Miss Kelly

Zhudi Jasser in Boston April 22 - Ford Hall Forum

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser is a terrific,passionate speaker, and he's in Boston tomorrow to speak at the Ford Hall Forum about Islam and America.  Details here:

Modern Islam:

Engaging questions of faith, fanatics, democracy, and reform

Mona Eltahawy, award-winning New York-based journalist and international lecturer on Arab and Muslim issues; Zuhdi Jasser, Founding Member and President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD), an American Muslim organization advocating for the separation of mosque and state; and Bilal Kaleem, Executive Director of the Muslim American Society of Boston, join moderator James Carroll, Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at Suffolk University, recipient of the James Parks Morton Interfaith Award, and Boston Globe columnist, to address the questions facing Islam, America, and democracy in the twenty-first century.

Thursday, April 22, 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Main Function Room, Suffolk University Law School

Open to the public and free.  You may register (no cost) here.

Dr. Jasser is a wonderful speaker, I heard him at a forum at Tufts University some years back.  I highly recommend attending this forum!  Jasser should be quite an antidote to the Muslim American Society strand of Islamism so widespread in our society and media. 

Mona Eltahawy is a journalist/writer, you can read her writings here. She spoke at an earlier Ford Hall Forum about three years ago.  I was disappointed in her speech back then, which can be summarized as "there's no threat by radical Muslims in the US, it's just Islamophobia, the media only covers the angry bearded Muslims, don't worry - be happy." Will we just hear the same old/same old from Mona at Suffolk?

Bilal Kaleem is the face of the Muslim American Society/Islamic Society of Boston here in Boston.  Smart guy (MIT grad), photogenic, courteous and affable, diligently promotes Islam.   Kaleem is able to ignore that the parent organization of the MAS is the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, and that one of the founders of the Muslim Brotherhood's organization in the U.S.is Dr. Jamal Badawi, a trustee of the ISB.  Kaleem's wife, BTW, is the Muslim chaplain at Wellesley College.  The MAS has a strong presence in the Boston area colleges and in the leadership of several Muslim organizations, including mosques in Sharon, Worcester, Lowell and Revere.  

Should be a lively talk! 

"Sudbury to Mumbai: Connecting the Dots"

Excellent video from Americans for Peace and Tolerance....

"Masood Played a Key Role in Shaping Abou Samra's turn..."

From the Patriot Ledger, where reporter Lane Lambert digs into the background of co-conspirator Ahmed Abousamra (in the Tarek Mehanna case) and his association with former Sharon imam Muhammed Masood:

"SHARON — Back around 1995, before the FBI says his interests turned to terrorist training, 14-year-old Ahmad Abou Samra cut a fairly conventional adolescent figure around the Islamic Center of New England’s Sharon mosque."

"An honor student at Xaverian Brothers, a Catholic high school in Westwood, and the son of a leading Islamic Center board member, 'he seemed like a regular kid,' a longtime mosque member recalled.' "

"That seems to have changed by the time he graduated in 1999 from Stoughton High, where he switched for his senior year."

"Within a year, according to government documents, he was talking about jihad. Not long after, he allegedly praised those behind the Sept. 11 attacks."

"Today, Abou Samra is a wanted man. While he has yet to be charged, federal authorities this week named him a co-conspirator with Tarek Mehanna, the Sudbury man accused of plotting to attack shopping malls and target U.S. politicians, and charged with conspiring to provide support for terrorists."

And from whence, pray tell, did the jihadist adulation apparently come from?

"Ahmad Abou Samra and Mehanna were either in middle school or high school when they met at the Sharon mosque, which opened in 1993, when Abou Samra was 13 and Mehanna was 12. They had no connections when the Islamic Center’s mosque was in Quincy. Abou Samra grew up in Stoughton, where he was an honor roll student, as he was in high school. He was later a dean’s list student at Northeastern University."

"Longtime mosque members – who didn’t want to be identified – aren’t sure how well Abou Samra and Mehanna knew each other back then. One said former Sharon Imam Muhammad Masood played a key role in shaping Abou Samra’s turn to conservative Muslim practices."

What Made Bilal Kaleem Change His Mind?

Here's what Bilal Kaleem, Executive Director of the Boston branch of the Muslim American Society (MAS) had to say about the Tarek Mehanna case on Friday, October 23, as reported in the MetroWest Daily News:

"Bilal Kaleem considers the terrorism-related charges facing Tarek Mehanna and is troubled for many reasons. Muslims are already feeling a backlash from the Sudbury man's arrest, says Kaleem, executive director of the Muslim American Society of Boston."

