WND Goes Inside 'Mainstream' Muslim Conference
Extremist leaders who support terror stir up crowd at Florida event

By Sherrie Gossett

January 4-6, 2004

Islam In America - Part 1 <click here>
Islam In America - Part 2 <click here>
Islam In America - Part 3 <click here>

Islam In America Part 1 <click here>Editor's note: Today WND features the first of a three-part report by Sherrie Gossett, who went inside a recent "mainstream" Muslim conference in Florida to discover the true attitudes and ideas of the leaders of the Islamic movement in the U.S. Gossett attended portions of the conference after all other media representatives had packed up and left the event.

In Part 1, Gossett analyzes the words and backgrounds of some of the keynote speakers at the conference  imams and sheikhs who openly voice their disdain for America, Jews and "unbelievers" in general, and who defend the practice of suicide bombing. In Part 2 we will further explore who the heroes are in the world of U.S. Muslim activists and what kind of activities they fund.

ISLAM IN AMERICA, PART 1

The soothing baritone rises effortlessly to navigate an exotic series of microtones and complex rhythmic cadences.

The voice is that of Abdul Malik, imam of Oakland, California's Masjid Al-Islam mosque.

He is delivering a prayerful invocation in perfect Arabic before followers of one of the most ancient religions of mankind  Islam.

Soon he'll address a very contemporary subject: Media.

Shatan's (Satan's) media, that is.

The imam isn't alone in his criticism of media coverage of Islam in America.

Out of the conflict and criticism have come loaded words like "prejudice," "intolerance," "civil rights," "terrorism," "militant," "radical" and "extremist." These terms have a powerful emotional pull, as they are tethered to values close to American's hearts – values like freedom, diversity, tolerance, national security and patriotism.

Critics from diverse camps blame media for reporting either public-relations fluff or hysterical fear-mongering. Right-wing media blames mainstream media. Mainstream media wonders why right-wing media is in such a huff. Left-wing media blames right-wing media. And Malik? Well, he just blames them all.

Shatan's work, they're doing, he says. Extinguishing the light of Islam.

"Know that God is displeased and hates the unbeliever," he warns.

Now, even as a handful of Islamic groups holding themselves out as the true "mainstream" have come to dominate the media landscape, critics contend the groups are little more than white-washed extremists, equipped with PR savvy, an intolerant political agenda and a knack for marginalizing the "real" moderates.

Is it a case of terrorism or intolerance? Or perhaps misunderstood and ignored complexities? To answer some of these questions, WorldNetDaily traveled to an Islamic conference in Orlando, Fla., that generated significant controversy before it even opened. This is the report of that event, its broader implications, and the interlocking ideologies and causes that traverse continents and provide unifying principles primed for political expression.



KISSIMMEE, Fla.  Just as a Florida Islamic conference was trying to recover from one media controversy, they were mired in another when Islamic speakers who have voiced support for suicide bombers and referred to Jews as "Jewish crackers," "apes" and "pigs" freely addressed the crowd and were warmly embraced by conference leaders.

The speakers addressed the crowd just hours after Islamic leader Dr. Sayed M. Saeed assured media that those present represented "mainstream" Islam, and radical rhetoric or "misguided imams" would not be tolerated. The controversial leaders addressed the crowd after all media (except for WND) had left. One addressed the attendees in only Arabic in a separate room.

The Universal Heritage Foundation, organizers of the December conference, first ran into controversy when media learned a planned three-day conference called "Islam for Humanity" was advertising it would feature a Saudi Arabian sheikh famous for virulent, racist rhetoric.

Last April, while addressing 2 million followers at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, chief cleric Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Sudais prayed to God to "terminate" the Jews, who he called "the scum of humanity, the rats of the world, prophet killers ... pigs and monkeys."

Al-Sudais also urged Arabs and Muslims to abandon peace initiatives with Israel. His comments were carried worldwide by Reuters and the Associated Press. The racist characterization of Jews was not a singular occurrence, as suggested by some media. Al-Sudais has variously described Jews as "evil," a "continuum of deceit," "tyrannical" and "treacherous"

Al-Sudais, was listed as a "specially invited guest" of the conference, which was slated to be held at the 31-acre Kissimmee campus of Universal Heritage Foundation, near Disney World, but was later moved to the nearby county-owned Silver Spurs Arena.

Following media exposure, al-Sudais' name disappeared from conference materials. Later, Imam Siraj Wahhaj's name also was dropped from a new issue of the program.

Wahhaj was deemed a potential unindicted co-conspirator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and sits on the board of directors of the Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA, and the advisory board of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.

On the opening night of the conference, Dec. 19, Dr. S.M. Syeed, secretary general of the ISNA, addressed the controversy directly, with media present.

Syeed said the conference presented and "extraordinary opportunity" since the public and media are "waiting to see what we're saying."

"We would never allow such statements to be made on our stage," Syeed said. "That kind of rhetoric has no place in our conference, projects or programs. We need to be sensitive and we should certainly distance ourselves from them."

Referring to the prior media controversy, Saeed said, "This does not represent the Islam mainstream … these misguided imams. …We should clearly announce they are not representing us or the message of the prophet as mercy to mankind."

The Los Angeles Times, Orlando Sentinel and Fox Channel 35 filed reports that night.

'Allah bless those martyrs'

Early the next day, the moderator announced that an address by Egyptian cleric Sheikh Wagdy Ghunaim would be re-scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The moderator said Ghunaim was "in town" but was not present at the Silver Spurs Arena.

The sheikh had previously referred to Jews as "monkeys" and "pigs" during a Brooklyn College conference of the American Muslim Alliance on May 24, 1998.

Before leading the audience in anti-Jewish verse, Ghuneim said: "The Jews distort words from their meanings. ... They killed the prophets and worshipped idols. ... Allah says he who equips a warrior of jihad is like the one who makes jihad himself."

The Brooklyn event, entitled "Palestine: 50 Years of Occupation," was sponsored by the Islamic Association for Palestine, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, CAIR, ISNA and the Islamic Circle of North America, or ICNA, among others.

Advertisements for the Orlando conference program also featured leaders of CAIR, ICNA and ISNA, organizations that are mainstays of the American Islamic "conference circuit."

An Arabic audiotape from the Dec. 29, 1997, annual conference of the Muslim Arab Youth Association, in Ontario, Calif., documents another Ghuneim speech, which referred to four suicide bombings that took place in Israel in 1996.

"Those young people who explode themselves to kill the Jews were not committing suicide but jihad," Ghuneim said, "They are mujahedeen because there is no way to struggle and fight the Jews except that way. Allah bless those martyrs."

Ghuneim CDs were on sale at the Orlando conference despite Dr. Syeed's previous statements about the need to be "sensitive" about CDs and books that were on sale.

'That ain't suicide; that's martyrdom'

By noon on Saturday, Dec. 20, conference leaders also presented Imam Malik of Masjid Al-Islam.

