistan during the US invasion in 2001 when he was only 15? He has spent six years of his life in a hole. His crime? Being the son of parents who had been working in Afghanistan. There are hundreds of Omar Khadrs out there. And all of them deserve justice.
Others who demand your attention are Palestinians. They too have been paying for crimes they did not commit for nearly seven decades now. Or rather, they've been paying for someone else's crimes. The Palestinians are being victimized for Europe's crimes against Jews, as Ahmadinejad says. Today, prisoners in their own land and their ghettos, they are fighting for survival, literally! Throughout your campaign, you've talked of hope and change and America believed in you. It has embraced you because it knows it needs someone like you to bring it the change it badly needs.
Mr. Obama, we in the Middle East believe in you too. I know there are some who are already nervous about your choice for the White House chief of staff. But I would rather look at the big picture. A Jewish chief of staff doesn't necessarily mean you are anti-Arab or anti-Muslim. What matters is the general direction and outcome of your policies.
I still believe that if anyone can bring hope and change to the world's most volatile region, it's you. With your unusual background, representing both Christianity and Islam, both black and white and both East and West, you are uniquely placed to bring hope and change to the region that has been the cradle of civilizations and three great faiths. And you must begin this mission right away, before you get used to power; or power and its compulsions get the better of you. The Middle East, more specifically Palestine, is the key to world peace. From the war in Iraq to militancy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, everything is linked to Palestine. You bring peace to the Middle East and the world will find its peace. You change the Middle East and you'll change the world.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Jewish Muslim Dialogue; a necessity
Jewish Muslim Dialogue; a necessity
INSPIRED BY THE DOCUMENTARY "THE MONSTER AMONG US"
Mike Ghouse, Dallas, Texas
The Jewish Community Center in Dallas recently screened a documentary called “The Monster among us”, produced and directed by Dallas filmmakers Allen and Cynthia Mondell.
I have captured the highlights of the film, and will pen a few here;
First of all, let me acknowledge, that it is a well made documentary and I commend the integrity of the producer for presenting his particular perspective which he twice clarified to me was a strictly "Jewish" perspective with no attempt made to present any other side of the story. That is fair.....until we have all points of view on the table, the dialogue to find solutions would be inadequate and thus will not be sustainable.
I did not find the movie to be offensive; however there were three major flaws in the movie that needed to be re-edited or tagged with comments to rectify them. Our allegiance ought to be to the truth. Continue
http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Articles/Jewish-Muslim-dialogue-a-necessity.asp
INSPIRED BY THE DOCUMENTARY "THE MONSTER AMONG US"
Mike Ghouse, Dallas, Texas
The Jewish Community Center in Dallas recently screened a documentary called “The Monster among us”, produced and directed by Dallas filmmakers Allen and Cynthia Mondell.
I have captured the highlights of the film, and will pen a few here;
First of all, let me acknowledge, that it is a well made documentary and I commend the integrity of the producer for presenting his particular perspective which he twice clarified to me was a strictly "Jewish" perspective with no attempt made to present any other side of the story. That is fair.....until we have all points of view on the table, the dialogue to find solutions would be inadequate and thus will not be sustainable.
I did not find the movie to be offensive; however there were three major flaws in the movie that needed to be re-edited or tagged with comments to rectify them. Our allegiance ought to be to the truth. Continue
http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Articles/Jewish-Muslim-dialogue-a-necessity.asp
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Saudis' dubious interfaith agenda
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/11/saudis-dubious-interfaith-agenda.html
The Saudis' dubious interfaith agenda at the UN
________________________________________
The article follows my comments:
While the facts presented in the article below are correct, we have to keep this as a record and encourage the Saudi’s to continue to tread on the path of Pluralism they are embarking on. If we fail to stoke the good, even if it is pretended at this moment, we would be discouraging any such initiatives, and become the blockade for progress. Saudi’s have taken a few good initiatives and hopefully, it would shame them to look at themselves and cause a gradual change.
If the Saudi’s are pursuing their own agenda, they need to clean their house first, they need to reign in on their fringe elemental clerics who shot their reckless fatwa’s on the microphones declaring Shia’s as non-Muslims, they need to orient their religious police that if a Hindu was worshipping Ganesha in the privacy of his own room, he should be left alone, the religious police need harass women who do not wear Hijab. Let the women have the choice to wear or not wear. Qur’aan never said to force any one to do things against their will, let alone compel them.
We may need to think the validity and sustainability of enacting new laws, similar to the effect in the US and Europe along the lines of Criticism of Holocaust, which will land you in Jail. Should the Criminal Laws include provisions where one cannot spread hate, which will consume the society into violence, examples would include denigration of the names of the spiritual masters in other faiths, using religious Icons on foot wear etc. No more derogatory comments about Pagans, Animist and Wicca.
Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker and a Writer on Pluralism, interfaith, terrorism, peace, interfaith, Islam and Multiculturism and India. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing interfaith, political and civic issues. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net. Mike is a Dallasite for nearly three decades and Carrollton is his home town. He can be reached at Ghousemike@gmail.com
________________________________________
The Saudis' dubious interfaith agenda at the UN
The country's lack of religious freedom betrays its lofty rhetoric. The real aim of its 'dialogue' is to promote a global blasphemy law.
By Donald H. Argue and Leonard A. Leo from the November 13, 2008 edition
Washington - World leaders gathering at the United Nations this week for a special session of the General Assembly to advance interfaith dialogue should have no illusions that their efforts will miraculously promote mutual respect between religious communities or end abuses of religious freedom.
Saudi King Abdullah, who initiated this week's special session, is quietly enlisting the leaders' support for a global law to punish blasphemy – a campaign championed by the 56-member Organization of Islamic Conference that puts the rights of religions ahead of individual liberties.
If the campaign succeeds, states that presume to speak in the name of religion will be able to crush religious freedom not only in their own country, but abroad.
The UN session is designed to endorse a meeting of religious leaders in Spain last summer that was the brainchild of King Abdullah and organized by the Muslim World League. That meeting resulted in a final statement counseling promotion of "respect for religions, their places of worship, and their symbols ... therefore preventing the derision of what people consider sacred."