"In the wake of Mehanna's arrest, members of various congregations find themselves surrounded by media and placed under pressure and scrutiny, he says..... ' The media has to take on a harder task,'he said. 'We have to analyze it in more subtle and mature ways.' "

"He suggested the media should delve into whether Mehanna's case was another instance of a disaffected kid from the suburbs."

Pretty outrageous, Mr. Kaleem.  Most alienated suburban kids don't travel to Yemen looking to join terrorist training camps, no matter how much angst they're feeling.   What a nonsensical and frankly mendacious reaction to the Mehanna case.   We're not talking about Catcher in the Rye here, Bilal. 

But what a difference a day makes, twenty four little hours.  Yesterday, Kaleem was singing a different tune, per this Boston Herald article:

"Bay State Muslims should help 'root out' any radicals in their midst, a Massachusetts Islamic leader urged yesterday.

“ 'We call on Muslim leaders and organizations to root out any radical teachings they may find in Muslim communities,' said M. Bilal Kaleem, executive director of the Massachusetts Chapter Muslim American Society."

That's rich coming from MAS!  I don't share the enthusiasm of some of the commenters, who are pleased that a Muslim leader is finally calling for routing out radicalism in their midst.  It's about ten years too late. And it's no doubt a response to negative reaction to his "disaffected suburban youth" comment.  MAS is trying to cover their ass.  They're the very organization that controls the mosques and schools where Islamic fundamentalism is taught.  They're the very organization that brought people like Salah Soltan, Mahdi Bray and Siraj Wahaj to Boston.  MAS is going to rout out radicalism?? This I gotta see!

" 'If anybody senses imminent danger, they should alert the proper authorities,”'said Kaleem, when asked if Muslims should call the cops on hate groups."

This from the MAS which routinely advises Muslims not to talk to the FBI or police, but to call a lawyer first.   I eagerly await the next announcement from MAS about how they'll identify and rout out "radical teachings."  

P.S. Check out Rusty Shackleford's article at Pajames Media, Boston Terror Suspect: Just Another 'Typical American Kid' with Terror Aspirations.  It's an interesting look at the apparently comparmentalized life that Tarek Mehanna was living.  His friends express shock at his arrest, describing  Tarek as shy, polite and helpful.  But Rusty was well acquainted with the online Tarek, aka Abu Sayaba. Excerpts:

"But in Mehanna’s case there were warning signs. If his friends’ shock is real, then Tarek Mehanna was living a compartmentalized and double life. For the Tarek Mehanna I knew online was not the 'moderate' that his apologists portray him as. He was a fanatical Islamist, devoted to the same ideas as al-Qaeda. He spent countless hours translating Arabic texts into English in order to inspire others to become violent jihadists."

"Mehanna went by the handle 'Abu Sayaba' online.  In addition to frequently commenting at radical forums and online discussion groups, 'Abu Sayaba' also ran his own blog.  His Iskandari blog posted translations of Arabic texts. Typical of the writings he posted were calls for the establishment of an Islamic state and Islamic law. He also encouraged violent jihad as a means of attaining these two goals."

"Tarek Mehanna may seem to have been an unlikely terrorist candidate to some, but given his online support for violent jihad revealed through his 'Abu Sayaba”'persona, should it really come as a surprise that he would aspire to become a violent jihadist himself?"

"....The signs of terrorism are there, but you will not necessarily find them by searching for outwardly antisocial behavior. The common denominator to most would-be terrorists is a devotion to the jihad ideology. And ideologies are hard to detect."

Americans for Peace and Tolerance Fact Sheet on Abousamra

Americans for Peace and Tolerance, a Boston-based interfaith group, has pulled together a fact sheet on Dr. Abdul Abousamra, the father of a co-conspirator Ahmed Abousamra named in the Tarek Mehanna complaint.  Here's the fact sheet reprinted in full:

Man accused in Boston terror plot is son of former Muslim American Society leader

Father moves out of town weeks after son questioned by the FBI

Media reports on the Boston terror arrest have named three individuals as conspirators in the plot to machine gun people in shopping malls and kill American officials.Two, Daniel Maldonado and Tareq Mehanna, are in custody. The third, however, Ahmad Abousamra, escaped to Syria after being questioned by the FBI in 2006.