(Malik is also referred to as Abdul Malik Ali, Abd Al-Malik and Amir Abdel Malik Ali. Note: This individual is not Imam Abdul R. Malik Ali.)

Malik said he had just come from addressing diplomats at the United Nations the day before. (Malik was on the conference schedule the night before but was not present.)

The imam has previously voiced empathy and support for suicide bombers, denied Muslims were involved in 9-11, characterized the war on terror as a conspiratorial Zionist plot designed to destroy Islam and Muslims, and blamed attacks on affirmative action on "the rise of the Jewish cracker," according to media reports and audio/video recordings obtained by WND.

Last year, the Golden Gate Xpress, San Francisco State University's online student newspaper, and the Jewish Bulletin News of Northern California reported Malik, while speaking at Malcolm X Plaza, urged a crowd of roughly 500 to 800 to "stop calling them suicide bombers . When a person commits suicide, they are oppressed, without hope, depressed. Palestinian mothers are supporting their children who are suicide bombers, saying, 'Go honey, go!'"

The Golden Gate Xpress, quoted Ali as saying, "That ain't suicide; that's martyrdom."

The Muslim religious leader and San Francisco State graduate also was quoted by both the school newspaper and Hillel saying that Israelis ought to return "to Germany, to Poland to Russia. The Germans should hook y'all up. You should go back to Germany."

The statements were made within earshot of a Holocaust remembrance table being manned by 50 Jewish students and Hillel staff.

Witnesses say some members of the audience gasped, while others applauded Malik's statements.

Following in the footsteps of Malcolm X

Malik is also a leader in the "Sabiqun Movement," also referred to as the As-Sabuqin Movement.

His mosque belongs to the Masjid Al-Islam affiliation constituting several mosques that state as their central tenet the establishment of the religion of Allah (Iqaamatul-Deen/"Actions and Efforts in the Way of Allah"). Toward that end, they are focused in the development of an organized "Islamic Movement" in America capable of producing individuals and institutions in "total, complete and uncompromised service of Allah."

Sabiqun Movement draws inspiration from El-Hajj Malik El-Shabbat (Malcolm X). A now-defunct website featured a portrait of Malcolm X performing salaat.

Like Malcolm X, Malik's oratory skill, lifestyle and passion have attracted youth towards the movement. An electrifying presence, Abdul Malik Ali preaches what he views as an uncompromising Islamic message of striving for one's personal best through discipline, hard work, fasting, studying, honoring women and abstinence from "sins" like promiscuous sex and drug use.

"In Muslim countries next to the Masjids you have places of sport and play where people are drinking and belly-dancing and gambling and opening up casinos and downloading by satellite pornography in some of the holiest places of Islam!" Malik thunders from the podium in Orlando. "Who do you blame for that? You can't blame America. You can't blame Europe.

"You have to blame those in authority in Islam who would allow the young minds of young Muslims to be corrupted!"

Malik sees a future where devout young Muslims will have a profound impact on observers, generating respect, then social justice and political impact for his brand of Islam. He also strongly emphasizes independence for Muslim communities, who he says should strive to build their own hospitals, schools, study centers and take care of the needy among them.

Young Muslims seem to see in the message a route to esteem, pride, a sense of purpose and an invitation to a compelling spiritual destiny as they are called to sacrifice all to reclaim the ancient "glory of Islam."

Reports from England seem to document a similar movement among disaffected youth who are leaving behind the traditional Islam of their parents.

The teachings also seem to emphasize the immediacy of this particular epoch in history, which is expected to see a worldwide victory of Islam as Judaism and Christianity, along with all other "false" religions, fall by the wayside in the struggle and nations merge into a pan-Islamic government serving Allah alone.

"House slaves' in WASP America

Malik's rhetoric evokes strong racial overtones as he warns young people about moderate American Muslims who he says have compromised their integrity to be "liked," becoming nothing more than "house slaves" in the mansion of a racist, imperialistic and destructive America.

The remarks seemed in line with repeated warnings conference goers heard from Dr. Ihsan Bagby against losing distinctiveness through "assimilation" into the "WASP" culture of America. Babgy characterized Muslim life in the U.S. today as being similar to persecutions of Irish Catholics who were killed and whose churches were burned.

A recurring theme is a cataclysmic crisis of Islam, which has its roots in racism, as the colonial oppressor  the U.S.  is pitted against Muslims worldwide.

Malik also has cited news coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing as evidence of racist bias against Muslims in the U.S. He viewed the early suggestions of an Islamic radical connection, followed by the dissemination of a photo of a firefighter holding a "blond-haired, blue-eyed child," as hostile editorial decisions intentionally designed to provoke violent antagonism toward the Muslim community.

"It's bad enough when they're coming after your wives," said Malik, "but when they come after your babies "

Supporting Hamas

In July 1999, Malik was one of the principal organizers of and speakers at a San Francisco rally that praised the terrorist group Hamas.

At the rally, Imam Abdul-Alim Musa, head of the Sabiqun Movement and leader of the Masjid Al-Islam in Washington, D.C., displayed a cashier's check made out to "Hamas, Palestine," to protest the "unjust" 1996 U.S. law which declared Hamas a terrorist organization.

"Muslims must reject such a designation," he told the rally crowd, "since Hamas is involved in a legitimate struggle for freedom and it performs numerous humanitarian and social functions, such as providing support to widows and orphans."

Hamas also pays for the simple material required for a suicide bomber to carry out an attack. It includes: the cost of tailoring a custom fit belt wide enough to hold six or eight pockets full of explosives and the explosive device itself, which consists of nails, sometimes ball bearings, gunpowder, mercury, acetone, a battery, an electrical switch and a short cable. The largest expense item is providing transportation to an Israeli site of the bombing.

The total cost of a single suicide bombing averages $142.29.

Following the attack, Hamas provides for the material needs of the bomber's family by giving each family between $2,800 and $5,000.

Hamas has obtained much of the money it pays for killing abroad right here in the United States, money originally raised by the Holy Land Foundation – a tax-exempt charity based in Richardson, Texas, that raised $13 million from people in America in 2001 alone before its assets were frozen by President Bush.

At the San Francisco rally, Musa also announced he planned to distribute copies of the cashier's check at the next rally in Los Angeles held Aug. 27, 1999, to draw attention to the fact that he does "not believe in obeying an unjust law."

"We want the authorities to know that we are supporting Hamas because it is fighting for its rights," he said. "For the U.S. government to take a position against Hamas is to betray its own principles and violate its constitution."

Hamas: Martyrs or terrorists?

Hamas views all Israelis as occupying "troops" and "usurpers" of the land and therefore potential targets for murder. Children who are killed are "collateral damage." Muslims and Americans have also died in suicide bombings. (Hamas is the Arabic acronym for Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamiya  The Islamic Resistance Movement.)

The group has claimed responsibility for numerous suicide bombings and shootings in Israel, which have killed hundreds of Israelis.

