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Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Imam Magid of ADAMS vs the FBI: Cleric awarded for 'helping FBI fight terror' refutes TIME claim that he "regularly tips off the FBI"

Imam Magid of ADAMS vs the FBI: Cleric awarded for 'helping FBI fight terror' refutes TIME claim that he "regularly tips off the FBI"

Imam of Islamic center raided in terror probe lauded as moderate by TIME claims"as far as he knows no terrorists tried to infilitrate his mosque"
November 19, 2005

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CALLIE SHELL / AURORA FOR TIME

"...The bureau has come under fire from hard-line pundits, who charge that it is reaching out to American Muslim leaders sympathetic to extremists. "They are providing an endorsement of these individuals, which enhances their credibility," says Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, a conservative think tank in Philadelphia. (The FBI insists it works only with moderates like Magid.) .."

MIM: Ten days after 9/11 Imam Magid of ADAMS belligerently told journalists that:

"...We cannot be apologetic about being Muslims in this country," ..

"We have a
right to be Muslim..."

---------------------------------------------------

MIM: Mohammed Magid's failure to condemn the attacks on America could be because his boss and benefactor, ADAMS chairman Ahmed Tontonji is:

"... an Iraqi-born citizen of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a key target of Operation Green Quest. Totonji was also named as a defendant in a $1 trillion lawsuit filed by more than 600 relatives of people who died in the 9/11 attacks
He acted as a co-founder and officer of the Saudi-founded/Saudi-funded (and now defunct) SAAR Trust. Additionally, he served as Vice President of the Safa Group and the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT).Officials have linked the non-profit IIIT to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda..." (see FPM article below)

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MIM: The ADAMS website notes:

http://www.adamscenter.org/Content.asp?ID=171

"...ADAMS maintains an excellent relationship with the FBI,
the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State, and
various state and local law enforcement agencies..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

undefined Allies
FBI officials show their gratitude for the imam's cooperation in the war on terror

http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/imam_america/4.html

Imam of terror linked mosque lauded in TIME for aid to FBI says "as far as he knows no terrorists tried to infilitrate his mosque"
November 19, 2005

MIM:In a TIME magazine article entitled "Moderate Muslim Clerics in the US Tend to their Faithful and Help the FBI Fight Terrorists", journalist Douglas Waller published a puff piece on the All Dulles Area Muslims Society (ADAMS), which neglected to mention the center's long standing terrorism connections and disingenuously lauded Imam Magid as a moderate.

It appears that Waller's exaggerated accounting of how helpful Magid was to the FBI - who even awarded him for his efforts - did not sit well with the what Waller labelled 'moderate' congregants in the 'moderate' ADAMS mosque . The absurdity of the TIME claim that ADAMS is moderate (after being raided by the FBI in connection with terror funding) was refuted by non other then Imam Magid himself . The ADAMS spiritual leader was obligated to practice 'damage control' in the form of a 'clarifying statement' on the All Dulles Area Muslims website refuting the TIME journalist's accounts of instances in which he was depicted as assisting the FBI !

The TIME article by Douglas Waller, (which was accompanied by pictures which included one of Magid being handed an award by the FBI), was so eager to depict Magid as a a indispensable part of the FBI counter terrorism effort that it mentioned his 'tipping them off to suspicious people' two times - a claim which Imam Magid strenuously denied.

"....For Magid that has meant not only condemning terrorism but also working closely with the FBI in battling it. He regularly opens doors for agents trying to cultivate contacts in his Muslim community, and he alerts the bureau when suspicious persons approach his congregation.

"....Magid regularly tips off the bureau when a stranger with a questionable background wanders into his center..."

MIM: Imam Magid who says that 9/11 "changed the role of an American Imam for good" (no doubt cynically referring to the resulting surge of interest in Islam) denied Waller's account the he was helping the FBI and pointing out people people who could pose a potential threat, on the contrary, Magid himself reveals that he attempts to deceive the FBI and wrote that:

"...The article mentioned, "Magid regularly tips off the bureau [FBI]…" The nature of my relationship with the FBI and law enforcement is that I meet monthly as a member of a collaborative effort by a number of Muslim American organizations that advocate mutual respect and rights in dealing with federal law enforcement agencies. I often convey to the FBI that our Muslim community needs to be treated as partners, not as suspects..."

"...Our Muslim Advisory committee does not use these monthly meetings to report upon the activities of our community members as the purpose of the meetings are solely to create avenues to work with law enforcement to preserve our civil liberties and civil rights..."