• According to the complaint, it was Abousamra who introduced Maldonado and Mehanna to each other during an afternoon of watching “jihad videos” in which Islamic terrorists killed and mutilated American soldiers.

• Abousamra seems to be the most extremist of the three, as well as the one most educated in radical Islamist ideology. According to the criminal complaint:

“Abousamra expressed his belief that suicide bombings were permissible. … Abousamra found justification for his position in the religious writings of Muslim extremists.  Abousamra justified attacks on civilians, such as the September 11, 2001 attacks. Abousamra stated that civilians were not innocent because they paid taxes to support the government and because they were Kufar (non-believers). … Abousamra always justified their extremist views by citing Islamic teachings.”

NECN Coverage of Roxbury Mosque Ceremony

Pretty decent coverage of the continuing controversy of the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) Roxbury mosque on NECN this evening (sorry, you have to sit through the ad....). 

The ISB (actually the Muslim American Society of Boston) held their opening ceremony today, and there was a well-mannered group of protestors across the street bearing signs that read "Prayer Yes! Extremism No!"  Sweet!  It's not the mosque anyone is against, it's the leadership with its demonstrated ties to radicalism.  The building is handsome, I'm sure local Muslims are thrilled to have this center.  But all the controversy about the leadership of the ISB/MAS that has plagued this project from the beginning is still with us. 

Let's not forget who we're dealing with here. To refresh your memory on the legal jihad waged by the ISB, please read The Silencing by Solomonia.  To refresh your memory on the improper (if not illegal, given the conflict of interest issue) real estate transaction between the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and the ISB, please read Menino's Mosque by David Bernstein of the Boston Phoenix. 

Press Conference Thursday - Extremist Leadership at Roxbury Mosque

UPDATE:  You can see a video of the press conferencehere.

This sounds extremely interesting.....I hope our local media and politicians pay attention to who's in charge at the Islamic Society of Boston.  This deserves attention, scrutiny and action from our leaders. From Americans for Peace and Tolerance:

WHAT: Press Conference to Caution about Extremist Leadership of the Boston Islamic Center.

WHEN: Thursday, June 25^th, 10:30 AM

WHERE: Sheraton Crowne Plaza Hotel, Newton, 320 Washington Street, Newton MA 02158

Criminal Investigation into Muslim Brotherhood in Germany

A criminal investigation in Germany reveals that the Musim Brotherhood has set up "intricate financial, real estate and mosque structures" in Germany over several decades, which have been involved in  variety of criminal activities. As reported at the Counterterrorism Blog:

"The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report (free subscription required) brings the otherwise unreported here news of a major criminal investigation into several Muslim Brotherhood leaders and groups in Germany and Belgium. The raids were publicly announced in Germany, but have not been widely reported. The site also provides links to other reports, particularly by the NEFA Foundations on some of those under investigation."

"What is striking is the stature of the institutions that were raided on suspicion of money laundering, criminal activities, acquisition of property under false pretenses, and aiding "Islamists" and violent Islamic jihadists."

Boston has seen its share fund-raising to support violent Islamic jihad.  And there's talk of exceedingly suspicious real estate transactions by a major Boston realty agency. 

"One thing this shows is that, despite the constant protests to the contrary, at least the German prosecutors and those of several other nations, believe there is, in fact, a transnational Ikhwan organization. There is, but the Brotherhood usually denies its existence."

ISB/MAS Criticize Qaradawi - "Holocaust was Divine Punishment for Jews"

OK, just kidding!  Actually, MEMRI reports that a broad spectrum of Scandinavian Muslim leaders  criticized Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradhawi, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, for his recent statement on Al-Jazeera TV about the Holocaust:  

"In response to MEMRI TV's February 1, 2009 release of a translated and subtitled clip capturing prominent Sunni sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi on Al-Jazeera TV in January 2009 calling the Holocaust "divine punishment" for the Jews and warning that "Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers [i.e. Muslims]," and also saying that he would "shoot Allah's enemies, the Jews," it was reported that Muslim Imams and Islamic groups in Scandinavia have distanced themselves from the remarks and are questioning association with Al-Qaradhawi."

"....On February 16, the Norwegian newspapers Dagbladet and Aftenpost reported that the Islamic Council of Norway had, on that same date, denounced Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi's statements on Al-Jazeera TV as "unacceptable." According to the German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPE), Aftenposten quoted Islamic Council of Norway head Senaid Kobilica as saying that the council also planned to raise the matter with the European Council for Fatwa and Research, which Al-Qaradhawi heads."

