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Militant Islam Monitor > Weblog > The Usual Suspects: Militant Islamists hold Family Fun Day in Florida

The Usual Suspects: Militant Islamists hold Family Fun Day in Florida

April 4, 2004

The Universal Heritage foundation in Kissimmee, run by Florida Islamists Zulfiqar Ali Shah, and Ashraf Shaikh, just hosted an " Enduring Faith and Freedom" Jihadfest, featuring Shaikh Shaker Elsayed, Sheik Ayman Shabana, Imam Tariq Rasheed and of course, Zulfiqar Al Shah himself. The event was sponsored by Abdelhay Ziani.

It is worth noting that the Universal Heritage Foundation now also calls itself "The Islamic Institute of Orlando". The event featured ' Youth Tournaments' ,and given the ICNA's history of past youth activities and one wonders if paintball and wrestling were included as a mini 'Jihad Camp ' .One wonders if the lessons listed for the boys involved , Preparing for the Akhira (Afterlife)., Shah and Elsayed were among the leaders at such camps in the past . (see below for more on these Jihad and Akhira camps which were held in the U.S.)

Shaker Elsayed, secretary general of the Muslim American Society,which merged with ICNA, one of the featured speakers at the Universal Heritage Foundation , had just come from a terrorism trial in Virginia where the three men who had been convicted of terrorist offences had used paintball practice as preparation for Jihad.

.Elsayed said the verdicts" were an example of "U.S. Justice Department rule by paranoia." In 2002 Shaker Elyasayed claimed that new FBI measures intended to fight terrorism:"Only served the purpose of heigtening the scare in America and the paranoia agains Muslims" and whined that, "Muslims were beseiged in America through no fault of their own ". "http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=7016

Three Found Guilty of Conspiracy to Support Terrorism

Washington Times -Arlo Wagner 3/10/04

"Three Muslims who are American citizens were declared guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria of varying charges of conspiracy to support terrorist operations and illegal use of firearms.

"Federal prosecutors had portrayed the men, two of them American-born converts and one a Pakistani immigrant, as radical Muslims who had prepared to fight for Islamic causes overseas by acquiring weapons and playing paintball in Virginia, as well as training at a camp for mujahedeen fighters in Pakistan...

The defense disputed that depiction, arguing the men were moderate Muslims who played paintball purely for fun and never intended to hurt Americans. They asserted that the prosecution had been driven by anti-Muslim bias.

Khan, 32, who served seven years in the Army, ...was found guilty of conspiracy, conspiracy to levy war against the United States, conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda, conspiracy to contribute service to the Taliban, conspiracy to give material support to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, conspiracy to possess and use firearms for a violent crime, and two charges of using a firearm in a crime.

Abdur-Raheem, 35, no relation to Caliph Abdur-Raheem, was found guilty of conspiracy, conspiracy to support Lashkar-e-Taiba, and conspiracy to use firearms in violent crimes.

Chapman, 31, who served in the Marines, was found guilty of conspiracy, conspiracy to support Lashkar-e-Taiba, two counts of conspiracy to use firearms in violent crimes, and using firearms in violent crimes.

...In a 75-page ruling issued on Thursday, Judge Leonie M. Brinkema came down squarely behind the prosecution's argument, calling the defendants' denials "incredible"...

..."Shaker Elsayed head of the Muslim American Society , stated "that the verdicts were an example of the US justice department ruled by paranoia ". http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1094727/posts

The Muslim American Society is also planning to open a Youth Center in Tampa. "The MAS Youth Center will, inshAllah, provide services so that the Muslim youth of Tampa can maintain thier faith while having fun". Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi is the chairman and spiritual advisor or MAS's Islamic American Univerisity. . Al-Qaradawi (who is banned from entering the U.S.), issued a fatwa (religous ruling), stating that "women's participation in martyrdom operations...is one of the most praised acts of worship". http://www.masnet.org/university.asp

http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:n3IDNjpKhqUJ:www.religionnewsblog.com/3421-_Women_may_be_terror_suicide_bombers,_Muslim_scholar_rules.html+qaradawi+ruling+on+female+suicide+bombers&hl=e

Realizing that it t takes more then a whirling Dervish to spin support for suicide bombing, MAS also hosts "Freedom Foundation Training" activist seminars for youth . At a recent session in Tampa they were instructed to hold a voter recruiting drive picnic and to : http://www.masnet.org/training.asp

" Hold a Press Conference informing the community what the picnic is about.
Key points: Make sure there are people who can answer the different questions and be prepared. Also, if a reporter decides to start asking questions that irrelevent to the picnic such as "What do you think of suicide bombings?", remain cool and remind the reporter that suicide bombings are irrelevent." http://www.umaofflorida.com /http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/218

As readers can see in a previous blog entry entitled, "The best laid plans of militant Islamists oft go awry", the last event of the Universal Heritage foundation was disrupted , as a result of the controversy generated when the editor of MIM revealed to the media that one of their featured speakers , was Sheik Al Sudais, the kingdom's head cleric who had called for "killing Jews and American worshippers of the cross" on Saudi state television. http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:f-JVB87t4KwJ:www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/timmerman200311210851.asp+al+sudais&hl=en&ie=UTF-

MAS also organises other youth activities which prepare their particpants both for Jihad and the afterlife.