The lofty-sounding principle is, in fact, a cleverly coded way of granting religious leaders the right to criminalize speech and activities that they deem to insult religion. Instead of promoting harmony, however, this effort will exacerbate divisions and intensify religious repression.
Such prohibitions have already been used in some countries to restrict discussion of individuals' freedom vis-Ã -vis the state, to prevent criticism of political figures or parties, to curb dissent from prevailing views and beliefs, and even to incite and to justify violence.
They undermine the standards codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the keystone of the United Nations, by granting greater rights to religions than to individuals, including those who choose to hold no faith – or who would seek to convert.
Another stark irony hangs over the UN special session this week. Saudi Arabia is one of the world's worst abusers of religious freedom, a fact recognized by the Bush administration when it named it a "country of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act in 2004. The king couldn't hold such a conference at home, where conservative clerics no doubt would purge the guest list of Jews from Israel, Baha'is, and Ahmadis.
The Saudi government permits the public practice of only one interpretation of Islam. This forces the 2-to-3 million Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and other expatriate workers there to leave their convictions at the border, since non-Muslim places of worship are prohibited, non-Muslim religious materials risk confiscation, and even private worship is affected by the strictures.
It also violates the rights of the large communities of Muslims who adhere to Islamic traditions other than the one deemed orthodox by Saudi clerics. In the past two years, dozens of Shiites have been detained for up to 30 days for holding small religious gatherings at home. One Ismaili, Hadi Al-Mutaif, is serving a life sentence after being condemned for apostasy in 1994 for a remark he made as a teenager that was deemed blasphemous. The alleged crime of apostasy, in fact, can be punished by death.
The government's policies are enforced by the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice, a roving religious police force, armed with whips, that regularly oversteps its authority and is unchecked by the judiciary.
Women seeking to exercise basic freedoms of speech, movement, association, and equality before the law have experienced particularly severe abuse.
In a particularly egregious recent case, a woman was gang-raped as punishment by seven men who found her alone in a car with a man who was not her relative. She escaped the sentence of 200 lashes and six months in prison only because of a pardon by King Abdullah, yet he also said he believed the sentence was appropriate.
Holding a session on advancing interfaith dialogue abroad is a pale substitute for hosting it in the kingdom, where the message of respect for freedom of religion and belief is most needed.
Against the background of Saudi repression and the kingdom's role in exporting extremism, including through school textbooks preaching hatred of "unbelievers," the UN and every world leader attending the special session should be demanding an end to severe violations of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia.
Dialogue is no substitute for compliance with universal human rights standards.
The monarch would make a far greater contribution by exponentially increasing his efforts to promote religious freedom at home, where religious intolerance reigns. A welcome first step would be to release Hadi Al-Mutaif and all other religious prisoners who remain behind bars in Saudi Arabia.
• Donald H. Argue and Leonard A. Leo are members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Find this article at:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1113/p09s02-coop.html
The Saudis' dubious interfaith agenda at the UN
________________________________________
The article follows my comments:
While the facts presented in the article below are correct, we have to keep this as a record and encourage the Saudi’s to continue to tread on the path of Pluralism they are embarking on. If we fail to stoke the good, even if it is pretended at this moment, we would be discouraging any such initiatives, and become the blockade for progress. Saudi’s have taken a few good initiatives and hopefully, it would shame them to look at themselves and cause a gradual change.
If the Saudi’s are pursuing their own agenda, they need to clean their house first, they need to reign in on their fringe elemental clerics who shot their reckless fatwa’s on the microphones declaring Shia’s as non-Muslims, they need to orient their religious police that if a Hindu was worshipping Ganesha in the privacy of his own room, he should be left alone, the religious police need harass women who do not wear Hijab. Let the women have the choice to wear or not wear. Qur’aan never said to force any one to do things against their will, let alone compel them.
We may need to think the validity and sustainability of enacting new laws, similar to the effect in the US and Europe along the lines of Criticism of Holocaust, which will land you in Jail. Should the Criminal Laws include provisions where one cannot spread hate, which will consume the society into violence, examples would include denigration of the names of the spiritual masters in other faiths, using religious Icons on foot wear etc. No more derogatory comments about Pagans, Animist and Wicca.
Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker and a Writer on Pluralism, interfaith, terrorism, peace, interfaith, Islam and Multiculturism and India. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing interfaith, political and civic issues. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net. Mike is a Dallasite for nearly three decades and Carrollton is his home town. He can be reached at Ghousemike@gmail.com
________________________________________
The Saudis' dubious interfaith agenda at the UN
The country's lack of religious freedom betrays its lofty rhetoric. The real aim of its 'dialogue' is to promote a global blasphemy law.
By Donald H. Argue and Leonard A. Leo from the November 13, 2008 edition
Washington - World leaders gathering at the United Nations this week for a special session of the General Assembly to advance interfaith dialogue should have no illusions that their efforts will miraculously promote mutual respect between religious communities or end abuses of religious freedom.
Saudi King Abdullah, who initiated this week's special session, is quietly enlisting the leaders' support for a global law to punish blasphemy – a campaign championed by the 56-member Organization of Islamic Conference that puts the rights of religions ahead of individual liberties.
If the campaign succeeds, states that presume to speak in the name of religion will be able to crush religious freedom not only in their own country, but abroad.
The UN session is designed to endorse a meeting of religious leaders in Spain last summer that was the brainchild of King Abdullah and organized by the Muslim World League. That meeting resulted in a final statement counseling promotion of "respect for religions, their places of worship, and their symbols ... therefore preventing the derision of what people consider sacred."
The lofty-sounding principle is, in fact, a cleverly coded way of granting religious leaders the right to criminalize speech and activities that they deem to insult religion. Instead of promoting harmony, however, this effort will exacerbate divisions and intensify religious repression.
Such prohibitions have already been used in some countries to restrict discussion of individuals' freedom vis-Ã -vis the state, to prevent criticism of political figures or parties, to curb dissent from prevailing views and beliefs, and even to incite and to justify violence.
They undermine the standards codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the keystone of the United Nations, by granting greater rights to religions than to individuals, including those who choose to hold no faith – or who would seek to convert.