MIM: TIMES journalist Waller's 'failure" to mention that Magid and ADAMS are closely tied to terrorism and are part of the Al Qaeda funding network raided by the FBI and JTTF in connection with 'Operation Greenquest' is another example of how the MSM deliberately tries to cover for radical Islamists, and endangers the American public by falsely portraying extremist Muslims and mosques as 'moderate'.

:According to Waller:

"...So far as Magid knows, no terrorist has tried to infiltrate the mosque, but he always worries that one might. ADAMS prides itself on being an extremist-free zone.Newcomers who mutter thoughts of jihad quickly discover they are not welcome..."

A few paragraphs down Waller writes that Magid recounted that :

"... a teenager who had read a fatwa on an extremist website walked into his office and asked whether the Koran sanctioned suicide bombings. "Absolutely not!" he sternly told the boy.."

MIM: Which begs the question as to if this'boy' is still at ADAMS and under the tutelage of Imam Magid (who of course would not be bringing him to the attention of the FBI, since he works with them to show why Muslims are not suspect).

Waller's unquestioning acceptance of Magid's stories and failure to mention ADAMS and Magid's connection to terrorism and his unchallenged quoting of Magid's assertion that ADAMS prides itself as being an 'extremist free zone' is even more outrageous in light of the facts which were presented in a Frontpagemagine article which highlighted Magid and ADAMS.

More evidence that Waller deliberately ignored ADAM's terorism times can be seen in the simple fact that a 2005 speakers list on the ADAMS website shows at least two notorious terrorist affiliates, ADAMS chairmam Ahmed Tontonji, who was indicted in Operation Greenquest, and Johari Abdul Malik, Imam at Dar Al Hijrah mosque. Malik's mosque was labelled the second most dangerous in America' by Paul Sperry in his book 'Infiltration'. Malik was active in raising money for raising money for the defense of the now jailed ' Virginia Paintball Jihad network' terrorist and fellow Imam Al Al Timimi. He also defended the American born Muslim Abu Ali who joined Al Qaeda in Iraq and was arrested for plotting to kill President Bush and claimed thast Muslims were being victimised:

."...Our whole community is under siege," said Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, a spokesman for the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, where Mr. Abu Ali and his family worshiped. "They don't see this as a case of criminality. They see it as a civil rights case. As a frontal attack on their community..."In many ways, Mr. Abu Ali embodies the conflicting images of Muslims in Northern Virginia that have emerged from the many local prosecutions.." NYTimes Feb.27,2005

MIM: Note that Malik refers to to the charges against Ali who went to Saudi Arabia to join (Al Qaeda with the intention of being able to use his American citizenship to carry out an attack in the US) as a "civil rights case" and compare this to Imam Mohammed Magid's claim on the ADAMS website that the "purpose of the meetings (with the FBI) are solely to create avenues to work with law enforcement to preserve our civil liberties and civil rights.."

For his part, Imam Magid was full of appreciation for Waller's disinformation efforts to portray him and ADAMS as 'moderates'.

"...Mr. Waller showed a lot of interest in and appreciation for our work and community inclusiveness..."

MIM: The informaition provide by Ben Johnson in an article entitled "A troubling presence at a funeral" debunks the lie that ADAMS is an "extremist free zone" and details the terrorist connections of Imam Magid and the ADAMS Islamic center.

(A look at the updated ADAMS speakers list also includes the names of Jamal Barzinji- who appears on the government indictment stemming from Operation Greenquest,I and Dar AL Hijrah 'director of outreach' Imam Johari Abdul Malik, who defended convicted terrorist Al Al Tamimi).

MIM: Excerpts from Ben Johnson's FPN article "A troubling presence at a funeral"

"...Patriotic Americans will always cherish their memories of Ronald Reagan's strong and courageous leadership during the Cold War. However, his funeral at the National Cathedral may uncap different emotions. Among those the Reagan family has invited to the ecumenical service is Mohammad Magid, a D.C.-area Muslim imam with disturbing ties to suspected terrorists.

Magid, who was born and educated in the Sudan, is the Director of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS). ADAMS has numerous close affiliations with the main targets of "Operation Green Quest," "the largest U.S. terror finance investigation anywhere in the world." In March 2002, federal agents raided ADAMS's facility in Herndon, Virginia, as part of an investigation into financial support for terrorism. Federal affidavits state that the "Grove Street addresses" (500 and 555 Grove St. in Herndon) housed more than 100 interlocking Muslim organizations, most headed by Jamal Barzinji, and these groups gave material aid to terrorists. Among those raided were several major ADAMS associates, including its chairman. Magid himself was present when federal agents raided the Herndon offices of ADAMS in March 2002.