Referring to operatives who carry out suicide bombings as shuhada, or "martyrs," and to the suicide bombings as 'amaliyat istishadiya, or "acts of martyrdom," Hamas lauds its operatives who carry out such attacks and provides them with full Muslim burial rites.

Experts say truly mainstream Islam in America forbids suicide bombings and moderate American Islamic groups like the Islamic Supreme Council of America vehemently denounce and oppose such teachings as abhorrent and heretical.

Supporters of the San Francisco rally said the immediate effect of Imam Musa's campaign had been to give a boost to the self-confidence of Muslims, especially those of immigrant background.

"They now feel that they are not alone," said Tahir Mahmoud of Crescent International, a publication that describes itself as the "newsmagazine of the global Islamic movement."

Malik has yet to respond to WND's question "How do you reconcile your preaching of support for widows and orphans with the Sabiqun Movement's support for a group (Hamas) that creates widows and orphans through suicide bombings?"

Nor did he respond to WND's questioning about whether he and/or his organization was currently funding Hamas.

'Global victory'

While acceptance in America for Hamas as legitimate war fighters is usually relegated to the Islamic radicals and the hard left, a recent book on the history of warfare suggests adopting a new paradigm similar to that used by terrorist apologists and present in the rhetoric of the Islamic conference circuit.

In "Battle: A History of Combat and Culture," John A. Lynn, a professor of history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign advises against labeling terrorism as "evil" and insists it should be included in the "realm of war."

He says, "A case can be made that terrorism is essentially a poor man's form of warfare."

Col. Robert A. Doughty, a professor and head of the department of history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, praised "Battle" as an "extremely interesting and provocative book," adding, "A really good book is not one that accords completely with readers' views but one that challenges readers to consider old issues in new ways and to think through long-held views."

Often missing in media and academic analyses is the global scale of Hamas' ideology as well as that of other jihad groups. Middle East experts told WND that in contradiction to mainstream Islam, which accepts Jews as fellow believers in monotheism, Hamas is characterized by a theological anti-Semitism that regards Israel and Jews as an embodiment of evil in the world that will, in time, be destroyed as part of the divine plan.

Hamas, like its precursor, the Muslim Brotherhood, views Jews and Christians as "infidels" or "disbelievers," or enemies of the divine revelation received by Muhammad. In time, however, the "disbelievers" will be vanquished in a cataclysmic war, or jihad, which will result in the global victory of Muslim forces.

Iranian political analyst Amir Taheri notes a similar impetus for Hezbollah, explaining that the ideology is fundamentally Manichean and is based on the division of all phenomena into good and evil. Mankind is also divided between the Partisans of Allah and those who support Shatan or Satan; the war between the two must continue until the complete victory of the Partisans of Allah. Every aspect of Satan's presence must be removed, by violence if necessary, so divine society can become a reality.

In the words of Sheikh Ibrahim al-Amin, one of the Hezbollahs' leaders: "We want to see Islam prevail throughout the world."

Victims of 'ameriKKKa'?

In addition to supporting Hamas, Malik's Sabiqun Movement, along with other groups represented at the Orlando conference, like ISNA and CAIR, have all spoken out against the arrest and conviction of Imam Jamil al-Amin (formerly Black Panther H. Rap Brown) on charges related to the shooting death of a sheriff's deputy.

Al-Amin held one of four seats on ISNA's Shura Council.

Sabiqun also provided telephone scripts to activists as part of a community action effort geared to educate others and generate support for al-Amin.

Jamil al-Amin is said to have never been shy about invoking Islam in his struggle against white "ameriKKKa." And like Orlando conference speakers Malik and Bagby, he has chastised American blacks for being too integrated into their country's life.

"Islam is under attack on a global scale by those who wish to control the world," al-Amin wrote after his 1995 arrest. The words resonate with the teachings of foreign fundamentalist Islamic groups like the Jama'at-I-Islami of Pakistan and were reminiscent of warnings Malik has given to Muslims in America.

In 1995, two members of al-Amin's Atlanta mosque were convicted of illegally shipping more than 900 firearms to groups in Detroit and Philadelphia, and to an Islamic gang linked to Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the "blind sheikh" of New York, according to media reports.

Officials with these groups also see Rahman as having been "railroaded" and framed for the 1993 World Trade Center bombings. Malik's speeches abound with references to CIA and law-enforcement corruption. The stance on Rahman is identical to that emanating from leaders of foreign Islamic fundamentalist groups.

Meanwhile, leaked transcripts of wiretaps of prison conversations between Rahman and indicted hard-left lawyer Lynn Stewart show Rahman issuing fatwas to Egyptian brethren, commanding them to end to a cease-fire and ordering them to "fight the Jews and kill them wherever they are."

Rahman is the spiritual leader of Gamaa al-Islamiyya, Egypt's largest militant Islamic group, which was responsible for November 1997 attacks at Luxor that killed 58 foreign tourists and a June 1995 attempt to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Senior members of Gamaa signed Osama bin Ladin's fatwa in February 1998 calling for attacks against the United States. And in early 2001, leader Rifa'i Taha Musa published a book in which he attempted to justify terrorist attacks that would cause mass casualties. It is now a party split between those who want to forgo violence and those still dedicated to violent jihad and whose primary goal is to overthrow the Egyptian government and replace it with an Islamic state.

Al-Amin has been praised by CAIR for his "moral character."

Speakers at the Orlando conference, like Saeed, Dr. Muzzamil Siddiqui, Altaf Ali, Dr. Zulqifar Ali Shah, Dr. Muhammed Yunus and Dr. Mokhtar Maghroui, are all leaders of or veterans of the Islamic conference circuit. The conferences engage in fund-raising, education and recruitment and teach how to get and use media coverage for political leverage.

'An extremist fringe'

"The conference is certainly not mainstream but constitutes an extremist fringe," Khalid Durán told WND. Durán is a well-known scholar of the history, sociology and politics of the Islamic world.

An author of five books on world affairs, Durán has conducted field tests of Muslim societies in transition and is also known for his work as a scholar with the Foreign Policy Research Institute (Philadelphia) and the Institute for International Studies (Washington, D.C.).

"There is so much contradiction," Durán said regarding those involved with the Orlando conference. "The same people have many times said that nowhere in the world are Muslims having it so good as here. They would not be able to hold this conference in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco or Pakistan. Many of the speakers are barred from those states."

Continued Durán, "Many participants, such as Dr. Syeed, belonged to an extremist party based in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan called Jama'at-I-Islami. It is the parent group of several organizations indicted as terrorist such as Lashkare Tayyiba.

"Jama'at-I-Islami helped Osama bin Laden in the creation of al-Qaida, and he wrote that from 1980-84 he used to frequent their headquarters in Lahore to hand over donations."

Jama'at denies the al-Qaida link and insists criticism is based in profound misunderstandings between East and West and U.S. "propaganda" emanating from, again, a racist perspective.