Another stark irony hangs over the UN special session this week. Saudi Arabia is one of the world's worst abusers of religious freedom, a fact recognized by the Bush administration when it named it a "country of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act in 2004. The king couldn't hold such a conference at home, where conservative clerics no doubt would purge the guest list of Jews from Israel, Baha'is, and Ahmadis.
The Saudi government permits the public practice of only one interpretation of Islam. This forces the 2-to-3 million Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and other expatriate workers there to leave their convictions at the border, since non-Muslim places of worship are prohibited, non-Muslim religious materials risk confiscation, and even private worship is affected by the strictures.
It also violates the rights of the large communities of Muslims who adhere to Islamic traditions other than the one deemed orthodox by Saudi clerics. In the past two years, dozens of Shiites have been detained for up to 30 days for holding small religious gatherings at home. One Ismaili, Hadi Al-Mutaif, is serving a life sentence after being condemned for apostasy in 1994 for a remark he made as a teenager that was deemed blasphemous. The alleged crime of apostasy, in fact, can be punished by death.
The government's policies are enforced by the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice, a roving religious police force, armed with whips, that regularly oversteps its authority and is unchecked by the judiciary.
Women seeking to exercise basic freedoms of speech, movement, association, and equality before the law have experienced particularly severe abuse.
In a particularly egregious recent case, a woman was gang-raped as punishment by seven men who found her alone in a car with a man who was not her relative. She escaped the sentence of 200 lashes and six months in prison only because of a pardon by King Abdullah, yet he also said he believed the sentence was appropriate.
Holding a session on advancing interfaith dialogue abroad is a pale substitute for hosting it in the kingdom, where the message of respect for freedom of religion and belief is most needed.
Against the background of Saudi repression and the kingdom's role in exporting extremism, including through school textbooks preaching hatred of "unbelievers," the UN and every world leader attending the special session should be demanding an end to severe violations of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia.
Dialogue is no substitute for compliance with universal human rights standards.
The monarch would make a far greater contribution by exponentially increasing his efforts to promote religious freedom at home, where religious intolerance reigns. A welcome first step would be to release Hadi Al-Mutaif and all other religious prisoners who remain behind bars in Saudi Arabia.
• Donald H. Argue and Leonard A. Leo are members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Find this article at:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1113/p09s02-coop.html
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Republican Women took the bold step
GOP women's board resigns in Alamogordo over Muslim remarks
A Majority of crimes happen when good people do nothing about it, rapes in the subways, in the bars have occurred in presences of many a good for nothing people.
So what if they are Muslims? So what if they are African Americans, so what if they are Baptist? If you allow prejudice towards one, it is bound to go to others and some day to you.
I am proud of these GOP women for standing up. The process of fixing our party begins tonight and hope the public flushes out all the bad boys and the bad girls. I will do my part in bringing moderation and common sense to the GOP.
Mike Ghouse
Moderate Republican
________________
GOP women's board resigns in Alamogordo over Muslim remarks
From the Current-Argus
Article Launched: 11/04/2008 11:13:04 AM MST
ALAMOGORDO — The head of the Republican Women of Otero County refused to resign after calling Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama a ''Muslim socialist'' — so the rest of the group's board quit, the county GOP chairwoman says.
Marcia Stirman, a 56-year-old interior decorator, wrote a letter published Oct. 21 in the Alamogordo Daily News in which she wrote, ''I believe Muslims are our enemies.''
The letter prompted a quick response from the New Mexico Republican Party, which said she does not speak for the party and that her comments do not reflect its values and beliefs.
The executive board of the Otero County Republican Party and the Republican Women of Otero County asked Stirman to resign last week, county GOP Chairwoman Sassy Tinling said.
Stirman refused, and Tinling said the rest of the board of the Republican Women's group immediately gave their resignations to Stirman.
Tinling also said the county party's executive committee ''has chosen to disassociate itself from the RWOOC as it exists today'' and that the Otero County GOP will no longer recognize Stirman's position on its board.
While people are entitled to their opinion, when they head an organization their views reflect on the entire group, she said.
''It is unfortunate that Mrs. Stirman used the RPOC and RWOOC as a conduit for her personal views,'' said Tinling, who apologized on behalf of the Republican Party of Otero County and its board ''to anyone offended by Mrs. Stirman's comments.''
Stirman said last week her comments have been misunderstood. She said she never meant to suggest all Muslims are enemies of the U.S., only those ''who are trying to kill us.''
She added: ''Can you say that all Christians are good? Absolutely not.''
Stirman said she regrets that the executive committee disassociated itself from the women's group, which has set elections for officers Wednesday.
''There has been a long standing cooperation between the two groups,'' she said. ''I have great respect for all Republicans, as I share core values with many of them.''
Although Obama has professed his Christianity repeatedly and explained how his Christian faith shapes his politics, he battled Internet-fueled rumors throughout the campaign that he is Muslim.
A Majority of crimes happen when good people do nothing about it, rapes in the subways, in the bars have occurred in presences of many a good for nothing people.
So what if they are Muslims? So what if they are African Americans, so what if they are Baptist? If you allow prejudice towards one, it is bound to go to others and some day to you.
I am proud of these GOP women for standing up. The process of fixing our party begins tonight and hope the public flushes out all the bad boys and the bad girls. I will do my part in bringing moderation and common sense to the GOP.
Mike Ghouse
Moderate Republican
________________
GOP women's board resigns in Alamogordo over Muslim remarks
From the Current-Argus
Article Launched: 11/04/2008 11:13:04 AM MST
ALAMOGORDO — The head of the Republican Women of Otero County refused to resign after calling Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama a ''Muslim socialist'' — so the rest of the group's board quit, the county GOP chairwoman says.
Marcia Stirman, a 56-year-old interior decorator, wrote a letter published Oct. 21 in the Alamogordo Daily News in which she wrote, ''I believe Muslims are our enemies.''
The letter prompted a quick response from the New Mexico Republican Party, which said she does not speak for the party and that her comments do not reflect its values and beliefs.
The executive board of the Otero County Republican Party and the Republican Women of Otero County asked Stirman to resign last week, county GOP Chairwoman Sassy Tinling said.