Soon after the raid, Magid held a public meeting encouraging "community building" among the organizations investigated. Although 100 people showed up at the Sterling, Virginia, public library for the meeting, another 150 members of the overflow crowd met at ADAMS headquarters itself.

ADAMS's office is located in Sterling Virginia, but the organization also maintains a "Grove Street Facility" at 500 Grove Street in Herndon. A former Justice Department prosecutor has alleged, in a lawsuit filed in Florida, that funds from this address (and 555 Grove Street, right across the street) were forwarded to Sami al-Arian.

An affidavit stated the "Grove Street" groups – all of which were lead by Jamal Barzinji – were "suspected of providing material support to terrorists, money laundering, and tax evasion through the use of a variety of for-profit companies and ostensible charitable entities under their control, most of which are located at 555 Grove Street, Herndon, Virginia."

http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=13748

MIM : See complete article below

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MIM: Magid posted these links on the ADAMS website to the article and the disclaimer:

http://www.adamscenter.org/Content.asp?ID=227

Please read the Time Magazine article about Imam Magid and ADAMS Center.

Please click here to read the Background, Details, and Clarification on the article by Imam Magid
http://www.adamscenter.org/Content.asp?ID=226

Please see Time Magazine's Online Picture Essay about Imam Magid and ADAMS Community:
http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/imam_america/1.html

MODERATE MUSLIM CLERICS IN THE U.S. TEND TO THEIR FAITHFUL--AND HELP THE FBI FIGHT TERRORISTS
DOUGLAS WALLER STERLING, Time, 11/21/05
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1129587,00.html

http://www.adamscenter.org/Content.asp?ID=226

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MIM: Imam Magid's letter to his congregants (below) was placed on the ADAMS website to reassure his congregants that he does not 'tip off the FBI' about suspicious individuals at ADAMS Islamic Center, and actually dissuades them from considering Muslims as potential terror suspects. Deflecting suspicion from ADAM's congregants is quite a noteworthy feat in its own right, considering the fact that the FBI and JTTF raided the Islamic Center in connection with terrorism funding in 2002 during Operation Greenquest, and Magid himself is tied to a worldwide Islamist network linked to Al Qaeda.

November 15, 2005

Dear ADAMS Community,

As'salaamu Alaikum.

Mr. Douglas Waller of Time magazine approached me to write a story about an Imam in America. The story was meant to show the daily activities of an imam in a mosque and to draw similarities between my work and the work of other religious community leaders. I accepted the proposal as an opportunity to show the true face of Islam and the muslim community. Mr Waller followed me for two weeks and attended all my classes including Seerah, Quran, Tafseer, and Juma'a prayers. He also joined me at interfaith meetings and at a class that I taught at American University. He accompanied me to weddings, a funeral, community activities, and during my regular office hours at ADAMS Center. Moreover, he was present at a meeting ADAMS and other Islamic organizations had with law enforcement and the FBI. During those two weeks Mr. Waller was able to obsrve the work and activities of ADAMS Center and meet and interact with many community members. Mr. Waller showed a lot of interest in and appreciation for our work and community inclusiveness.

I appreciate this opportunity made possible to us by Time Magazine as I believe American Muslims should interact with media to show who we are. We should not be shy to show our commitment to our religion and to the country in which we live. That said there were a number of points that were mentioned in the article which I would like to take this opportunity to clarify , so that you, my community, will better understand my position.

The article mentioned, "Magid regularly tips off the bureau [FBI]…" The nature of my relationship with the FBI and law enforcement is that I meet monthly as a member of a collaborative effort by a number of Muslim American organizations that advocate mutual respect and rights in dealing with federal law enforcement agencies. I often convey to the FBI that our Muslim community needs to be treated as partners, not as suspects. I have repeatedly stated in our meetings that I am proud of our ADAMS community, as we uphold the law and work to bring about justice. Our Muslim Advisory committee does not use these monthly meetings to report upon the activities of our community members as the purpose of the meetings are solely to create avenues to work with law enforcement to preserve our civil liberties and civil rights.

The article also stated that I " kept the newcomer in his office until agents showed up to question him" Referring to a certain incident we had few months ago at ADAMS Center. In this case, I would like to make clear that the brother involved had been reported to the law enforcement by another person. When the matter came to my attention I informed him that he had been reported to the authorities. The brother asked if he could wait in my office, with an interpreter, so that he could clear his name with the law enforcement. I waited with him in my office, and the matter was settled by a respectful and understanding agent.