The 'midwife of the Taliban'

Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Shah was president of ICNA before becoming chairman and CEO of the Universal Heritage Foundation Inc. in Orlando, which produced the inaugural "Islam for Humanity" conference. Also representing ICNA at the Orlando conference were Dr. Talaat Sultan, the current president, and Dr. Mohammad Yunus.

Like ISNA, ICNA boasts affiliations with many mosques and groups, and is active in education and fund-raising relief efforts.

ICNA has already been documented as voicing support for Hamas, violent jihad and as engaging in jihad fund-raising. It is sometimes called the North American branch of Jama'at-I-Islami or is described as "allied" or "linked" with JI.

Both ISNA and ICNA have featured Jama'at-I-Islami speakers and ideology at their conferences. JI ideology can be found woven throughout convention speakers' expositions.

Called the "midwife of the Taliban," Jama'at-I-Islami hopes to turn Pakistan into a fundamentalist Islamic state and is active in the Kashmiri jihad. The Jama'at views the Kashmiri cause as a jihad, or holy war, against India. Experts say the Jama'at-I-Islami ultimately seeks to overthrow the Pakistani government and create a radical Islamic state.

The head of Jama'at-I-Islami, Qazi Ahmed Hussein, has been a frequent guest speaker at both ICNA and ISNA conferences. He has also made successful moves to convince Americans that his movement is moderate, appearing at the Brookings Institute among other venues.

Supporters point out that the JI leader issued a statement condemning 9-11 as an act of "blatant terrorism."

Five days later at another meeting, however, Qazi Hussein sounded less empathetic, stating that the incidents that took place in New York and Washington were an outcome of misdeeds and the wrongs of U.S. society.

On Sept. 16, 2001, he denied Muslims were involved, while at a concurrent meeting in Mansoora, the party's secretary-general, Syed Munawwar Hasan, was pointing the finger at "white Americans" and saying bin Laden was not responsible.

The 'key of Kashmir'

Jama'at-I-Islami was credited with intelligence sources and worldwide media as being the primary mover behind a bloody 1992 Islamic jihad that was designed to capture two-thirds of Kashmir from Indian forces to turn it into an Islamic state.

The mujahedeen soon lost any sympathy they had had from rural people when activities devolved to include the kidnapping and gang rape of young women and forced induction into the terrorist ranks.

The events reached the nadir of depravity when one Mrs. Girja Tiku of Terehgan, Kupwara, was abducted, gang-raped and her body left shredded on the ground. In the end, 1,585 men and women including 981 Muslims, 218 Hindus, 23 Sikhs and 363 security personnel were killed. Among those killed were 12 political leaders and 510 government officials

Supporters of the mujahedeen blame Indians for brutal behavior while inter-governmental reports indicated Indians found to be acting in such a manner were in the minority and quickly removed from their posts. Kashmiri women reported that the mujahedeen threatened them in order to force them to accuse Indians of rape.

Pakistani representatives of Islamic fundamentalist groups have called for the strategic recruitment of black Americans into their ranks to offset the "venal influence" of the "Hindu-Jewish" vote in the U.S. (also referred to as the "powerful Indian-Israeli lobby").

One young convert from Jamil al-Amin's Atlanta mosque joined Islamic separatists in Kashmir, where he was killed attacking an Indian army post.

"Kashmir shall go on bleeding until Kashmiris are given right to decide their future," namely to establish an Islamic state, Hussein has told foreign media.

Syed Mahmoodullah, the former Taliban envoy in Karachi, and a supporter of the Kashmiri jihad stressed the global aspiration of the battle in words that echo declarations by Hamas and Hezbollah: "Jihad being a continuous process against apostasy and other anti-Islamic forces, could not stop at a certain point of time and space within or beyond one's borders."

 

ISLAM IN AMERICA, PART 2

How U.S. extremists fund terror
Money trail linked to Muslim conference circuit leads to Mideast

By Sherrie Gossett

January 5, 2004

Editor's note: This is the second of a three-part WND report by Sherrie Gossett, who went inside a recent "mainstream" Muslim conference in Florida to expose the true attitudes and ideas of the leaders of the movement in the U.S. Gossett attended portions of the conference after all other media representatives had packed up and left the event.


The Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA, leadership was represented at last month's "Islam for Humanity" conference in Orlando, Fla., by Dr. Muzammil Siddiqui, director of Islamic Society of Orange County, Calif., and former president of the Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA, from 1996-2000. Dr. S.M. Syeed, secretary general of ISNA, also spoke.

Imam Siraj Wahhaj, who sits on the board of directors of ISNA, though invited, was not present. Wahhaj was named a potential unindicted co-conspirator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombings.

Media reported Siddiqui, addressing U.S. support of Israel at a recent Washington rally, said, "If you remain on the side of injustice, the wrath of God will come."

Siddiqui spoke at an Oct. 28, 2000, "Jerusalem Day" rally in Washington, that media reported degenerated into a hate-fest in which the crowd chanted, "Death to the Jews!"

Wahhaj, who sits on the advisory board of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, has urged followers to overturn the U.S. system of government and set up an Islamic dictatorship. He also testified as a character witness for convicted terror mastermind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman.

An ISNA-sponsored conference this past summer in Dallas featured Imam Zaid Shakir, (another Orlando conference invited guest speaker) who said in a 1992 educational video that Muslims can't accept the American political system because "it is against the orders and ordainments of Allah." Also present were Wahhaj, Syeed and Siddiqui of the Orlando conference.

At a 1998 ISNA conference, Orlando speaker Siddiqi was the moderator for a panel discussion which included Qazi Ahmad Hussein, supporter of the bloody Kashmiri jihad. The topic was: "Human Dignity and the Muslim World: The Case of Pakistan and Algeria."

In addition to hosting Hussein, leader of Jama'at-I-Islami, the Islamic Society of North America has hosted other radical speakers and terror promoters, including Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a well-known ideologue of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which spawned Islamic Jihad, Hamas, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.

Al-Qaradawi is well known for legitimizing suicide bombings via his own radical interpretation of Islamic theology.

His fatwa on suicide bombings entitled "Hamas Operations Are Jihad and Those Who [Carry it Out and] Are Killed are Considered Martyrs" is posted on the Hamas website.

Al-Qaradawi's CDs were on sale to conference-goers in Orlando, including titles on "Islamic Jurisprudence" and "Ethics and Purification." In total, 32 of the leader's books on CD were hawked at the site of the event, Silver Spurs Arena.

ISNA has hosted a number of speakers from the radical Muslim Brotherhood movement, including Rashid Ghanushi, the exiled leader of the Islamic Tendency Movement in Tunisia, a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot.

In his sermons, Ghanushi has referred to Israel as a "cancer" and to Jews in particular as being "Satans."

Rod Dreher, editor with the Dallas Morning News says, "ISNA's advisory board is thick with men who have espoused extremist opinions and have troubling associations," adding, "They all have been affiliated with a brand of Islam that most Americans would, and should, find frightening. We are entitled to ask why. "

Defending terror suspects and convicts

Another prominent feature of the media-dubbed "mainstream, moderate" Islamic groups represented at the Orlando conference is consistent support for suspected, indicted and convicted terrorists, often as a "civil rights" issue.