Stirman refused, and Tinling said the rest of the board of the Republican Women's group immediately gave their resignations to Stirman.
Tinling also said the county party's executive committee ''has chosen to disassociate itself from the RWOOC as it exists today'' and that the Otero County GOP will no longer recognize Stirman's position on its board.
While people are entitled to their opinion, when they head an organization their views reflect on the entire group, she said.
''It is unfortunate that Mrs. Stirman used the RPOC and RWOOC as a conduit for her personal views,'' said Tinling, who apologized on behalf of the Republican Party of Otero County and its board ''to anyone offended by Mrs. Stirman's comments.''
Stirman said last week her comments have been misunderstood. She said she never meant to suggest all Muslims are enemies of the U.S., only those ''who are trying to kill us.''
She added: ''Can you say that all Christians are good? Absolutely not.''
Stirman said she regrets that the executive committee disassociated itself from the women's group, which has set elections for officers Wednesday.
''There has been a long standing cooperation between the two groups,'' she said. ''I have great respect for all Republicans, as I share core values with many of them.''
Although Obama has professed his Christianity repeatedly and explained how his Christian faith shapes his politics, he battled Internet-fueled rumors throughout the campaign that he is Muslim.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
New Magazine: Islam, Muslims & the World
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/11/new-magazine-islam-muslims-world.html
ISLAM, MUSLIMS & THE WORLD
Committed to building a purer, healthier and more peaceful world; and highlighting the contributions of Islam and Muslims to this Cause
Owner & Chief Editor
Dr. Javed Jamil
Introduction
The launching of the magazine, registered under the title ‘Islam, Muslims & the World’ is planned. The magazine will be refreshingly different in its content from what we find in the general run-of magazines and newspapers. It will not be restricted to issues of concern to Muslims, it will rather focus on the role – present and prospective – of Muslims in the present day. It will seek to highlight how Islam can be invoked to resolve the problems being faced by the world by focusing on the role of Islam and Muslims in the current world – their achievements, their positive and potential contributions and the analysis of the world developments in the context of Islamic principles. It will present Islam and Muslims as the Solution and not the problem. The world today will be viewed from the Islamic point of view rather than viewing Islam and Muslims from the point of view of current world ideologies. The magazine will try to restore confidence in our community and will assure them that they are playing and can play a much more important and constructive role than they are credited with. It will not deal with controversial issues related to sects within Islam; it will avoid communal issues and will try to bring all religions together against the evils and forces of evil destroying the collective equanimity of mankind.
Islam, Muslims & the World is designed to be an international magazine dealing with international issues. It will present Islam as a System for the World and Muslims as a Dynamic Community that can provide a proper and resurgent leadership to mankind.
Islam, Muslims & the World will pass the test of global standards and acceptability. It will primarily target Muslims but will be of considerable interest to non-Muslims who are interested in finding a viable alternative to the systems that have failed.
Vision Document
Aims and objectives
1. To promote the comprehensive definition of peace, consistent with Islam, which includes physical, mental, social and spiritual health of individuals, family peace (proper relationship between all members of family and Social Order (social and economic security of all) in this world and Pleasure of God in Hereafter;
2. To show through statistics that the true peace is on continuous decline;
3. To disseminate awareness about the dangers of the ideology of economic fundamentalism, which refers to the dominance of economics in all the spheres of life;
4. To highlight the adverse impact of Fundamental Prohibitions on society including alcohol, gambling, smoking, drugs, commercialization of sex leading to promiscuity, prostitution and pornography, violence, economic, political and social exploitation, etc.
5. To highlight the role of Islam in building a purer, healthier and more peaceful world. This will help in the emergence of Applied Islamics as a full-fledged discipline of Islamic sciences;
6. To bring Muslims out of the inferiority complex that has seized them partly due to their own deficiencies but more so due to creation and promotion of false criteria by the vested interests
7. To show to the world that Muslim societies have much lesser degrees of crimes, problems due to alcohol, drugs and sexual corruption, family peace in Muslim societies outscores others and as followers of Islam they enjoy much greater mental peace;
8. To highlight the achievements of Muslims as individuals, organizations and countries;
9. To provide basic information about Islam, its symbols, Fundamental Rights, Duties and Prohibitions, its important figures, its institutions, its history, etc
10. To disseminate the knowledge of Quran and Sunnah in a way that appeals to the modern day man;
11. To bridge the gulf between different religions and societies particularly between West and Muslims and between Hindus and Muslims;
12. To bring all religions on a common platform against social evils, economic disparity and moral depravity;
13. To build up a campaign at the national and international level against the economic and political fundamentalisms;
14. To develop among Muslims a national and global perspective, and to augment their impact at the global level;
15. To diffuse communal and sectarian tensions by diverting attention to more pressing issues;
16. To conduct surveys and studies for the purpose of attaining its objectives;
17. To develop a strong and effective media;
18. To bring about integration and understanding among intellectuals, religious Scholars and pontiffs to create inter-faith harmony for the benefit of humanity and to save humanity from the impact of unhealthy social and cultural trends promoted by vested interests;
19. To effectively answer the misstatements and misgivings about Islam;
20. To expose war mongers, riots engineers, terrorists and other non-humanitarian activists being committed by unscrupulous people in the name of any religion, ideology or concept
Strategy for self-financing
The first target will be to have a circulation of 100,000 copies. With the kind of the format designed for it, it is hoped that the magazine will attract funds from several sources:
1. Advertisements
Good number of advertisements are expected to flow, especially from
* Airlines, especially related to countries that are being featured and the countries whose heads are being profiled
* Touring Agencies
* Companies that are being profiled
* Celebrities that are being profiled
* Companies that have interests in the countries which are being focused in the issues and whose heads are being profiled
* Muslim business houses
* Muslim schools and colleges;
* Islamic Financial Institutions
* Muslim hotels
For the first issue, contacts and credentials of the people associated with the magazine will be utilized. Afterwards, the advertisements will start automatically flowing in. If the sales are good, almost all the advertisers will develop interest in the magazine.