Finally, it was reported that I "counsel(s) on safe sex and the health dangers of binge drinking." I would like to make it very clear that I teach according to the Quran, that Allah (swt) states that any physical relationship out of marriage is not permissible. Allah (swt) says do not come near adultery, meaning anything that leads to it. There is no safe sex out of marriage as the concept is foreign to Islamic virtue. It is also clearly stated in the Quran that alcohol is not permissible, in all circumstances. Authentic sunnah is also emphatic that drinking little alcohol is as haram as consuming a lot of it.

I am pleased to see the progress that our community has made with the media on a national scale. I will continue, in shallah to look for more opportunities for our community to share our work with the national audience.

Mohamed Magid
Executive Director and Imam, All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS)

----------------------------

MIM: Magid's (and TIME Magazine's) total lack of credibility is further highlighted by Magid's completely opposite recitation of the incident which journalist Bruce Waller lauded as an example of how helpful he was to law enforcement by reporting and keeping a suspicious person in his office for questioning. Magid denied both reporting and holding the person in question.

Magid:s Account "...The article also stated that I " kept the newcomer in his office until agents showed up to question him" Referring to a certain incident we had few months ago at ADAMS Center. In this case, I would like to make clear that the brother involved had been reported to the law enforcement by another person. When the matter came to my attention I informed him that he had been reported to the authorities. The brother asked if he could wait in my office, with an interpreter, so that he could clear his name with the law enforcement. I waited with him in my office, and the matter was settled by a respectful and understanding agent..."

TIME Magazine's Waller : "...Magid regularly tips off the bureau when a stranger with a questionable background wanders into his center. In one case, mosque members alerted him to a newcomer who dealt only in cash and wanted to list the ADAMS-center address as his home on his driver's license application. The next time the imam saw the man in his mosque, he kept the newcomer in his office until agents showed up to question him. In the end, the FBI cleared the man. It turned out he had gone through a messy divorce in another state and was simply trying to start a new life in Virginia.So far as Magid knows, no terrorist has tried to infiltrate the mosque, but he always worries that one might..."

MIM:Another example of Magid's disingenuousness (further proof of the doubtful veracity of his information which he provides to the FBI, and a reflection on the gullibility of reporter Wallers and TIME), is his denial of Wallers account that...

"He (Magid), advises abstaining from alcohol and sex before marriage but knows his advice won't always be followed, so he also counsels on safe sex and the health dangers of binge drinking..."

In the above letter to congregants on the ADAMS website Magid wrote:

"...Finally, it was reported that I "counsel(s) on safe sex and the health dangers of binge drinking." I would like to make it very clear that I teach according to the Quran, that Allah (swt) states that any physical relationship out of marriage is not permissible. Allah (swt) says do not come near adultery, meaning anything that leads to it. There is no safe sex out of marriage as the concept is foreign to Islamic virtue. It is also clearly stated in the Quran that alcohol is not permissible, in all circumstances. Authentic sunnah is also emphatic that drinking little alcohol is as haram as consuming a lot of it...."

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MIM: The President of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society reiterates the claims in the TIME magazine article that "Magid alerts the Bureau when strangers approach his congregation" which Magid denied in his letter to congregants above. Which begs the question as to who to believe - the FBI, TIME magazine or Magid himself who insists that he just meets with the FBI to convince them that Muslims should not be suspect in being involved in terrorism. Ultimately, the fact that the TIME claim that Magid was pointing out potential terrorists to the FBI necessitated him denying this was the case to the congregation shows that the TIME's portrayal of the mosque as moderate was false.

http://www.adamscenter.org/Content.asp?ID=227

MIM: Excerpt from the message of the ADAMS president re: The TIMES article.

From his mosque in Virginia, Magid, like many of the some 600 full-time imams across the country, is fighting his own war against radicals trying to hijack his religion. For Magid that has meant not only condemning terrorism but also working closely with the FBI in battling it. He regularly opens doors for agents trying to cultivate contacts in his Muslim community, and he alerts the bureau when suspicious persons approach his congregation. That puts him in a precarious position: How does he maintain credibility as a spiritual adviser while, in effect, he is informing on fellow Muslims? To understand that balancing act, TIME spent two weeks following Magid as he raced from prayer to prayer, meeting to meeting, in the strange new world of American Muslim ministry.