In 1995, ISNA defended the Hamas terror organization by establishing a legal defense fund on behalf of Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzuq. Abu Marzuq was arrested at Kennedy Airport in July of 1995 and held in New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center until 1997, when he was deported to Jordan.

Following the arrest of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin in 1989, Abu Marzuq took over the leadership of the movement. From 1989 until 1992, he appointed leadership and sent directives to the West Bank and Gaza from his home in Falls Church, Va.

During that time Abu Marzuq appointed Muhammad Salah of Bridgeview, Ill., to be in charge of Hamas' "military affairs," which made him responsible for appointing commanders of the Iz Al-Din Al-Qassam Battalions – the wing of the movement responsible for terror attacks – in the West Bank and Gaza. He also disbursed funds and directed their distribution for the terror activities of Hamas by using his own bank accounts. From 1990 to 1994, six Hamas attacks were carried out with funds provided by Abu Marzuq. The terrorists who carried out the attacks were recruited by members of the Al-Qassam Battalions who were appointed by Abu Marzuq from the United States.

At its annual convention in September 1998, ISNA announced the establishment of a legal defense fund for Salah as well.

In January 1993, Salah was arrested in Israel for attempting to distribute funds totaling $370,000 to the Iz Al-Din Al-Qassam Battalions of Hamas. He was sentenced to five years in prison and was released in November 1997. Subsequent to his arrest in Israel, Salah was officially labeled a "Specially Designated Terrorist" for "facilitation of terrorist activities in the Middle East" during the early 1990s.

Seven months after he was released from prison in Israel, the FBI arrested Salah at his home in Chicago in June 1998 and seized $1.4 million in assets belonging to him, his wife Azita, and a nonprofit organization named the Quranic Literacy Institute located in Oak Lawn, Ill. Included in the seizure was $130,000 from two bank accounts owned by Salah. According to press reports, Salah was alleged to be involved in a money laundering operation to fund Hamas terror activities in Israel.

ISNA is heavily funded by Saudi contributions and has been described in congressional testimony by terrorism expert (and Muslim convert) Stephen Schwartz as one of the chief conduits through which the radical Saudi form of Islam passes into the United States.

Orlando conference leaders did not respond to repeated requests by WND for comment.

Follow the money to Florida

In 1995, a chain of events starting with a terrorist group in Israel would send ripples back to South Florida, to a group associated with ISNA.

On Oct. 29, 1995, the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, or IJMP, a terrorist group, officially announced that Ramadan 'Abdallah Shallah, whom it identified as being from Damascus, Syria, was designated as the movement's new secretary general. Shallah replaced Fat'hi Al-Shiqaqi who was shot to death Oct. 26, 1995, while traveling on the island of Malta.

From 1990 to 1995, Shallah lived in the United States, where he allegedly continued activities similar to those that he had engaged in while he was in the United Kingdom –coordinating activities of the IJMP by sending orders to Gaza and West Bank cells and reviewing field reports.

Operating from an organization officially named the Islamic Concern Project, or ICP, which was also known as the Islamic Committee for Palestine, IJMP distributed its official literature via a post office box in Tampa, Fla.

Subsequent to the announcement of Shallah's rise to the leadership of IJMP, federal agents carried out a search of a think tank called the World Islam and Studies Enterprise, or WISE, created by former University of South Florida professor Sami al-Arian and affiliated with the USF. Shallah had been the administrative director for WISE. WISE offices were searched on Nov. 20, 1995.

After September 11, Al-Arian was suspended from his teaching position at USF.

The affidavit that was used to procure the search warrants described WISE and ICP as front organizations for Islamic Jihad. In April 1998, an Immigration and Naturalization Service investigator's affidavit characterized WISE as a "front organization used to raise money and provide support for terrorism against Israel."

On Dec. 11, 1991, Shallah, then the administrative director for WISE, had written a letter to the director of the University of South Florida's International Affairs Center identifying the International Institute of Islamic Thought, or IIIT, as the main financial backer of WISE.

He wrote: "Our largest contributor is the Washington-based International Institute for Islamic Thought. A brochure describing IIIT and its activities is enclosed."

The International Institute for Islamic Thought in Herndon, Va., is one of a number of charitable organizations and businesses that were established in Virginia by the Al-Rajhi banking family of Saudi Arabia. It is also a part of the Islamic Society of North America.

Syeed, who addressed the Orlando conference on the first night, Dec. 19, was director of academic outreach for ten years (1984-1994) at IIIT. Nevertheless, he is held by many to be a moderate and a sincere harmonizing influence on the inter-faith community. No controversy surrounding ISNA has been linked to him.

Bashir Al-Nafi', one of the founding leaders of the Islamic Jihad movement, worked for WISE and was a researcher at IIIT. In 1996, Al-Nafi' was named in an INS investigator's affidavit as being linked to Islamic Jihad.

On June 5, 2002, the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (also known as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad) carried out a brutal suicide car bombing at the Megiddo junction in the north of Israel. At 7:20 a.m. a suicide bomber drove a van packed with over 220 pounds of explosives alongside an Israel commuter bus and detonated himself, creating a massive fireball that burned 17 people alive and wounded 38 others.

Shallah, the secretary-general of Islamic Jihad, along with Hezbollah, claimed responsibility for the bombing, asserting it was carried out to commemorate the anniversary of the 1967 Six-Day War.

He was reported by official Iranian television to have stated, "America had declared war on Islam and the freedom-loving people of the world," one of the recurring themes being expressed on the Muslim "conference circuit" in the U.S.

Sponsoring radical speakers

The most prominent of radical figures sponsored by WISE funds (which were said to come primarily from IIIT) was Sheikh 'Umar Abd Al-Rahman, who served as the "spiritual leader" of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers and was convicted in 1995 of being involved in a plot to blow up New York area landmarks.

WISE also sponsored the 1991 U.S. visit of Sheikh Abd Al-'Aziz Al-'Awda, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine. Al-'Awda is classified by the United States as a "specially designated terrorist" and was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Speaking at a conference in Chicago in 1990, the sheikh said, "Now Allah is bringing the Jews back to Palestine in large groups from all over the world to their big graveyard, where the promise will be realized upon them."

The sheikh also appeared at a WISE-sponsored 1989 conference called "Palestine, Intifada, and Horizons of Islamic Renaissance." The speakers included Al'Awda, and other speakers from the Muslim Brotherhood.

Representatives of IIIT and ISNA addressed that same conference, including Taha Jabir Al-'Alwani, who was then president of the International Institute of Islamic Thought; Mahmud Rashdan, the former secretary general of the Muslim Students' Association in the United States and Canada, and head of the educational department of the IIIT; and Ahmad Zaki Hammad, then-president of the Islamic Society of North America.