2. through the contributions from philanthropists
The concept of the magazine is revolutionary; the aims and objectives of the magazine are sure to strike the imagination of peace loving and Islam loving people. These contributions will be of immense help in sustaining the magazine especially in its first year.
3. Sponsored feature
One of the regular features of the magazine will be regarding the up coming entrepreneurs who want their work to be recognized. They will pay a specific amount for getting their profiles published in the magazine
4. Messages
For the first issue, congratulatory messages will be invited from people with the request ti pay Rs 3000. It will be accompanied by a small photograph and their designation. If we get 50 messages, it will be a good boost for the magazine.
4. Subscription Drive
Immediately after the publication of the first issue, at least 50 sales representatives will tour big cities to make annual subscribers. Cost of the issue will be Rs 25/- and the annual subscription Rs 250/- 6 month subscription will be 130/- These 50 representatives are expected to collect 2000.- each per day which will be a substantial sum for future successes.
Circulation
Apart from the sales in public, the copies of the magazine will reach
1. More than 2000 public libraries
2. Libraries of all the universities
3. Libraries of all Engineering Colleges
4. Libraries of all medical colleges
5. Libraries of all management colleges
6. Libraries of Muslim degree colleges
7. Departments of all Muslim universities
8. Library of Parliament and all Assemblies
9. Library of Supreme court and all High Courts
10. District Judges of all districts
11. Libraries of organizations like UNICEF, WHO
12. All embassies in New Delhi
13. All the major Muslim companies
14. All the major political and non political organizations
15. Muslim organizations in different countries
16. All the members of Parliament and Assemblies
17. Writers and columnists
18. All the major channels, magazines and newspapers in India
19. Major NGOs
20. Bar Council libraries of all districts
Electronic Version will reach
1. Islamic scholars all over the world;
2. Islamic organizations all over the world;
3. Other sociologists, economists, philosophers and scientists
4. Institutions and universities
Rates of Advertisements and sponsored column
Full Cover Back Page (Coloured) Rs 100, 000
Full Inside pages of the cover(coloured) 75000
Full Internal ages 30,000
Half pages 16,000
Quarter pages 8,000
Sponsored profiles (Half page with one photograph) 20000
Messages (congratulations, one photo, designation and address) 3000
Life Membership 5000
Life Membership for foreign residents 20, 000
Matrimonial (25 words) 1000
Continuity of the project
Once the first issue is out, the subscription drive will help in the stabilization of the project. The contents of the magazine, the format, get up etc will help the magazine get more and more advertisements. We can then launch a subsequent patron-ship and life membership drive.
Cost estimation and expected resources
The initial expenses are mainly related to the printing and launching ceremony. Printing will require around Rs 8, 00, 000. (This may become more if we have a large number of interviews under the India Election Scene, which in that case will be published as a separate supplement, and is expected to earn its cost through contributions from these political leaders themselves.) The launching ceremony at New Delhi will require around Rs 100,000. This amount is to be collected through personal contacts. It is expected that India Islamic Cultural Centre will help in this regard.
3) International Panel of Experts:
We have already a few names and more names are expected to be added soon. The expected list includes the following
Patrons: Maulana Rabey Nadvi, Nazim Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow, Maulana Salim Qasmi, Nazim Darul Uloom Deoband (Waqf) Maulana Abdullah Ajrarvi, Mr Rasheed Masood, MP, Mr K. Rahman Khan, MP, Mr. Obaidullah Khan Azmi, MP, , Mr. Sanjay Garg, Minister, Govt of UP, Mr. Siraj Qureshi, Chairman India Islamic Cultural Centre, Mr. Syed Farooque, Industrialist, Mr. Nadeem Tareen, Industrialist, Mr. Amanullah Khan, Islamic Develop Bank representative in India, Mr. Hamdard Foundation
International Experts
Mr SGP Jafry, Canada, Mr. Mike Ghouse, Chairman, World Muslim Congress, USA, Ms Anisa Abdel Fattah, Chairwoman of the National Association of Muslim American Women, Syed Hamid, Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard,Farid Chaudhary, Kuwait, Dr Shahnaz Hasan, Prof Emeritus, Chicago, US, Dr Mohsin Raza, Tehran University, Dr Irafan Khan, Chicago, Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad, Chairman IFEW, Australia, Mr Zahid Jamil, Australia
Editorial Advisors: Mr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala, renowned columnist, Mr. Basir Khan, Pro VC IGNOU, Dr Masood Hasan, Prof. Emeritus, Manglatan University, Mr. Kamruddin, Bangalore, Prof, Lalit Mohan Nath, Former Director, AIIMS, New Delhi, Stephanie Crane, US
Some of them have already accepted. Others are expected to confirm soon. The list is expected to grow substantially.
a) Names of Writers who will be contributing articles. Under Process: The first issue will have articles from Mike Ghouse, USA, Ms Stephanie Crane, USA, Mr. Shamim Siddiqui, USA, Ms Anisa Abd Fateh Ali, USA, Mr. GP Jafry, Canada, Mr. Zahid amil, Australia, Mr. Bharat Jhunjuhunwala, Mr. Yogesh Chibber, Mr. Wasi Nomani, Mr. Rahman Khan, MP, Mr Rashid Masood, MP, Mr. Saiyid Hamid and many others
b) Correspondents: As the magazine is monthly based mainly on information, profiles and essays, separate full time correspondents will not be required. Services of some correspondents can be availed for specific purposes.
5) Research and identification:
Potential readership and targeting them to seek subscription.
Our target is to reach every educated Muslim home, those non-Muslims who have slightest inclination to understand the world issues from the Islamic or Muslim point of view, every institution, every university and college, every NGO, every business group, every intellectual. A big subscription drive will be launched immediately after the launching ceremony. Initially, this will cover major cities and then smaller cities.
Addresses of thousands of educated persons are being collected through Internet. The first issue will be sent to them as a complimentary copy and subsequently they will be approached for annual subscriptions. People will be informed also through Emails and Net groups about the launching of the magazine. Later on, advertisement about the magazine issues can be given in popular newspapers and magazines.
