This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3427

Islamic Networks Group- Dialogue As Da'wa - How Islamic speakers bureaus promote cultural jihad

April 10, 2008

Islamic Networks Group - Dialogue As Da'wa

By Beila Rabinowitz and William Mayer

April 10, 2008 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - Islamic speakers bureaus are proliferating in the United States. They represent the vanguard of a new paradigm in jihad being waged by Islamists under the guise of "dialogue."

This emphasis on "legal" Islamism, the stealth jihad has been dictated in part by circumstances on the ground, where many of the most violent Islamists have been either killed, captured or forced to go into hiding, proving that aggression has been counter-productive.

Among the largest Islamic speaker's bureau - with international reach - is the Islamic Networks Group [ING] which claims to promote:

"...religious literacy and mutual respect through on-site presentations and interfaith dialogues to schools, community agencies, and other institutions. With our affiliates, ING's outreach spans the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom...Through the Islamic Speakers Bureau, certified Muslim speakers deliver a variety of presentations to K-12 schools, universities, corporations, health and law enforcement agencies, as well as other organizations..." [source, http://www.ing.org]

Notwithstanding such high minded claims, in reality ING is nothing more than a da'wa "proselytizing" organization which promotes an Islamist agenda. For example the group was a participant on an "Islamophobia" panel which portrayed Muslims as perpetual victims of religious and ethnic hostility:

"...the so-called, War on Terror has opened the door to the demonization of an entire population, with all too often negative consequences in terms of deteriorating civil rights and other abuses...." [source, http://www.ing.org/media_releases/community.asp?num=110]

These sentiments serve to indict the West and are the staple that binds similar organizations and individuals together. The use of the term "Islamophobia" is a misnomer and bears no relation to the meaning of "phobia," a morbid fear or aversion. Its use is a familiar tactic used by militant Muslims who attempt to silence their critics by branding them bigots.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of these Muslim speaker's bureaus is that the often simplistically biased and historically incorrect representation of Islam they present is done in an environment in which it is unchallenged.

Thus law enforcement agencies, public schools as well as political and private institutions which open themselves for such a one-sided dialogue end up being indoctrinated rather than educated.

Since credibility and legitimacy are in short supply among Islamists, their organizations are constantly searching out authority figures in the non-Muslim community – especially military or law enforcement officials - to serve as ceremonial figureheads, recruited for the expressed purpose of providing often undeserved imprimatur for the message being spread.

For example ING touts among its board of trustees, San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis and Randy Pond, Executive Vice President, Operations, Processes, and Systems, Cisco Systems Incorporated.

ING's founder, president & chief executive is Maha ElGenaidi. She has forged alliances with the Council on American Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of North America, both unindicted co-conspirators in America's largest federal terror prosecution.

ElGenaidi recently participated in a Muslim Students Association [an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood] event together with several radical Islamists including Siraj Wahhaj [an unindicted co conspirator in the 1993 WTC bombings] and Ingrid Mattson the president of the above noted ISNA [and on ING's Board of Advisors], the largest Wahhabi funded da'wa enterprise on the continent. [source, http://msa.tamu.edu/?page_id=50]

The Islamic Networks Group is clearly participating in stealth jihad. Its programs offer indoctrination under the guise of education and function as da'wa, Islamic conversion efforts and ING founder, Maha AlGenaidi's associations with groups founded by the Muslim Brotherhood and with individuals with ties to terrorism betray the group's media friendly guise.

Organizations such as this are a dangerous and potent weapon in the ideological jihad because they are not what they claim to be. As such organizations like the ING should be denied access to the educational system and all public and civic institutions.

We call on Rob Davis, the Chief of Police of San Jose, to stop lending the ING the undeserved legitimacy that his presence on the Board of Trustees is providing and immediately sever his relationship with the group. http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=ing4.10.08%2Ehtm

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MIM: Biographies of members at large and the founder of ING.