Two representatives from the African-American Muslim community also participated in the conference: Imam Warith Deen Muhammad, leader of the Muslim American Society, and Imam Jamil al-Amin of Atlanta (the former H. "Rap" Brown).

After the departure of Shallah from WISE, Mazen Al-Najjár, a founding member of the ICP and executive director of WISE, was reportedly linked to Islamic Jihad activities in the U.S.

Agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in sworn testimony have described al-Najjár as "a mid-level operative of a terrorist front group."

The 'tip of the iceberg'

Al-Najjár and other leaders of Islamic Jihad remain the focus of an ongoing federal investigation into the activities of Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations in the United States.

John Loftus, a lawyer for federal whistleblowers within the U.S. intelligence community, filed a lawsuit in March 2002 in Hillsborough County, Fla., alleging for more than a decade U.S. federal agents were told to drop key terrorist investigations due to politics with Saudi Arabia.

"As long as the Saudis were pumping billions into oil contracts, they could do no wrong," Loftus said.

The former Justice Department prosecutor says he had highly classified information from several of his confidential clients concerning a Saudi covert operation in Florida, whose tactics called for intimidating or murdering Palestinians who were willing to work with Israel for peace.

Specifically, Loftus said the Saudi government was laundering money through Florida charities run by USF's al-Arian for the support of terrorist groups in the Middle East, including al-Qaida, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Loftus told WND, "They want to make sure no Palestinian cooperates with Israel.

"They need the bogeyman of the Israeli oppressor in order to maintain control over their people. If there were to be a democracy in Palestine, they're afraid it would spread to Saudi Arabia."

Loftus believes the indictments handed down in the post-9/11 world are evidence the FBI is now being allowed to do its job.

"I believe we'll see more indictments like that of Alamoudi coming down," Loftus said, adding that those issued thus far are, "just the tip of the iceberg."

Loftus once held some of the highest security clearances in the world, with special access to NATO Cosmic, CIA codeword, and top-secret nuclear files.

Grover Norquist and the Islamic Institute

In terms of who "fixed the cases" and how the entities could operate for more than a decade immune from prosecution, Loftus points a finger at Republican power broker Grover Norquist.

Last month, Frank J. Gaffney Jr., formerly a senior official with the Reagan Defense Department and currently president of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, wrote a scathing indictment of Norquist's relationship with controversial Islamists, including Alamoudi who is currently in jail on suspicion of being a senior terrorist operator.

"[Norquist] is the guy that was hired by Alamoudi to head up the Islamic Institute, and he's the registered agent for Alamoudi, personally, and for the Islamic Institute," Loftus said.

Norquist's Islamic Institute had the stated purpose of cultivate Muslim-Americans and Arab-Americans whose attachment to conservative family values and capitalism made them potential allies for the Republican Party in advance of the 2000 presidential election.

As Gaffney's article recounts, the Islamic Institute was initially financed by Alamoudi, a supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah, who told the Annual Convention of the Islamic Association of Palestine in 1996, "If we are outside this country we can say 'Oh, Allah destroy America.' But once we are here, our mission in this country is to change it."

"Grover appointed Alamoudi's deputy, Khaled Saffuri to head his own organization. Together they gained access to the White House for Alamoudi and al-Arian and others with similar agendas who used their cachet to spread Islamist influence to the American military and the prison system and the universities and the political arena with untold consequences for the nation." Gaffney wrote.

In the U.S.-based English language newspaper Al Zaitohnah, dated June 2, 2000, Alamoudi stated: "We are the ones who went to the White House and defended what is called Hamas."

Gaffney pointed out that in addition to the seed money from Alamoudi, Norquist's Islamic Institute has also received funding from organizations described by the Washington Post as a "secretive group of tightly connected Muslim charities, think tanks and businesses based in Northern Virginia [and] used to funnel millions of dollars to terrorists and launder millions more" – a number of whom are currently part of the "largest federal investigation of terrorism financing in the world."

Says Loftus, "Grover Norquist's best friend is Karl Rove, the White House chief of staff, and apparently Norquist was able to fix things. He got extreme right wing Muslim people to be the gatekeepers in the White House. That's why moderate Americans couldn't speak out after 9-11. Moderate Muslims couldn't get into the White House because Norquist's friends were blocking their access. "

Alamoudi was at one time "regional representative" for ISNA's Washington, D.C., chapter. In 1998 he moderated a panel at an ISNA conference, called "Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Prisoners of Conscience in the U.S." The panelists included Sami al-Arian.

Alamoudi, like al-Arian, insists he's a community-minded "moderate" who is innocent.

A 'queer alliance'

While as the media has pointed out Alamoudi's behavior does not necessarily impugn others, it contributed to another controversy: the joining of conservative Christian and Jewish clerics with ISNA to fight homsexual marriage.

TheAlliance For Marriage has ISNA director Syeed sitting on its board.

While Syeed is thought of by many as a moderate, ISNA's track record was enough to leave writer Evan Gahr howling over the "queer alliance."

Andrew Sullivan, homsexual Republican blogger and author quipped, "Hey, it's one thing the mullahs and Richard John Neuhaus can agree upon." ~ © 2004 www.WorldNetDaily.com

ISLAM IN AMERICA, PART 3

Masquerading as 'mainstream'
How extremist Muslims intimidate press, true moderates into silence

Editor's note: This is the final installment of a three-part WND report by Sherrie Gossett, who went inside a recent "mainstream" Muslim conference in Florida to expose the true attitudes and ideas of the leaders of the movement in the U.S. Gossett attended portions of the conference after all other media representatives had packed up and left the event.

By Sherrie Gossett

The Islamic Circle of North America, or ICNA, along with the Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA, and representatives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, are mainstays of the American Islamic conference circuit, which has featured radical clerics and ideology derived from its overseas forebears.

The conference circuit, which is used to recruit and educate Muslims and raise funds, works to portray itself as moderate.

It also provides a meeting place where new friends can be found.

At the Silver Spurs Arena in Orlando, elegantly dressed women shared meals and mingled with newfound friends from a variety of backgrounds, some with their roots as far away as Egypt and Indonesia. Meanwhile, their children played games together as vendors sold books, CDs, colorful prayer rugs, artwork and intricately detailed robes.

A repeated theme at such conferences is the "crisis," "challenge" and "nightmare" that is everyday life for a Muslim in America.

Community leaders, terrorism experts and Middle East specialists say the groups are whitewashing their radicalism to get positive press, which they later parlay into community and political power. They say the groups are holding themselves out as moderates, that they play the race card at will, and exaggerate the climate for Muslims in the U.S.

With accusations of intolerance, prejudice or bigotry, these leaders present themselves to young Muslims as needed protectors in a scary world. A nervous press, meanwhile, plays the role of public-relations mouthpiece for them, frightened of being labeled intolerant, racist or bigoted. From the newly gained platform of mainstream media acceptance, they then bully critical moderate Muslim groups and individuals to intimidate them into silence as they insinuate themselves in to the power flow in America.