6) Full time Editorial Responsibility
Dr Javed Jamil: Chief Editor
Syed Adil: Editor
Yogesh Chhibber: Associate Editor
Jalal Umar: Associate Editor
Full time Marketing responsibility: To be decided
First Issue
The First Issue will focus on (not necessarily in the same order)
1. Ka’ba: the Symbol of Unity and Universal Brotherhood: History, Importance & Structure
2. Encyclopedia of Islam: Allah
3. Dr. Abdul Kalam: the Architect of India as a Major Global Power
4. Applied Islamics: Are Muslims Enemies of Peace?; Sexual revolution: Nemesis of Civilisation
5. President of UAE: A Man with a Mission
6. Malaysia: A Unique Blend of Islam and Modernity
7. Islamic Development Bank: Making a Global Impact
8. Ayatollah Khamenei: the Most Influential Islamic Aalim
9. Muslims of America: Important Muslim organizations, Muslim achievers, Opinion of Muslims about America and its internal and external policies, cultural issues, religious issues, etc.
10. India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi: Serving the People in Style
11. Shoeb Akhtar, International Cricketer: Immensely Talented, Equally Undisciplined
12. Debate: Bridging the Gulf: West and Islamic World: Opinions of Important personalities from all over the world
13. Indian Election Scene Supplement I: Interviews with Outgoing Muslim MPs
14. The World of Chaos: Causes of Avoidable Deaths in last 25 years (In Figures)
15. Jamia Millia: Students in Action for Pride
16. Selection from Urdu Poetry
17. Rising High: Profiles of Entrepreneurs and other eminent Personalities and emerging greats: Sponsored Feature
18. Monthly Diary of Events
19. Public opinion: letters: Messages for the first issue
20. From the world press
21. Children’s and Women’s sections
Address: 10, Bhagwati Colony, Behat Road, Saharanpur, 247001, (UP), INDIA Phones: 91-132-2680440, 6980356
Noida Office: B-76, II Floor, Sector 64 NOIDA, Phone: 9312908522, 9810610115;
Email: javedjamil@rediffmail.com, doctorforu123@rediffmail.com
22. Editorial: Towards a purer, healthier and more peaceful world
23. Ka’ba: the Symbol of Unity and Universal Brotherhood: History, Importance & Structure
24. Encyclopedia of Islam: Allah: Etymology, Theories, Comparative study with other religions, Functions of God, Allah in Quran
25. Dr. Abdul Kalam: the Architect of India as a Major Global Power
26. Applied Islamics: Are Muslims Enemies of Peace?; Sexual revolution: Nemesis of Civilisation
27. Malaysia: A Unique Blend of Islam and Modernity
28. Islamic Development Bank: Making a Global Impact
29. Ayatollah Khamenei: the Aalim who also rules
30. Muslims of America: Important Muslim organizations, Muslim achievers, Opinion of Muslims about America and its internal and external policies, cultural issues, religious issues, etc.
31. India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi: Serving the People in Style
32. Shoeb Akhtar, International Cricketer: Immensely Talented, Equally Undisciplined
33. Debate: Bridging the Gulf: West and Islamic World: Opinions of Important personalities from all over the world
34. Religious and Scientific Education: Dilemma
35. Indian Election Scene Supplement I: Interviews with Outgoing Muslim MPs
36. The World of Chaos: Causes of Avoidable Deaths in last 25 years (In Figures)
37. Jamia Millia: Surging Ahead in Excellence
38. Selection from Urdu Poetry
39. Rising High: Profiles of Muslim Entrepreneurs and other eminent personalities and emerging greats: Sponsored Feature
40. Monthly Diary of Events
41. Public opinion: letters: Messages for the first issue
ISLAM, MUSLIMS & THE WORLDCommitted to building a purer, healthier and more peaceful world; and highlighting the contributions of Islam and Muslims to this Cause
Owner & Chief Editor
Dr. Javed Jamil
Introduction
The launching of the magazine, registered under the title ‘Islam, Muslims & the World’ is planned. The magazine will be refreshingly different in its content from what we find in the general run-of magazines and newspapers. It will not be restricted to issues of concern to Muslims, it will rather focus on the role – present and prospective – of Muslims in the present day. It will seek to highlight how Islam can be invoked to resolve the problems being faced by the world by focusing on the role of Islam and Muslims in the current world – their achievements, their positive and potential contributions and the analysis of the world developments in the context of Islamic principles. It will present Islam and Muslims as the Solution and not the problem. The world today will be viewed from the Islamic point of view rather than viewing Islam and Muslims from the point of view of current world ideologies. The magazine will try to restore confidence in our community and will assure them that they are playing and can play a much more important and constructive role than they are credited with. It will not deal with controversial issues related to sects within Islam; it will avoid communal issues and will try to bring all religions together against the evils and forces of evil destroying the collective equanimity of mankind.
Islam, Muslims & the World is designed to be an international magazine dealing with international issues. It will present Islam as a System for the World and Muslims as a Dynamic Community that can provide a proper and resurgent leadership to mankind.
Islam, Muslims & the World will pass the test of global standards and acceptability. It will primarily target Muslims but will be of considerable interest to non-Muslims who are interested in finding a viable alternative to the systems that have failed.
Vision Document
Aims and objectives
1. To promote the comprehensive definition of peace, consistent with Islam, which includes physical, mental, social and spiritual health of individuals, family peace (proper relationship between all members of family and Social Order (social and economic security of all) in this world and Pleasure of God in Hereafter;
2. To show through statistics that the true peace is on continuous decline;
3. To disseminate awareness about the dangers of the ideology of economic fundamentalism, which refers to the dominance of economics in all the spheres of life;
4. To highlight the adverse impact of Fundamental Prohibitions on society including alcohol, gambling, smoking, drugs, commercialization of sex leading to promiscuity, prostitution and pornography, violence, economic, political and social exploitation, etc.