Please read the rest of the article on:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1129587,00.html

Wa'Salam 'Alaikum

Rizwan Jaka

President, All Dulles Area Muslim Society(ADAMS)
www.adamscenter.org
Board Member,
Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington
www.ifcmw.org

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MIM: The article from Time Magazine published Nov. 14,2005

An American Imam
Moderate Muslim clerics in the U.S. tend to their faithful--and help the FBI fight terrorists
By DOUGLAS WALLER STERLING

IT WAS ON SEPT. 10, A DAY SHY OF THE fourth anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center, that Imam Mohamed Magid met terrorism's victims face to face. He was presiding at the funeral on Long Island for the daughter and son-in-law of Bangladeshi Americans from his Sterling, Va., mosque. The children, who were at work in the North Tower, perished in the Sept. 11 attack, but not until this past August had medical examiners identified enough of their charred tissue and bone fragments for the parents to hold a funeral. Staring at the two wooden boxes covered with green embroidered cloth and surrounded by grieving family members, the Muslim cleric was gripped by both sadness and rage. "The terrorists who kill in the name of Islam claim they are the martyrs," Magid told TIME later, the anger still roiling him. "But the victims are the martyrs. The terrorists are the murderers, and God will deal with them on Judgment Day."

From his mosque in Virginia, Magid, like many of the some 600 full-time imams across the country, is fighting his own war against radicals trying to hijack his religion. For Magid that has meant not only condemning terrorism but also working closely with the FBI in battling it. He regularly opens doors for agents trying to cultivate contacts in his Muslim community, and he alerts the bureau when suspicious persons approach his congregation. That puts him in a precarious position: How does he maintain credibility as a spiritual adviser while, in effect, he is informing on fellow Muslims? To understand that balancing act, TIME spent two weeks following Magid as he raced from prayer to prayer, meeting to meeting, in the strange new world of American Muslim ministry.

Breaking with tradition hasn't bothered Magid. Born 40 years ago in the northern Sudanese village of Alrakabih along the Nile River, he studied Islam under African Sunni scholars, who included his father. Magid immigrated to the U.S. in 1987, when his ailing father came seeking medical treatment. Unlike many foreign imams, who find America's open society too jolting and withdraw to their mosques, he reveled in the cultural diversity. "I never had a Jewish friend until I came to the U.S.," says the gregarious imam. "And the questioning of all religions here helped me strengthen my own beliefs."

Magid reached out, taking college courses in psychology and family counseling, teaching classes on the Koran at the Islamic Center and Howard University in Washington. One of his African-American students at Howard--Amaarah Decuir, who had recently converted to Islam from Catholicism and was getting a master's degree in education--eventually became his wife and educated him on women's issues. In 1997, Magid became imam of a mosque just west of Washington called ADAMS, an acronym for All Dulles Area Muslim Society. An imam can be a layman sufficiently versed in the Koran to lead daily prayers, but larger, more established mosques hire professional imams, comparable to Christian ministers or Jewish rabbis, who are trained in Islamic seminaries or mentored by scholars.

Of the some 1,500 mosques in the U.S., ADAMS is one of the more progressive. Its $5 million center in Sterling serves 5,000 mostly middle- and upper-middle-income Sunni and Shi'ite families from more than a dozen ethnic backgrounds. In many mosques abroad and in the U.S., women are required to pray in rooms separate from the men. At ADAMS, women not only pray in the same room with the men (although in a partitioned-off section in the back), they hold four of the 13 seats on the mosque's board of trustees and chair a majority of its committees.

An American imam becomes de facto mayor of his Muslim community. A line of congregants often stretches outside Magid's office filled with followers asking for all kinds of help. Finding love, for example, can be difficult for observant Muslims scattered in U.S. cities; Islam forbids physical contact in dating or cruising for mates in nightclubs that serve alcohol. A breathless young man once phoned Magid in the middle of the night to ask if he could perform a marriage in a parking lot "right now" so the suitor and the woman in his car wouldn't feel guilty about what they wanted to do next. "I'm not a 7-Eleven," the imam barked into the phone. To help with romances, Magid and his wife run a matchmaking service, holding daylong retreats at which young Muslim men and women can mix under the watchful eye of chaperones.

Magid has no qualms about grappling with problems that Muslim families often don't deal with openly. He has organized mosque programs to treat depression among Muslim teens and stocks the women's restroom at ADAMS with brochures on where to get help if they have an abusive husband. Teenagers and young adults come to him with questions about everything from underage drinking to premarital sex to whether the Koran allows a woman to have a bikini wax. He advises abstaining from alcohol and sex before marriage but knows his advice won't always be followed, so he also counsels on safe sex and the health dangers of binge drinking. As for the bikini wax, Islam's rules on female modesty allow it, he decided--if a wife's husband will be the only one to see the result. "He's not some big, scary imam sitting in his office passing judgment," says Zohra Atmar, a 25-year-old legal assistant who is a mosque member.