Critics also claim the groups routinely portray terrorism experts, moderate scholars, FBI counterintelligence veterans and anybody else criticizing them as individuals who slander Islam as a whole, despite copious evidence to the contrary.

Supporters of the groups say the critics are trying to divide the Muslim communities that the groups are trying to unite and that critics want only "good" (or "docile") "moderate" Muslims around who are not desirous of effecting political and social change. They attribute almost all arrests to abuses of the Patriot Act and "set ups" by law enforcement.

The radicals routinely attribute criticism to "Zionist" entities or sympathizers, and bigots.

Critics, though, say the charge is meant to intimidate and silence.

Editor Rod Dreher of the Dallas Morning News cited attempts to silence legitimate questions about ISNA's agenda through intimidation and misdirection, a charge also leveled by others at CAIR.

Taking over mosques?

One pattern that concerns critics is the pulling out of moderate clerics from mosques and replacing them with extremist ones. Some Muslim leaders complain that American mosques and institutions are now 80 percent owned by hard-liners who only represent a minority of Muslims in the U.S.

The North American Islamic Trust, a sister organization set up for what its website calls the "protection and safeguarding" of the finances of ISNA and other groups owns between 20 percent and 27 percent of this country's mosques and is said to be heavily funded by Saudi sources.

ISNA board member Bassam Osman is the president of the North American Islamic Trust, or NAIT, which owns the Islamic Academy of Florida. That school was described as a criminal enterprise in the federal indictment handed down in February against school founder Sami al-Arian and others alleged to be Palestinian Islamic Jihad fund-raisers.

Echoing similar reports from across the country, Dr. Khalid Duran, a moderate Muslim, and unnamed others like him told the St. Petersburg Times extremists try to take over American mosques and hand the titles over to NAIT. NAIT contends the opposite, saying they can protect mosques from false teachers.

Last month's Orlando conference invitees Abdullah Idris Ali, Siraj Wahhaj (the unindicted co-conspirator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing), and Dr. Muzammil Siddiqui have all served as a members on the Board of Trustees for ISNA's North American Islamic Trust.Promoting peace, respect

Moderate Muslims are among those alarmed by the alleged acceptance of radical groups as moderate and their subsequent maneuver into the media forefront and institutional positions of power where critics say they now wield influence and control over the rank-and-file-Muslim moderates.

Citing the late Seif Ashmawi, a moderate Muslim-American newspaper publisher, Dreher recalls the cautionary warning: "Radical Islamic groups have now taken over leadership of the 'mainstream' Islamic institutions in the United States, and anyone who pretends otherwise is deliberately engaging in self-deception."

Jamaluddin Hoffman, a Sufi and moderate, has characterized the situation as "a war for the heart and soul of our religion."

Hoffman is the director of public affairs for the Islamic Supreme Council of America, a group numbering 8,000 which in addition to fostering scholarly work focuses on the "sublime spirituality" of Islam. The organization has a respected track record of working with other faith groups and promoting tolerance and moderation in Islam, not only in the U.S. but around the world.

The group's website features information on Islamic extremism.

The Islamic Supreme Council of America has no complicated history of terrorism "skeletons" in its closet, nor does it agitate for the legal and public defense of suspected, indicted and convicted terrorists. It advocates for keeping politics out of the mosque and sees no conflict between following Islam and the U.S. Constitution.

"For the first time in America, we have tried to integrate traditional scholarship in resolving contemporary issues affecting the maintenance of Islamic beliefs in a modern, secular society," ICSA says.

In July, Sheikh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, delivered the Friday sermon at Istiqlal Mosque in Indonesia  the world's third largest mosque and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Speaking to a crowd of over 100,000, the sheikh urged all Muslims to return to the true understanding of Islam taught by Prophet Muhammad, the message of peace, tolerance and compassion for others.

In his message, broadcast on Indonesian television, the sheikh warned that Islam today is under a "grave threat" by self-appointed activists trained in a "disfigured understanding of the faith."

The sheikh travels to deliver messages and services at Islamic centers across the U.S. as well as throughout the world. On recent trips to Thailand, Singapore, Cyprus and Malaysia, the sheikh met with citizens and government dignitaries in a quest to promote a pure spirituality and goodwill.

Despite ISCA's scholarly and inter-faith credentials, and singular history of international relations with other faith groups and government leaders, a casual Google/news search suggests far more reporters flock to CAIR for the mandatory story quote than to ISCA.

CAIR's odd pedigree

The Council on American-Islamic Relations presents itself as a civil-rights organization and often sends representatives to ICNA or ISNA conferences to teach about the role of the media in public opinion/policy formation and how Muslims can cultivate media influence.

But CAIR has had its own share of controversy as well.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, three CAIR figures have been arrested by U.S. federal authorities on terrorist-related charges: Ghassan Elashi, a founding board member of CAIR-Texas; Bassem K. Khafagi, the community affairs director for CAIR; and Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer, former communications specialist and civil-rights coordinator at CAIR.

CAIR also has been criticized for its links to Hamas by various terrorist experts and scholars, including Matthew Levitt, senior fellow in terrorism studies at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

On Sept. 19, Levitt gave testimony before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism titled, "Subversion from Within." Levitt addressed the issue of CAIR:

"For example, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which says it was 'established to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America,' was co-founded by Omar Ahmed, the same person who co-founded the Islamic Association for Palestine – the Hamas front organization which first published the Hamas charter in English – together with Hamas leader and Specially Designated Terrorist Mousa Abu Marzouk. CAIR's pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah positions should not surprise, given that it regularly rises to the defense of terrorism suspects and openly supports designated terrorist groups."

Similar testimony has been given by various experts, including Sheikh Professor Abdul Hadi Palazzi, who said the following during a February 2000 address to the International Conference on Countering Suicide Terrorism sponsored by the Institute for Counter-Terrorism of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzlyia, Israel:

"The Council for American-Islamic Relations is a Muslim Brotherhood front organization. It works in the United States as a lobby against radio, television and print media journalists who dare to produce anything about Islam that is at variance with their fundamentalist agenda. CAIR opposes diversity in Islam: They are aggressive and closed-minded. Notwithstanding CAIR's evident connection to Hamas, they are regarded by U.S. administrations as legitimate representatives of the Muslim American community."

If CAIR is a front group, then how did they become the most frequently looked to source for authoritative commentary on Muslim affairs in the U.S.?

"CAIR has been very effective at seducing the media into believing it is the go-to voice for Muslims in America,'' Bill Gralnick told WND.

Gralnick is director of the American Jewish Committee of Palm Beach County.

"That effort is aided by lazy or overworked journalists whose deadlines keep them from seeking out the less-known, less-accessible voices in the community," he said. "Also, they have been the most oft-heard voice in the Muslim community. Since in a work-a-day world most folks are followers, it concerns me that CAIR is becoming the shepherd most likely to be followed. If CAIR didn't have the formative roots it had, I'd be less concerned. "

CAIR: what controversy?