5. To highlight the role of Islam in building a purer, healthier and more peaceful world. This will help in the emergence of Applied Islamics as a full-fledged discipline of Islamic sciences;
6. To bring Muslims out of the inferiority complex that has seized them partly due to their own deficiencies but more so due to creation and promotion of false criteria by the vested interests
7. To show to the world that Muslim societies have much lesser degrees of crimes, problems due to alcohol, drugs and sexual corruption, family peace in Muslim societies outscores others and as followers of Islam they enjoy much greater mental peace;
8. To highlight the achievements of Muslims as individuals, organizations and countries;
9. To provide basic information about Islam, its symbols, Fundamental Rights, Duties and Prohibitions, its important figures, its institutions, its history, etc
10. To disseminate the knowledge of Quran and Sunnah in a way that appeals to the modern day man;
11. To bridge the gulf between different religions and societies particularly between West and Muslims and between Hindus and Muslims;
12. To bring all religions on a common platform against social evils, economic disparity and moral depravity;
13. To build up a campaign at the national and international level against the economic and political fundamentalisms;
14. To develop among Muslims a national and global perspective, and to augment their impact at the global level;
15. To diffuse communal and sectarian tensions by diverting attention to more pressing issues;
16. To conduct surveys and studies for the purpose of attaining its objectives;
17. To develop a strong and effective media;
18. To bring about integration and understanding among intellectuals, religious Scholars and pontiffs to create inter-faith harmony for the benefit of humanity and to save humanity from the impact of unhealthy social and cultural trends promoted by vested interests;
19. To effectively answer the misstatements and misgivings about Islam;
20. To expose war mongers, riots engineers, terrorists and other non-humanitarian activists being committed by unscrupulous people in the name of any religion, ideology or concept
Strategy for self-financing
The first target will be to have a circulation of 100,000 copies. With the kind of the format designed for it, it is hoped that the magazine will attract funds from several sources:
1. Advertisements
Good number of advertisements are expected to flow, especially from
* Airlines, especially related to countries that are being featured and the countries whose heads are being profiled
* Touring Agencies
* Companies that are being profiled
* Celebrities that are being profiled
* Companies that have interests in the countries which are being focused in the issues and whose heads are being profiled
* Muslim business houses
* Muslim schools and colleges;
* Islamic Financial Institutions
* Muslim hotels
For the first issue, contacts and credentials of the people associated with the magazine will be utilized. Afterwards, the advertisements will start automatically flowing in. If the sales are good, almost all the advertisers will develop interest in the magazine.
2. through the contributions from philanthropists
The concept of the magazine is revolutionary; the aims and objectives of the magazine are sure to strike the imagination of peace loving and Islam loving people. These contributions will be of immense help in sustaining the magazine especially in its first year.
3. Sponsored feature
One of the regular features of the magazine will be regarding the up coming entrepreneurs who want their work to be recognized. They will pay a specific amount for getting their profiles published in the magazine
4. Messages
For the first issue, congratulatory messages will be invited from people with the request ti pay Rs 3000. It will be accompanied by a small photograph and their designation. If we get 50 messages, it will be a good boost for the magazine.
4. Subscription Drive
Immediately after the publication of the first issue, at least 50 sales representatives will tour big cities to make annual subscribers. Cost of the issue will be Rs 25/- and the annual subscription Rs 250/- 6 month subscription will be 130/- These 50 representatives are expected to collect 2000.- each per day which will be a substantial sum for future successes.
Circulation
Apart from the sales in public, the copies of the magazine will reach
1. More than 2000 public libraries
2. Libraries of all the universities
3. Libraries of all Engineering Colleges
4. Libraries of all medical colleges
5. Libraries of all management colleges
6. Libraries of Muslim degree colleges
7. Departments of all Muslim universities
8. Library of Parliament and all Assemblies
9. Library of Supreme court and all High Courts
10. District Judges of all districts
11. Libraries of organizations like UNICEF, WHO
12. All embassies in New Delhi
13. All the major Muslim companies
14. All the major political and non political organizations
15. Muslim organizations in different countries
16. All the members of Parliament and Assemblies
17. Writers and columnists
18. All the major channels, magazines and newspapers in India
19. Major NGOs
20. Bar Council libraries of all districts
Electronic Version will reach
1. Islamic scholars all over the world;
2. Islamic organizations all over the world;
3. Other sociologists, economists, philosophers and scientists
4. Institutions and universities
Rates of Advertisements and sponsored column
Full Cover Back Page (Coloured) Rs 100, 000
Full Inside pages of the cover(coloured) 75000
Full Internal ages 30,000
Half pages 16,000
Quarter pages 8,000
Sponsored profiles (Half page with one photograph) 20000
Messages (congratulations, one photo, designation and address) 3000
Life Membership 5000
Life Membership for foreign residents 20, 000
Matrimonial (25 words) 1000
Continuity of the project
Once the first issue is out, the subscription drive will help in the stabilization of the project. The contents of the magazine, the format, get up etc will help the magazine get more and more advertisements. We can then launch a subsequent patron-ship and life membership drive.
Cost estimation and expected resources
The initial expenses are mainly related to the printing and launching ceremony. Printing will require around Rs 8, 00, 000. (This may become more if we have a large number of interviews under the India Election Scene, which in that case will be published as a separate supplement, and is expected to earn its cost through contributions from these political leaders themselves.) The launching ceremony at New Delhi will require around Rs 100,000. This amount is to be collected through personal contacts. It is expected that India Islamic Cultural Centre will help in this regard.
3) International Panel of Experts:
We have already a few names and more names are expected to be added soon. The expected list includes the following
Patrons: Maulana Rabey Nadvi, Nazim Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow, Maulana Salim Qasmi, Nazim Darul Uloom Deoband (Waqf) Maulana Abdullah Ajrarvi, Mr Rasheed Masood, MP, Mr K. Rahman Khan, MP, Mr. Obaidullah Khan Azmi, MP, , Mr. Sanjay Garg, Minister, Govt of UP, Mr. Siraj Qureshi, Chairman India Islamic Cultural Centre, Mr. Syed Farooque, Industrialist, Mr. Nadeem Tareen, Industrialist, Mr. Amanullah Khan, Islamic Develop Bank representative in India, Mr. Hamdard Foundation
International Experts
Mr SGP Jafry, Canada, Mr. Mike Ghouse, Chairman, World Muslim Congress, USA, Ms Anisa Abdel Fattah, Chairwoman of the National Association of Muslim American Women, Syed Hamid, Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard,Farid Chaudhary, Kuwait, Dr Shahnaz Hasan, Prof Emeritus, Chicago, US, Dr Mohsin Raza, Tehran University, Dr Irafan Khan, Chicago, Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad, Chairman IFEW, Australia, Mr Zahid Jamil, Australia
Editorial Advisors: Mr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala, renowned columnist, Mr. Basir Khan, Pro VC IGNOU, Dr Masood Hasan, Prof. Emeritus, Manglatan University, Mr. Kamruddin, Bangalore, Prof, Lalit Mohan Nath, Former Director, AIIMS, New Delhi, Stephanie Crane, US
Some of them have already accepted. Others are expected to confirm soon. The list is expected to grow substantially.