But Sept. 11, 2001, "changed the role of the American imam for good," Magid believes. Muslims in this country found their religion under attack. His female congregants who wore the hijab, or traditional scarf, on their head were harassed at shopping centers. Last year a man shouted "Terrorists!" at the mosque's Girl Scouts as they sold cookies at a nearby grocery store. And since 9/11, the ADAMS center has been vandalized four times and the graffiti GO HOME painted on its walls.

But this is home, and Magid began mobilizing his mosque to protect it. "There's no way you can be a quarter-citizen in this country," he told his congregants during Friday prayers soon after the Sept. 11 attacks. "You have to be a full citizen and defend it." For Magid, that meant working with the FBI. In early 2002, leaders of two Arab-American organizations who had been conferring with the agency on counterterrorism programs asked Magid and other local imams if they too would work with the bureau. The lawmen badly needed contacts among Washington's Muslims to help them check out leads and alert them to anything out of the ordinary, but they were getting nowhere in setting up those ties because "there was so much fear and animosity toward the FBI in that community," says an agent.

Magid was willing to cooperate, but he knew he would have to convince his congregation that getting cozy with the FBI was in their interest. Some members--particularly those who had come from countries with repressive regimes where the security service was an organization to be avoided--were uneasy. The imam invited agents to the mosque to explain how Muslims could help, but the initial meetings were heated, and the lawmen had to sit through "some very harsh questioning," says Uzma Unus, vice president of the ADAMS board of trustees. The congregants vented about law-enforcement profiling, which they felt targeted all Muslims as suspects. Agents were showing up at their workplaces to make routine inquiries about anyone they might want to report, and some Muslims were fired because of the public stigma of being questioned by the FBI.

The agents promised to be less heavy-handed in investigations, and over the next three years relations improved. Now Magid often serves as an intermediary, coaxing reluctant congregants who might have useful information about unusual activities in their neighborhoods into meeting with the FBI and advising the bureau on how to be more culturally sensitive--for example, by having male agents schedule interviews with women only when their husbands could be present. Magid regularly tips off the bureau when a stranger with a questionable background wanders into his center. In one case, mosque members alerted him to a newcomer who dealt only in cash and wanted to list the ADAMS-center address as his home on his driver's license application. The next time the imam saw the man in his mosque, he kept the newcomer in his office until agents showed up to question him. In the end, the FBI cleared the man. It turned out he had gone through a messy divorce in another state and was simply trying to start a new life in Virginia.

So far as Magid knows, no terrorist has tried to infiltrate the mosque, but he always worries that one might. ADAMS prides itself on being an extremist-free zone. Newcomers who mutter thoughts of jihad quickly discover they are not welcome. During Ramadan, guest speakers for evening prayers were carefully screened to make sure they preached religious tolerance.

Magid keeps close watch on younger members of the mosque who might be drawn to the diatribes of radical clerics. Before 9/11, he recalls, a teenager who had read a fatwa on an extremist website walked into his office and asked whether the Koran sanctioned suicide bombings. "Absolutely not!" he sternly told the boy. Since the attacks, no young person has approached him with that kind of question, but Magid constantly lectures in Koran classes: "Don't blindly follow how any religious leader interprets Islam--even me." After last July's bombings in London, which were carried out by young British-born Muslims who had turned to extremism, ADAMS parents came to him fearful that their children could be similarly swayed. Magid says he convened more classes with his younger congregants to talk "about using democratic means--not violence--to convey their frustrations and disagreements with U.S. foreign policy." As riots by mostly disaffected young Muslims swept France this month, he preached the same message of nonviolence in his youth classes.

Distrust remains. The collaboration between the FBI and the imam "has not been popular in certain wings," concedes Michael Rolince, the Washington field office's special agent in charge of counterterrorism. The bureau has come under fire from hard-line pundits, who charge that it is reaching out to American Muslim leaders sympathetic to extremists. "They are providing an endorsement of these individuals, which enhances their credibility," says Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, a conservative think tank in Philadelphia. (The FBI insists it works only with moderates like Magid.) But some ADAMS members are still uncomfortable about their imam's talking to an intelligence service, while other conservative clerics have complained to Magid that he is selling out. Although they keep those reservations private for fear they will be investigated, Magid says, "they ask, 'How can you open a dialogue with the government when it has been so hostile to Muslims?'"

But progressive imams like Magid realize they are on the front line between the Muslim community and a country awakening--often fearfully--to the knowledge that it has a Muslim community. "It's time for Islam in America to be American," he says. For the FBI, that kind of thinking may be one of its best weapons in the war on terrorism. •


---------------------------------

MIM: In January 2006 Magid spoke at a fundraiser for a new Muslim Link newspaper . The other speakers were Johari Abdul Malik (spokesman for Dar Al Hijrah Mosque who fund raised for the convicted terrorist wannabes Abu Ali and Ali Al Tamimi), and Yusuf Yee (the ex Guantamo Bay Chaplain accused of treason who was aquitted after the government declined to produce evidence which would have compromised national security).