MEMRI has numerous quotes from  Norwegian, Danish and Swedish Muslim council leaders and imams who strongly criticized Qaradawi's statements.   We haven't heard anything similar from Massachusetts Muslim leaders and imams, have we?  Imagine Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) imam Basyouny Nehela or Muslim American Society (MAS) director Bilal Kaleem saying something like "It's unacceptable that Yusuf Al-Qaradhawi honors the Holocaust, we strongly reject that"?  I'm guessing that'll never happen, but I'd love to be proven wrong. 

Meanwhile, our local ISB/MAS is busy giving dawah training from the Islamic American University, an Ohio-based "online" university that has Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi as its chairman.    

Muslim Brotherhood Dawah Course Coming to Boston

Just remember, OK, that when the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) leaders participate in an interfaith event, it's dawah.  The ISB (actually Muslim American Society) leaders and their imam aren't engaging in these events to learn about other faiths, they're there to invite others to Islam.  Ditto for MAS college student groups participating in interfaith events.  Some modern Muslim jurists consider the U.S. (and Europe) to be dar al dawah, "the land of invitation, land to which dawah has been presented and its people are invited to Islamic values and practices."  Luckily for local proselytizing Muslims, the ISB's imam Basyouny Nehela is teaching a course on dawah starting this month. From the MAS website:

Islamic American University and MAS Boston present:  The Quranic Methodology for Da'wa and Thought by Sh. Basyouny Nehela.

The course is tentatively targeted to begin on  March 18th 2009, for twelve weeks on Wednesday evenings, 6:30-8:00PM.

The mind reels at who the founder,chairman and vice-chairman are of the Islamic American University.   Solomonia did the research:

Roxbury Mosque Raises Funds for Gaza - or Hamas?

The Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) and the Muslim American Society are holding a fundraiser dinner on Saturday, January 17 at the ISB Cultural Center (aka the Roxbury mosque).  The ISB/MAS co-organized several anti-Israel protests around Boston last week, aligning itself with radical Marxist organizations such as A.N.S.W.E.R.  This weekend, it's a fundraising dinner for Gaza sponsored by the Islamic Relief USA.  More info here.  The speakers include Abed Ayoub and Yousef Abdullah, CEO and Operations Manager, respectively, of Islamic Relief. 

So is the ISB raising money for Hamas?

Boston's own Citizens for Peace and Tolerance issued a press release earlier this week that examined the links between the Islamic Relief Worldwide and Hamas and with the Muslim Brotherhood:

Dennis Hale, President of the Boston based Citizens for Peace and Tolerance (CPT) - an interfaith group of Christians, Muslims and Jews - warned today that an upcoming Muslim American Society of Boston (MAS Boston) fundraising event advertised to donors as humanitarian aid to Gaza may instead channel funds to the terror group, Hamas.
 
"The January 17th fundraiser is collecting money for the Gaza operations of Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), a group previously accused of transferring funds to Hamas," Hale said.
 
Hamas is an Islamic supremacist organization that belongs to the Palestine branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood is considered to be the origin for most of the modern jihad movements. Hamas is dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state and uses terrorism and murder to achieve its goals. It is an openly genocidal organization that has explicitly and continuously called for the murder of all Jews worldwide. The founding charter of Hamas proclaims that peace will come to Earth only when all the Jews are killed:
 

" ... as long as Islam does not take its rightful place on the world arena everything will continue to change for the worst...The Last Hour [redemption] won't come until the Muslims fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them..."

 
"Virtually the entire civilized world, from Barack Obama to the government of Egypt, agrees that Hamas's refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist and renounce terrorism against Israeli civilians is the root cause of the horrible violence in Gaza and Israel," said Hale. "For the Muslim American Society to raise funds for a Hamas-linked charity in the heart of Boston is an affront to the traditions of liberty and tolerance on which this city was built. "

Salah Soltan Calls for US Destruction (Again)

Salah Soltan was the person who initially got me interested in keeping an eye on what different Islamic groups were doing in the Boston area.  Dr. Soltan was the featured speaker at an Al Huda Society (of Revere) fund-raising dinner back in October 2005. (The dinner was held at the Irish American Club of Medford, MA of all the unlikely places.  Faith and begorah!!)  Dr. Soltan was also an invited lecturer at the Islamic Society of Boston prior to the Al Huda event. 