Member at large. Police Chief Davis is a 25-year veteran of the San Jose Police Department. He began as a Police Officer in 1980, promoted to Sergeant in 1989, Lieutenant in 1993, Captain in 1998, Deputy Chief in 2001, and Police Chief in 2004. In his various roles prior to becoming San Jose City's 8th Police Chief, he managed the SJPD's Bureau of Investigations, commanded the Violent Crimes Unit (Gang Unit), managed a variety of core functions for the San Jose Police Department from personnel to training functions, project managed the automation of the department's information system, taught Professionalism and Ethics at the local Police Academy, taught Peace Officers Standards and Training [POST] to California POST Trainers, and consulted in Central America for the U.S. State Department.

Maha ElGenaidi, Founder & President of Islamic Networks Group (ING)
Chief Executive Officer. Maha has spoken to hundreds of schools, churches, synagogues, police departments, corporations and other public agencies; has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, and is author of seven training handbooks on outreach for American Muslims as well as eight training modules for public institutions on "developing cultural competency with the American Muslim community". She's also currently active with many state and federal governmental agencies, and is a former commissioner on Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante's Commission for One California, Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission, and an Advisor to California's Commission on Police Officers Standards and Training for cultural diversity and hate crimes. She's also recipient of numerous civil rights awards, which include the 2002 "Citizen of the Year" Award from the Santa http://www.ing.org/about/page.asp?num=14Clara County Board of Supervisors. Maha received her B.A. in Political Science & Economics from the American University in Cairo (AUC). She is married and lives in Santa Clara, California.

Randy Pond, Executive Vice President, Operations, Processes, and Systems, Cisco Systems Incorporated
Member at large. Randy oversees Cisco organizations of Corporate Quality, Customer Service & Operational Systems, Human Resources, Information Technology, Legal Affairs, and Worldwide Manufacturing. He also chairs the Business Process Operations Council and Business Oversight Board, two strategic executive councils within Cisco. Prior to joining Cisco, Pond was vice president of finance, chief financial officer, and vice president of Operations at Crescendo Communications. He has also held various finance and operations positions at Versatec, David Systems, Xerox Corporation, Schlumberger, and Arthur Andersen. Pond is the board president for the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. He has a bachelor's degree in accounting and economics from Ball State University in Indiana.

http://www.ing.org/about/page.asp?num=14

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MIM: The ING school curriculum teaches 7th graders to:

"Explain the significance of the Qur'an and the Sunnah as the primary sources of Islamic beliefs, practice, and law, and their influence in Muslims' daily life".

History-Social Science Curriculum Standards for the State of California:
Grades 7th - 12th
http://www.ing.org/catalogue/standards.asp#grade7

GRADE 7

ING Presentations that Apply to the Following Section: "Orientation on Islam & the Muslim World in the Context of World History and Social Studies" & "Islamic Contributions to Civilization" 7.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages.

1. Identify the physical features and describe the climate of the Arabian peninsula, its relationship to surrounding bodies of land and water, and nomadic and sedentary ways of life.

2. Trace the origins of Islam and the life and teachings of Muhammad, including Islamic teachings on the connection with Judaism and Christianity.

3. Explain the significance of the Qur'an and the Sunnah as the primary sources of Islamic beliefs, practice, and law, and their influence in Muslims' daily life.

4. Discuss the expansion of Muslim rule through military conquests and treaties, emphasizing the cultural blending within Muslim civilization and the spread and acceptance of Islam and the Arabic language.

5. Describe the growth of cities and the establishment of trade routes among Asia, Africa, and Europe, the products and inventions that traveled along these routes (e.g., spices, textiles, paper, steel, new crops), and the role of merchants in Arab society.

6. Understand the intellectual exchanges among Muslim scholars of Eurasia and Africa and the contributions Muslim scholars made to later civilizations in the areas of science, geography, mathematics, philosophy, medicine, art, and literature.


For the complete list visit: http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade7.asp
GRADE 8
ING Presentation that Applies to the Following Section: "Roots of Islam in America" 8.7 Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people in the South from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced.

2. Trace the origins and development of slavery; its effects on black Americans and on the region's political, social, religious, economic, and cultural development; and identify the strategies that were tried to both overturn and preserve it (e.g., through the writings and historical documents on Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey).

4. Compare the lives of and opportunities for free blacks in the North with those of free blacks in the South.

8.11 Students analyze the character and lasting consequences of Reconstruction.

2. Identify the push-pull factors in the movement of former slaves to the cities in the North and to the West and their differing experiences in those regions (e.g., the experiences of Buffalo Soldiers).