The fundraiser was advertised on the CAIR website.

MUSLIM LINK FUNDRAISER
January 22nd, 2006 at 5 PM
Montgomery Blair High School
This Sunday, the Muslim Link newspaper is having its first ever fundraising dinner. The speakers include former Guantanamo chaplain James Yusuf Yee, Imam Muhammad Magid, and Imam Johari Abdul-Malik. Please support the paper. Tickets are $15 and are available at the door, this Sunday, 5pm, at Montgomery Blair High School.
For more information, visit www.muslimlinkpaper.com or call the Muslim Link at 301-982-1020.

http://www.cairmd.org/new/Index.asp

-----------------------------------

http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=13748

A Troubling Presence at a Funeral

by Ben Johnson

Frontpage Magazine June 11, 2004

ADAMS's office is located in Sterling Virginia, but the organization also maintains a "Grove Street Facility" at 500 Grove Street in Herndon. A former Justice Department prosecutor has alleged, in a lawsuit filed in Florida, that funds from this address (and 555 Grove Street, right across the street) were forwarded to Sami al-Arian.

An affidavit stated the "Grove Street" groups – all of which were lead by Jamal Barzinji – were "suspected of providing material support to terrorists, money laundering, and tax evasion through the use of a variety of for-profit companies and ostensible charitable entities under their control, most of which are located at 555 Grove Street, Herndon, Virginia."

Soon after the raid, Magid held a public meeting encouraging "community building" among the organizations investigated. Although 100 people showed up at the Sterling, Virginia, public library for the meeting, another 150 members of the overflow crowd met at ADAMS headquarters itself.

And with whom did Magid wish to build alliances? Among those invited was Kit Gage of the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, Sami al-Arian's political front group. Al-Arian is the University of South Florida professor indicted for being Palestinian Islamic Jihad's North American leader and chief financier. Wahhabi talk-show host Mahdi Bray, political advisor for the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), followed Gage. The Washington Times has described MPAC as "an anti-Semitic organization that has defended infamous terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah."

CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad also addressed the meeting. Awad has a long history of association with extremists, both in this country and in Bosnia. He once worked for senior Hamas political leader Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook's Islamic Association for Palestine. Awad has removed all doubt about his inclinations, telling a crowd at Barry University in 1994, "I am a supporter of the Hamas movement." Awad helpfully told the outraged crowd in Sterling: "This is a war against Islam and Muslims. Our administration has the burden of proving otherwise."

ADAMS's office is located in Sterling Virginia, but the organization also maintains a "Grove Street Facility" at 500 Grove Street in Herndon. A former Justice Department prosecutor has alleged, in a lawsuit filed in Florida, that funds from this address (and 555 Grove Street, right across the street) were forwarded to Sami al-Arian.

An affidavit stated the "Grove Street" groups – all of which were lead by Jamal Barzinji – were "suspected of providing material support to terrorists, money laundering, and tax evasion through the use of a variety of for-profit companies and ostensible charitable entities under their control, most of which are located at 555 Grove Street, Herndon, Virginia."

More than 100 organizations (businesses and non-profits) have operated from the two addresses over the years, most tied to the Safa Group, one of Barzinji's enterprises. The leadership and personnel of ADAMS frequently overlap with the organizations Operation Green Quest targeted.

The chairman of ADAMS is Ahmad Totonji, an Iraqi-born citizen of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a key target of Operation Green Quest. Totonji was also named as a defendant in a $1 trillion lawsuit filed by more than 600 relatives of people who died in the 9/11 attacks. He acted as a co-founder and officer of the Saudi-founded/Saudi-funded (and now defunct) SAAR Trust. Additionally, he served as Vice President of the Safa Group and the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT).

Officials have linked the non-profit IIIT to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, testified before Congress in August of 2002 that IIIT employee Tarik Hamdi had personally provided batteries for Osama bin Laden's satellite phone, keeping the wandering terrorist mastermind connected to his scattered ground troops. According to an Operation Green Quest affidavit, IIIT had also sponsored Basheer Nafi, "an active directing member of (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) front organizations." Nafi, who acknowledges a chummy relationship with Sami al-Arian, lectures at London's Muslim College. For this reason, Operation Green Quest raided the homes of Abdul Hamid Abu-Sulayman, former IIIT president; Jamal Barzinji, Director of IIIT; and Hisham Al-Talib, Director IIIT.