I did some online research on Dr. Soltan, who lived in Columbus OH at the time, and what I found was disturbing: He supported suicide bombing, wanted to see Israel destroyed, counseled an American women to accept that her husband took a second wife, counseled another American women that she can't leave the house without her husband's permission.  Yowzaa.  Solomonia did additional research and published his findings here.   I was dumbfounded that the Islamic Society of Boston and Al Huda would invite a man who held these beliefs.  I thought back then, "If this is moderate Islam," we're in for trouble."  And so we are.

Patrick Poole of Central Ohioans Against Terror has done a terrific job of tracking Dr. Soltan, and you can read about Soltan's latest diatribes against the US at Pajamas Media here.  A few of Soltan's latest quotable quotes, made last week on Egytian TV:

"America, which gave [Israel] everything it needed in these battles, will suffer economic stagnation, ruin, destruction, and crime, which will surpass what is happening in Gaza. One of these days, the U.S. will suffer more deaths than all those killed in this third Gaza holocaust. This will happen soon."

Boston MAS Condemns Israel, Absolute Silence on Hamas Rocket Attacks

Once again, the Boston Muslim American Society (MAS) shows its true colors, sending out several e-mails today rallying the faithful, criticizing Israel for its "massacre" in Gaza and criticizing the United States for its support of Israel.  Here's their message:

"On 12/28/08 Israeli Air Force attacks in the Gaza Strip killed at least 225 and injured hundreds more. These attacks come on top of Israelʼs siege on the Gaza Strip, a siege that has created a humanitarian catastrophe in which the majority of Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinian residents have limited access to food, water, fuel, medicine, electricity, and other necessities of life. Israel carried out the attacks today with F16 fighter jets and missiles provided by U.S. taxpayers. From 2001-2006, the U.S. transferred to Israel more than $200 million of spare parts for its F16 fleet. In July 2008, the U.S. gave Israel 186 million gallons of aviation jet fuel. Last year, the United States signed a $1.3 billion contract with Raytheon to transfer to Israel thousands of TOW, Hellfire, and "bunker buster" missiles.  In short, Israel's attacks today on the Gaza Strip could not happen without the active military and political support of the United States, funded by our tax dollars.  We need to take action to protest this attack and demand an immediate cease-fire."

More here at the MAS Boston wbsite.

Why isn't MAS demanding an immediate stop of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip into Israel? 

Why doesn't MAS director Bilal Kaleem plan some rallies criticizing Hamas for their attacks against Israel?  Even the Egyptian Foreign Minister is criticizing Hamas!  Most of the world gets it that Hamas has the murderous intent to wipe out Israel.  Why is MAS siding with Hamas?   

Why was the MAS "horrified at the Mumbai attacks" but had not one word to say about Hamas rocket attacks that have rained down on Israel for years? There have been 3,000 rockets fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip this year alone.  MAS has no comment on that.

Details on MAS's rally planned for tomorrow:

Tuesday, December 30th - 5:00 PM
Consulate General of Israel
20 Park Plaza, Boston
Green Line to Arlington

Please go and show your support for Israel tomorrow.  Don't let the Hamas-supporting, Muslim Brotherhood-backed Boston Muslim American Society get all the press coverage.

Who Will Be the Next Muslim Adviser at Wellesley?

I'm hearing that Nancy Khalil will no longer be the Muslim Chaplain at Wellesley College.  I'm further hearing that Najiba Akbar is slated to walk into that position, with no open announcement or competition for for job.  That's a little odd, innit? 

Phyllis Chesler raised a few questions about the former Muslim chaplain here last October.  Ms. Khalil was known as a big proponent of hijab.  According to several Wellesley Muslim students, there was strong  peer pressure in the Wellesley Muslim student group to wear headscarves and cover up. Otherwise, you were not considered a “real Muslim.”  Another student reported being told "not to run and not to laugh too loudly" at an Al-Muslimat weekend retreat. At Wellesley, Hillary Clinton's college, imagine a woman being told this!  The former Wellesley chaplain routinely took her students to the ISB mosque and she studied under the ISB's imam Basyouny Nehela.  Will the next Muslim chaplain also be an advocate for the ISB?