WND asked CAIR-Florida Director Altaf Ali to comment on the controversy surrounding the Orlando conference, which was titled, "Islam for Humanity." Ali was scheduled to appear on the conference podium during the same session as suicide-bombing supporter Imam Abdul Malik, but missed the conference due to an "emergency."

Ali told WND he saw no controversy at all surrounding the conference and its speakers. He suggested one sole local Jewish activist who sent out a press release about the conference was responsible for the coverage, which included a report by the Los Angeles Times.

Ali also seemed to be eager to interject the names "Daniel Pipes" and "Steve Emerson" as scapegoats for any controversy reported by the Orlando Sentinel and the Los Angeles Times.

WND did not interview or receive background from Pipes or Emerson for this story, nor were Pipes or Emerson interviewed by the other media.

Mobilizing protest against critics Pipes and Emerson has been a CAIR priority via action e-mails sent to members and by the issuing of press releases that suggest the men slander all of Islam, despite evidence to the contrary. Both Pipes and Emerson have persistently reported questionable links of Muslim groups, including CAIR.

When asked to comment on testimony that CAIR was founded by two individuals from a Hamas front group, Ali said, "I don't know very much about the founders."

When WND asked Ali what his opinion was of Hamas and whether he supported the group, he declined to answer, saying he doesn't comment on international affairs.

He also attributed any controversy generated around the Orlando conference to a post-9-11 eagerness to target Muslims in general, especially those connected to mosques.

The comment was nearly identical to one he gave the Associated Press before the conference, when he attributed controversy over the sheikh who prayed to God to "terminate the Jews" to it being "open season" on Muslims since 9-11.

In addition to heading up the Florida CAIR chapter, Ali was invited to be in class XXII as a part of the prestigious Leadership Broward group, a premier leadership-development program that puts participants in touch with the inner workings of Broward County.

Ali was tapped earlier this year by the School Board of Broward County's Diversity Committee to produce a video teaching diversity awareness. The video was aired on the Broward County public-school TV network and also featured another Orlando conference speaker – the spiritual leader of Darul Aloom, Maulana Shafayat Mohamed.

(Darul Aloom is the Pembroke Pines, Fla., madrassa [or Islamic learning center] previously in media as the place where Jose Padilla, the alleged al-Qaida 'dirty bomber,' had worshipped and where two individuals were said to have plotted attacks on a National Guard Armory and South Florida electrical power stations.)

Mohamed spoke at the Orlando conference on raising children to live moral lives and sat on the stage during Malik's speech. The two exchanged a warm embrace after Malik's speech.

Gralnick of the American Jewish Committee of Palm Beach County expressed concerns to WND over recent events, including the Orlando conference.

"While circumstantial, the al-Arian case and its connections, Abu Sway and his connection to Hamas and the extremism reported by the Boston Herald about the mosque in Boston, the things found out about 9-11 preparations including money laundering in Palm Beach County, and the conference in Orlando all seem to add up to more activity than can be coincidental," he said.

"It is worrisome to me that there have been so many connections, stemming from before 9-11, to Islamic extremism in so many different parts of the state. I would speculate that lines connect the dots, and that is of great concern."

Freedoms threatened?

Middle East specialist and terrorism expert Yehudit Barsky also expressed concern.

"For 20 years, these organizations realized they could come to the U.S. very freely and have conferences," she said, "They take advantage of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom to distribute materials."

Considered an authoritative source on terrorism, Barsky is in demand to give briefings to law-enforcement organizations across the U.S. on the history, development and activity of such groups. She has delivered such briefings in Florida as well.

Barsky said that using terms like "inter-faith" and promoting peace and unity in written materials was an obfuscation of true intent, and part of an effort to gain legitimacy before the public.

"These groups that are promoting ideas  this is the indoctrination part of it. The goal is to promote an extremist brand of Islam and convince Muslims in this country that it's the only way.

"We don't want to lose our freedoms. We as Americans have this challenge of what to do with these guys, and it's a serious challenge."

She added, "We've been aware of it for a long time, but now more people are paying attention. Now there are real implications. These groups are masquerading as mainstream groups, yet after taking a closer look you see they are the most extreme."

'We want to be free'

Malik has a sharp word for those who say "Muslim terrorists are going after your way of life" and "freedoms."

In a speech called "American Dream or Nightmare," Malik explains that the target of "Muslim terrorists" really is the imperialist way of life, not "your personal freedoms."

"No, its not the freedoms we're going after. It's the fact that you control our countries. We've got these kings here that you want in. We want to be free; that's what it is."

Malik says that the Quran divides non-Muslims into three categories: those who will help and are friendly, those who are neutral, and category three who "want to kill us. They want to take us out!"

In terms of the argument that terrorists are going after Americans' freedoms, Malik says: "That's the third category talking to the first and second category of non-Muslims. And then they use these ayats [verses], 'Slay them wherever you find them and kill them.' That's for the third category [laughter in audience], but they make it sound like it's for the first and second category."

The verses in the Quran about fighting, Malik says, are only for those who "hate us or want to kill us." He advises followers to ask people concerned about the ayats, "Are you taking up for oppressors? That's what it's talking about," or "You're not in that third category are you?"

Malik says if Americans understood the imperialist nature of their government, they would not support its imperialist actions, and he predicts Islam will become vastly more popular due to a disenchantment of the American people with widespread corruption.

Constrained by spiritual beliefs that dictate what is recognized as authentic, Malik has told followers, "We are obligated to live under an Islamic state."

"The mujahedeen fight with the sword and the word," Malik says. "At least we can use the word in America."

A 'malignant ideology'

The Dallas Morning News' Dreher, meanwhile, points a finger at apathy.

"Silence and a lack of curiosity, however well meaning or unwitting, are allowing a malignant ideology to grow unchecked in this country," he says.

"They must not get away with it," says Dreher. "As benign as they sometimes sound, Dr. Syeed and his ilk are no friends of moderation and tolerance.

"American Muslims who want no part of Islamo-fascist ideology are its first victims. They won't be its last."

Sheik Palazzi advises those who oppose fundamentalism and suicide bombings to persevere.

"We are forbidden to lose hope. As the Quran says: 'How oft, by God's will, hath a small force vanquished a big one? Verily, God is with those who steadfastly persevere.'"

'Passing the torch'

As the battle continues for the future of Islam in America, in Orlando, Imam Malik teaches the importance of "passing the torch" to Muslim youth and warns about the lack of "real" leaders and the rise of false ones who would corrupt the minds of young Muslims.

And he has a chilling prophecy for corrupt leaders:

"In the final chapter of your death and resurrection, on the Day of Judgment, Shatan [Satan] will say: 'I called you and you came … Don't blame me; blame yourself.'"

Read Part 1: "WND goes inside 'mainstream' Muslim conference"

Read Part 2: "How U.S. extremists fund terror"

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

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