8.12 Students analyze the transformation of the American economy and the changing social and political conditions in the United States in response to the Indus-trial Revolution.

7. Identify the new sources of large-scale immigration and the contributions of immigrants to the building of cities and the economy; explain the ways in which new social and economic patterns encouraged assimilation of newcomers into the mainstream amidst growing cultural diversity; and discuss the new wave of nativism.

For the complete list visit: http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade8.asp


GRADE 9

ING Presentations that Apply to the Following Sections: "Orientation on Islam and Muslims in the Context of World History and Social Studies" & "Islamic Contributions to Civilization"

Although there are no state requirements for the 9th grade, we are still called on to give presentations to 9th graders.


GRADE 10 ING Presentations that Apply to the Following Sections:
"Orientation on Islam and Muslims in the Context of World History & Social Studies" & "Islamic Contributions to Civilization" 10.5 Students analyze the causes and course of the First World War.

5. Discuss human rights violations and genocide, including the Ottoman government's actions against Armenian citizens. 10.10 Students analyze instances of nation-building in the contemporary world in at least two of the following regions or countries: the Middle East, Africa, Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and China.

1. Understand the challenges in the regions, including their geopolitical, cultural, military, and economic significance and the international relationships in which they are involved.

2. Describe the recent history of the regions, including political divisions and systems, key leaders, religious issues, natural features, resources, and population patterns.

3. Discuss the important trends in the regions today and whether they appear to serve the cause of individual freedom and democracy.


For the complete list visit: http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade10.asp

GRADE 11 ING Presentation that Applies to the Following Sections: "Roots of Islam in America" Students in grade eleven study the major turning points in American history in the twentieth century. Following a review of the nation's beginnings and the impact of the Enlightenment on U.S. democratic ideals, students build upon the tenth grade study of global industrialization to understand the emergence and impact of new technology and a corporate economy, including the social and cultural effects. They trace the change in the ethnic composition of American society; the movement toward equal rights for racial minorities and women; and the role of the United States as a major world power. An emphasis is placed on the expanding role of the federal government and federal courts as well as the continuing tension between the individual and the state. Students consider the major social problems of our time and trace their causes in historical events. They learn that the United States has served as a model for other nations and that the rights and freedoms we enjoy are not accidents, but the results of a defined set of political principles that are not always basic to citizens of other countries. Students understand that our rights under the U.S. Constitution are a precious inheritance that depends on an educated citizenry for their preservation and protection.

11.3 Students analyze the role religion played in the founding of America, its lasting moral, social, and political impacts, and issues regarding religious liberty.

1. Describe the contributions of various religious groups to American civic principles and social reform movements (e.g., civil and human rights, individual responsibility and the work ethic, antimonarchy and self-rule, worker protection, family-centered communities).

2. Analyze the great religious revivals and the leaders involved in them, including the First Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening, the Civil War revivals, the Social Gospel Movement, the rise of Christian liberal theology in the nineteenth century, the impact of the Second Vatican Council, and the rise of Christian fundamentalism in current times.

3. Cite incidences of religious intolerance in the United States (e.g., persecution of Mormons, anti-Catholic sentiment, anti-Semitism).

4. Discuss the expanding religious pluralism in the United States and California that resulted from large-scale immigration in the twentieth century.

5. Describe the principles of religious liberty found in the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment, including the debate on the issue of separation of church and state.

11.11 Students analyze the major social problems and domestic policy issues in contemporary American society.

1. Discuss the reasons for the nation's changing immigration policy, with emphasis on how the Immigration Act of 1965 and successor acts have transformed American society.


For the complete list visit: http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade11.asp
GRADE 12 New ING Presentation that Applies to the Following Section:
"Media Impact on Stereotypes" Standards mostly deal with the Constitution & civil liberties.


For the complete list visit: http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade12.asp

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MIM: The speakers list at the MSA event mentioned above which includes ING founder and president Maha ElGenaidi.

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This page lists some of the previously invited speakers and their short biographies. This list is in no particular order.

  • Imam Mahdi Bray
  • http://msa.tamu.edu/?page_id=50


    This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3427