Najiba Akbar (seen in this photo) is reportedly married to Bilal Kaleem, the Executive Director of MAS Boston.  As I've mentioned before, the Islamic Society of Boston and the Muslim American Society are esentially the same organization, sharing funding, directors and office space.  The ISB/MAS organization  works hard to establish itself as the voice of Massachusetts Muslims.  But not all Muslims are happy about the "Muslim mafia" and their monopoly on leadership in local Islamic organizations.  If it's true that Ms. Akbar is going to simply assume a vacant chaplain position at Wellesley College, then it appears that the ISB/MAS is further spreading their tentacles, putting their people in positions of power at prestigious local colleges.  Is this some sort of dynasty? 

Why woulnd't Wellesley publicize this position in the open job market?  Why wouldn't the MAS/ISB send out an e-mail announcement of this vacancy at Wellesley?  They send out job openings - both religious and secular - all the time, but I've not heard a peep about the vacancy at Wellesley.  Is Ms. Akbar the most qualified person for this position?  Why doesn't the college advertise and have an open competition?  Who funds that position?  Are there requirements for a transparent hiring process - with equal opportunity for all - in hiring chaplains at Wellesley? 

I Spy With My Little Eye a Luxury Condo in Dubai...

....for Muhammed Masood and his family.  According to an anonymous tip I received this morning, Masood's brother Hamid* (former imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester) has been busy travelling from Pakistan to Dubai, where he purchased two luxury condos, one for himself and one for his brother Masood. 

Can you imagine how over-the-top a luxury condo in Dubai would be?? Wowee. 

So did any of that money to buy condos in Dubai come from the Muslim American Society (MAS)  fundraisers for Masood? MAS has held several fundraisers for Masood over the past two years now, including one held in Roxbury two weeks ago, down the street from the Islamic Society of Boston.  I'd be mighty ticked off if I gave my hard-earned money to MAS and it went towards a luxury condo in Dubai for an admitted liar.  Masood's attorneys filed a memorandum to the court in May 2008, saying that Masood had an income of -$961, and they requested that the court waive his fine.  From a leafy 52-acre estate in Sharon to a luxury condo in Dubai? Not too shabby.  I knew Masood would bounce back.

Most people convicted of lying repeatedly to federal agents and providing false information on their visa applications see jail time or are summarily deported. But not Masood.  He gets repeated postponements,  probation, a waive of his fine, a "voluntary departure" and now - reportedly - a luxury condo in Dubai.  Where is the justice?

My previous postings on the Masood case here. 

* Hamid skedaddled out of the U.S. in a mad hurry in June 2007. Gave himself a voluntary departure before things got hot for him.  Hamid and Masood are, as Miss Kelly readers know, brothers of Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba, and a successor organization, Jamat ud-Dawa.  More on Hafiz Saeed here.  Hamid originally came to the U.S. in 2001 to attend the Harvard's Islamic Financing conference, reportedly assisted by S. Nazim Ali of Harvard.

"And Who is in Control?"

This comment was left at a previous blog post (about the mural outside the Roxbury Crossing T Station) by Azzam, who occassionally comments here.  It's thought-provoking and I decided to move it up to its own  post.  I added links where Azzam referred to something I'd blogged about before. Please ponder his questions and the issues he raises.

* * * * *

The comparison of two murals, a minaret and a Mission Church makes the whole argument cast in a certain light. But the light people are looking for in this argument is of valid concern not just to secular Bostonians but also to a large number of Muslim parents. One example of this light is put out by MissKelly in a post about a prayer which no one has denied so far. Red bricks or a minaret by itself does not throw any light around but the people who are in control.

And who is in control? Do they have a democratic structure? As far as I know ISB and ISBCC or MAS Boston has no democratic structure that I could organize the parents in Boston area and throw out this light and replace it with the wishes of the parents.

The only democratic (Muslim) Institution that existed for a long time is the Islamic Center of New England at Quincy and Sharon. The pages of MissKelly are full of posts about the goings on there and the role ISB and MAS Boston played in the take over. (See this also, they're fighting back! MK)

This takeover was not possible without stealth money. There are copies of million dollar checks that were going into accounts in New Hampshire of ISB , of course, (by a wire transfer from Saudi Arabia) and then finding their way (some of this money) into schools that were put up at the Islamic Center of New England buildings and the general membership (of ICNE) had no control over. The ICNE members were raising money by selling barbequed chicken legs at $1.00 a piece and were no match to the stealth wire transfers.

The Mission Church is known to us. We know what light flows in there. Can anyone tell me what ideology is supposed to flow in the red bricks at Roxbury? 