a) Names of Writers who will be contributing articles. Under Process: The first issue will have articles from Mike Ghouse, USA, Ms Stephanie Crane, USA, Mr. Shamim Siddiqui, USA, Ms Anisa Abd Fateh Ali, USA, Mr. GP Jafry, Canada, Mr. Zahid amil, Australia, Mr. Bharat Jhunjuhunwala, Mr. Yogesh Chibber, Mr. Wasi Nomani, Mr. Rahman Khan, MP, Mr Rashid Masood, MP, Mr. Saiyid Hamid and many others
b) Correspondents: As the magazine is monthly based mainly on information, profiles and essays, separate full time correspondents will not be required. Services of some correspondents can be availed for specific purposes.
5) Research and identification:
Potential readership and targeting them to seek subscription.
Our target is to reach every educated Muslim home, those non-Muslims who have slightest inclination to understand the world issues from the Islamic or Muslim point of view, every institution, every university and college, every NGO, every business group, every intellectual. A big subscription drive will be launched immediately after the launching ceremony. Initially, this will cover major cities and then smaller cities.
Addresses of thousands of educated persons are being collected through Internet. The first issue will be sent to them as a complimentary copy and subsequently they will be approached for annual subscriptions. People will be informed also through Emails and Net groups about the launching of the magazine. Later on, advertisement about the magazine issues can be given in popular newspapers and magazines.
6) Full time Editorial Responsibility
Dr Javed Jamil: Chief Editor
Syed Adil: Editor
Yogesh Chhibber: Associate Editor
Jalal Umar: Associate Editor
Full time Marketing responsibility: To be decided
First Issue
The First Issue will focus on (not necessarily in the same order)
1. Ka’ba: the Symbol of Unity and Universal Brotherhood: History, Importance & Structure
2. Encyclopedia of Islam: Allah
3. Dr. Abdul Kalam: the Architect of India as a Major Global Power
4. Applied Islamics: Are Muslims Enemies of Peace?; Sexual revolution: Nemesis of Civilisation
5. President of UAE: A Man with a Mission
6. Malaysia: A Unique Blend of Islam and Modernity
7. Islamic Development Bank: Making a Global Impact
8. Ayatollah Khamenei: the Most Influential Islamic Aalim
9. Muslims of America: Important Muslim organizations, Muslim achievers, Opinion of Muslims about America and its internal and external policies, cultural issues, religious issues, etc.
10. India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi: Serving the People in Style
11. Shoeb Akhtar, International Cricketer: Immensely Talented, Equally Undisciplined
12. Debate: Bridging the Gulf: West and Islamic World: Opinions of Important personalities from all over the world
13. Indian Election Scene Supplement I: Interviews with Outgoing Muslim MPs
14. The World of Chaos: Causes of Avoidable Deaths in last 25 years (In Figures)
15. Jamia Millia: Students in Action for Pride
16. Selection from Urdu Poetry
17. Rising High: Profiles of Entrepreneurs and other eminent Personalities and emerging greats: Sponsored Feature
18. Monthly Diary of Events
19. Public opinion: letters: Messages for the first issue
20. From the world press
21. Children’s and Women’s sections
Address: 10, Bhagwati Colony, Behat Road, Saharanpur, 247001, (UP), INDIA Phones: 91-132-2680440, 6980356
Noida Office: B-76, II Floor, Sector 64 NOIDA, Phone: 9312908522, 9810610115;
Email: javedjamil@rediffmail.com, doctorforu123@rediffmail.com
22. Editorial: Towards a purer, healthier and more peaceful world
23. Ka’ba: the Symbol of Unity and Universal Brotherhood: History, Importance & Structure
24. Encyclopedia of Islam: Allah: Etymology, Theories, Comparative study with other religions, Functions of God, Allah in Quran
25. Dr. Abdul Kalam: the Architect of India as a Major Global Power
26. Applied Islamics: Are Muslims Enemies of Peace?; Sexual revolution: Nemesis of Civilisation
27. Malaysia: A Unique Blend of Islam and Modernity
28. Islamic Development Bank: Making a Global Impact
29. Ayatollah Khamenei: the Aalim who also rules
30. Muslims of America: Important Muslim organizations, Muslim achievers, Opinion of Muslims about America and its internal and external policies, cultural issues, religious issues, etc.
31. India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi: Serving the People in Style
32. Shoeb Akhtar, International Cricketer: Immensely Talented, Equally Undisciplined
33. Debate: Bridging the Gulf: West and Islamic World: Opinions of Important personalities from all over the world
34. Religious and Scientific Education: Dilemma
35. Indian Election Scene Supplement I: Interviews with Outgoing Muslim MPs
36. The World of Chaos: Causes of Avoidable Deaths in last 25 years (In Figures)
37. Jamia Millia: Surging Ahead in Excellence
38. Selection from Urdu Poetry
39. Rising High: Profiles of Muslim Entrepreneurs and other eminent personalities and emerging greats: Sponsored Feature
40. Monthly Diary of Events
41. Public opinion: letters: Messages for the first issue
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Voice of Moderate Muslims
Voice of Moderate Muslims
SUCCESSFUL NAATIA MUSHAERA ON 2.21.14
Moderate Islam Speaker
Moderate Islam Speaker
CIVIL DIALOGUE
The people in Dallas are making an effort to understand and clean their own hearts first, when we are free from bias, it would be easy to share that with others. Islam teaches us in so many ways to "respect the otherness of others" and it is time we find simple practical ways of doing it.