In an article entitled "Florida conference outed as Jihadfest", William Mayer and I pointed out the existence of ICNA/MAS Muslim Youth "Jihad" and "Akhira" camps, which were meant to "prepare young men for the afterlife". (See poster and advertisements below ). http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1062548/posts

Zulfiqar Ali Shah spoke at these camps which were located throughout the United States, and a branch of his organisation of which he was the president , the Islamic Circle of North America, organised them.

One can only predict that such activities will find their way to the Universal Heritage Foundation in Kissimmee and their "pristine 31 acre campus".And Jihad in our backyard now mean a 15 minute drive from Disneyworld . It is time that the authorities took notice and that community officials would be more vigilant and look into the backgrounds of Muslim organisations which come to town and purchase land and facilities in their area .

The purchase of the UHF may be a "done deal" for the moment but Militant Islam Monitor intends insure that that their activities will not go unscrutinized nor unpublicized.

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Advertisements for Jihad Camp and List of Activities .Below is poster for the Akhira Camp (Afterlife Camp)

The date for the Jihad camp was exactly two weeks before September 11, 2001.

Note that UHF director and then ICNA president Zulfiqar Ali Shah and MAS general secretary Shaker Elysayed were speakers at the Akhira camps.

Asalamualikum,

Young Muslims North East Region (2001)
presents...
Jihad Camp
August 20th - 26th, Pennsylvania

Invited Speakers:

Imam Siraj Wahaj
Br. Saffet Catovic
Imam Abdul Malik
Br. Salman Ali
Br. Shahid Farooqi
Sheikh Ibrahim Negm
Br. Obeydullah Choudry
Br. Faraz Iqbal
Imam Anwar Abdul-Muhaimin
Br. Ammar Ateya
Imam Al-Amin Abdul Latif

Activities:

Archery
Paintball
Hiking
Basketball
Wrestling
Swimming
Lectures
Workshops
Brotherhood Building
Conflict Resolution

http://www.ymusa.org/northeast/

The flyer is also available on that site. Limited Seats, register now!

REMEMBER THERE IS A LIMIT TO THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT CAN COME.
SIGN UP NOW TO RESERVE A SPOT.


Young Muslims Summers Camp 2002
------------------------------------------------------------------

Planning for Our Akhira


Invited Speakers

Imam Siraj Wahhaj
Imam Zaid Shakir
Imam Abdul Malik
Imam Suhaib Webb
Sh. Shaker El Sayed
Sh. Abdur Rehman Khan
Sh. Ibrahim Negm
Br. Ammar Ateya
Br. Faisal Hamouda
Imam Al-Amin Abdul Latif
Br. Altaf Hussain
Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Shah
Dr. Muhammad Yunus
Br. Sheikh Qadeer
Br. Wasif Khan
Br. Irfan Sarwar

Activities

Archery
Fishing
White Water Rafting
Basketball
Soccer
Wrestling
Swimming
Lectures
Workshops
Brotherhood Building
Conflict Resolution

There will be two YM summer camps this summer. The Midwest Region of
YM will
be holding their camp on August 14-28 in Indiana, and the Northeast
Region
will be holding their camp on August 17-23 in Pennsylvania.

Our Summer Camp will help educate and prepare the youth with the
proper
understanding of the concept of the Akhira (The Hereafter) in Islam.
This
camp is for brothers with ages ranging from 14 to 25 years. The cost
of the
Northeast camp is $200, and the cost of the Midwest Camp is $100
(These fees
include: transportation, food, activities, andaccommodations.
Attendees must
also have the waiver
form filled and signed. Many knowledgeable people will
come and teach us. Many important lessons await. You can find out
the
specifics of each camp by visiting
http://www.ymusa.org/summercamp"


Sign up now

THE PROCESS:

Read the material on this web page
You will be contacted via e-mail and phoneabout your status of
acceptance
If you are accepted, you will be givenfurther information at that
time. You
must bring the campfee and the waiver form with you, they will be
collected
beforedeparture. These brothers will help accommodate people from
their
respective regions to get to camp.





The photos above were taken at Muslim camp in Kentucky.

Note the Young Muslim camps in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

The YM is directly connected to the ICNA/MAS which runs the Universal Heritage Foundation in Kissimmee.

YOUNG MUSLIMS
YM is the largest and most popular off campus youth organization in North
America.

YM also successfully conducted the first ever International Youth Camp from
America. The camp was for 3 weeks (two of which were conducted in Saudi
Arabia and Pakistan).
http://www.ymusa.org/intcamp/study.htm

Another is the week long Jihad Camp where brothers learn various sports and
undergo training in Conflict Resolution and Brotherhood Building.
http://www.ymusa.org/northeast/

There are many such unique programs that make YM popular among the Muslim
Youth of USA and Canada. But the real strength of YM is the practical
training in Islam that the members undergo every week in circles called
Neighbornets.


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