If this ideology had democratic underpinnings the whole project would be run by local Muslims of Roxbury. Is it so?

So the argument that people want to debate is a valid one. It is not a comparison of two pictures in two dimensions but it is a question of paramount importance to the whole of USA and to all different communities including Muslims.

Two examples may bring to light the underlying questions.

You have seen MissKelly post about a fund raiser for Masood by ISB/MAS Boston/Islamic Council as a tax deductible event (yes it happened, with about 40 people and loud speeches in praise of Masood).What is the message in it for our children?

And an other example is a top man at ISB who has become a top man at Islamic Center of New England. He could not satisfy his spiritual needs at ISB with Imam Basyouny Nehela (the man in red hat a la MissKelly post)?  Is not that a valid question? (And since he is a public figure and he got a green card through a stealth marriage can such matters be discussed publically?)

So what message these two examples give our children who have taken the oath of allegiance to the Constitution and also follow the Holy Quran?

Hence, this is not a matter of two two dimensional murals but a matter of serious and open debate.

 

       

Three Things About "Palestine"

Three things about "Palestine" that I came across yesterday:

1) Masad Yousef, the son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef , recently converted to Christianity. 

"The son of a Hamas MP who is also the most popular figure in that extremist Islamic organization, a young man who assisted his father for years in his political activities, has become a rank-and-file Christian. 'I'm now called Joseph,' he says at the outset."

And what does Masad "Joseph" Yousef say about Israel?

"Send regards to Israel, I miss it. I respect Israel and admire it as a country...You Jews should be aware: You will never, but never have peace with Hamas. Islam, as the ideology that guides them, will not allow them to achieve a peace agreement with the Jews. They believe that tradition says that the Prophet Mohammed fought against the Jews and that therefore they must continue to fight them to the death." 

".... An entire society sanctifies death and the suicide terrorists. In Palestinian culture a suicide terrorist becomes a hero, a martyr. Sheikhs tell their students about the 'heroism of the shaheeds'."

May God bless Joseph and keep him safe.  He won't be going back to Israel anytime soon. 

2) As if to prove his point,  we see pictures of young girls holding models of Scud rockets at a Hamas "summer camp" for children:

No campfires, canoeing or crocheted pot holders for these girls. Unbelievably sad. These are young, beautiful girls, people made in God's image (as we all are), and they're being indoctrinated in hatred and violence. What else can the kids learn at a Hamas summer camp?

Masood Flies Away Next Week? Fundraiser Tomorrow in Roxbury

UPDATE BELOW

What, no jail time for former Imam Muhammed Masood, despite the conviction for lying to federal agents?

The Boston Muslim American Society and the Islamic Council of New England are holding a "special Farewell Dinner" and fundraiser for Masood and his family tomorrow, July 26, 2008 (6 PM) at Ashur's Restaurant, behind the yet-to-be-finished Islamic Cultural Center in Roxbury. 

According to the e-mail notice about this special dinner:

"Imam Masood will be leaving the US, with his family, on August 2nd, according to an agreement he has reached with his case. This event will go towards funding the travel expenses for 10 family members, and to support the family in their time in need. Funds will also go towards helping local Muslim immigrant families experiencing financial hardship."

What's so special about Masood?  I bet Emadeddin Muntasser wished that the local MAS would have helped him out.  I bet Martha Stewart and Marion Jones wished they could have avoided jail time for lying to federal agents.  How does Masood escape jail time?  Is there a different justice system for the brother of Hafiz Saeed?

You can make a financial donation at the MAS website here (select "Shaikh Masood Family Support" in the drop-down menu).  The website says that "All donations to MAS Boston are tax deductible."  Hmmm, here we go again.  Is it really tax deductible to give money to a criminal who's essentially being deported from the U.S.?

Questions:

The MAS/ICB e-mail states that Masood and his family are leaving the country on August 2nd.  Who is going to supervise Masood's three year probation that was part of his plea agreement?

Masood, with his criminal convictions, gets to board a plane and skedaddle out of here.  What's going on here?  Is this simply the most expedient way to deport Masood and his family?  If that's the case, I'm OK with that.  I don't see the need for my tax dollars to support these folks in jail and subsidize their dawah there.  Fine, let them all leave now. 

I welcome any legal minds out there to shed some light on this. 

Previous postings on the Muhammed Masood/Abdul Hannan case here (scroll down).

UPDATE:  Hmmm, now why would the MAS send out an e-mail dated Tuesday, July 22nd, announcing that Masood and his family are leaving on August 2nd, when Masood's sentencing has been postponed from August 1 to September 26th, 2008?  The motion for continuance of the sentencing was filed on July 22nd, and granted on July 23rd (masood_sept_08_continuance.pdf ). Maybe they're not going anywhere for a while after all.  Such a strange case this has been.

Madrassahs in Buffalo?! Founder Comes to Boston

Who knew? 

The local MAS sent out an e-mail announcing that Shaykh Ibrahim Madani is coming to town this weekend, July 11 and 12.  He's lecturing, leading prayers and giving one-on-one counseling sessions at the Islamic Center of Burlington.  Now there's a golden opportunity. 

Who is Shaykh Madani? He was born in Medinah, Saudi Arabia, where he studied the Koran and the Hadith (traditions about what the Muslim prophet Muhammed said and did).  In 1980, he went to England and studied at Darul-Uloom Holocombe, one of a chain of Deobandi madrassahs.  In 1987, Madani moved to Waterloo, Canada to be an imam at a mosque there.  In 1991, he moved to Buffalo, New York with his father and brothers to help establish Darul-Uloom Al-Madania, an Islamic boarding school.   Madani is currently an Imam for the Islamic Society of Niagara Frontier, and a teacher of Arabic, Fiqh, Hadith, and Tafseer at the madrassah he established in Buffalo.There are lots of audio files available there. 

While much of what Madani writes is about improving oneself, he's also written articles about keeping your pants above your ankles, not a trivial matter. "Whatever hangs beneath the ankles of the izaar is in the hellfire."  Don't want that!  He's also written about what the Koran says about prayer, noting that Allah gave special orders to women: "And stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like that of the times of ignorance, and perform Salah, and give Zakah, and obey Allah and His Messenger."  I bet some of the men at the Islamic Society of Framingham use that quote a lot, I've heard there's much controversy about women's participation at the Framinham  mosque. 

The Darul Ulooms boarding schools were established in 1866 "as a movement for Islamic revivalism after the fall of Islamic Empire in India," and practice traditional Sunni Islam.  More on Darul Uloom here and here.   This Sunni forum about the Darul Ulooms notes where the schools are in the US and Canada and what they cost. Rather predictably, a Muslim woman in Texas asks this question at the forum:

"For those of you in Houston, where can a sister study or send her children for Islamic studies, that is friendly toward Americans. I find most of the traditional masjids here are not very accomodating of women or Americans."

Tell me again why we allow these institutions in our country?  How exactly does our beloved country benefit by allowing people to come here and set up institutions which are explicitly anti-American and discriminate  against women?

The Darul Uloom boarding school in NY appears to allow girls to study only until the 10th grade.  Boys are educated for 12 years. According to a former student, it is required for female students to wear niqab (covering everything but the eyes, even hands) if they leave the premises.  Given that the only courses appear to be Islamic religious studies, I'm surprised that these are approved by New York as secondary schools.  The website is curiously devoid of any pictures of actual human beings, and provides no information about teachers, aside from Madrani and the principal.  Creepy.  The mosque associated with the school is a former 100-year old Polish Catholic church, which is a sad statement in itself.  A former student makes allegations of rampant violence and sexual abuse at the Buffalo madrassah here.  While I take those allegations with a grain of salt, there's ample evidence of sexual abuse at madrassahs in Pakistan and Indonesia.

What the heck are madrassahs - notorious for generating radical Islamists -  doing in this country? 

And why are Boston area Muslim organizations inviting "scholars" who preach that women shouldn't attend mosques and men's pants shouldn't hit their ankles?  Is this standard Islamic teaching?  Do most Muslims follow this?

Monday Miscellania

The UK Telegraph recommends these 50 books for summer reading.  I can't imagine "enjoying" reading Things Fall Apart while at the beach.  Does make me want to read A Moveable Feast (Hemingway) and Kim (Kipling).

Also from the UK Telegraph, a neat opinion piece suggesting that we have "misunderestimated" how history will eventually judge President Bush. 

Interesting WSJ article about Project Nur, a college organization that's a student-led initiative of the American Islamic Congress.  Project Nur is an organization for Muslim students who want an alternative to the "hardline dgomatists" and radicals of  Muslim Student Association groups.  Project Nur sponsored the Muslim women's film festival held in Boston last month.  More power to them!