Customs agent David Kane also uncovered a monetary tie between IIIT and terrorism. Kane claims that, during a raid in Tampa, he found letters that prove IIIT sent at least $50,000 to the World Islamic Studies Enterprise (WISE), a front for Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The same affidavit states Ahmad Totonji personally signed an IIIT check in the amount of $10,000 to Sami al-Arian's Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace on November 1, 2001. Such fortunes are chump change for the SAAR Trust, founded by Saudi magnate Suleiman Abdul Al-Aziz al-Rajhi. SAAR received $1.7 billion in donations in 1998 alone.

Totonji's prolific connections to Wahhabi radicalism do not end there. He was a co-founder of the radical Muslim Students Association, as well as serving as its second President. Totonji also served as a founder and Secretary General of the World Association of Muslim Youth (WAMY), a Saudi-supported (and hence, Wahhabi) group federal agents raided in May 25, 2004, resulting in the arrest of Ibrahim Abdullah, the current Vice-President of WAMY-USA. WAMY was among the 100-plus organizations that have operated out of the Grove Street facilities. As Kenneth R. Timmerman noted in a recent exposé, "Until the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the head of the WAMY office in Herndon was Abdullah bin Laden," Osama bin Laden's younger brother.

Totonji has also personal ties to Louis Farrakhan. At a February 2000 meeting with Farrakhan, Totonji presented each Nation of Islam imam with a gift set of eight books on Islam and voiced his hope that NOI would bolster Islam within North America. In 1996, Farrakhan traveled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria and Libya, where he denounced the United States alongside Muammar Qaddafi -- among other things, accusing President Clinton of conspiring to launch a pre-emptive biological weapons attack against innocent Iraqis. (Farrakhan's relationship with international terrorist regimes is long and deep. In 1986, Farrakhan attended seminars on weapons and explosives in Libya, and Qaddafi has acted as a frequent financial patron of NOI.)

Nor has Farrakhan been the only black racist beneficiary of Totonji's generosity. Totonji has made a $1,000 donation to the unsuccessful re-election campaign of Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-GA, as did others connected with the Safa Group. McKinney is best remembered for alleging President Bush had advance knowledge of 9/11; her father famously blamed McKinney's woes on "Jews. J-E-W-S." Taha al-Alwani, Hisham Al-Talib and Jamal Barzinji gave $500 apiece to McKinney.

ADAMS's woes, however, are far from confined to one man. Brothers Omar and Muhammed Ashraf were also raided. Omar is a member of the ADAMS Project Committee and Executive Vice President of Sterling Management Group, Inc. Muhammed is ADAMS Legal Advisor and also an attorney to Abdurahman Alamoudi, who has been arrested for laundering Libyan money.

Iqbal Unus, Vice President of the Board of Trustees and an ADAMS Laws Committee member, was also Dean of Students at the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences (GSISS) in Leesburg, Virginia. He had his house raided in the same sweep, as did GSISS President Taha al-Alwani and Yaqub Mizra, President of the Sterling Management Group.

GSISS is one of only two schools authorized to train Muslim chaplains for the armed forces. (The other, the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council – which is a subgroup of the American Muslim Foundation and whose best known alumnus is Captain Yousef Yee – is also under investigation. The AMF was founded by none other than Abdurahman Alamoudi.)

ADAMS nurtures relationship with other suspect organizations as well. ADAMS is affiliated with Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a likely conduit for Saudi money that happens to control an estimated 80 percent of U.S. mosques. Terrorism expert Steven Emerson has written that ISNA "publishes a bi-monthly magazine, Islamic Horizons, which often champions militant Islamist doctrine, and it convenes annual conferences where Islamist militants have been given a platform to incite violence and promote hatred."

In addition to ISNA, the ADAMS website also links to such Wahhabi organizations as CAIR, AMC and the Muslims Students Association.

However this outrageous invitation came about, it must be rescinded forthwith. President Ronald Reagan spent his lifetime fighting America's totalitarian enemies. He does not deserve to have his funeral sullied by the presence of a man who may be associated with them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MIM: Magid's tape on 'War and Violence can be found on the radical Islamist Meccacentric website.It is worth noting that Magid disingenuously claims that the name Jihad in reference to holy war is 'misuse'by the media .What is also significant is that the 40 minute presentation is touted as good for non Muslims "who might have an inaccurate view of Islam" as well as "Muslims who may be harboring extremist or intolerant feelings" (!)

undefinedOn the campus of Georgetown University in Washington D.C., Imam Mohamed Magid discusses the Islamic perspective of war and violence. He immediately addresses the misunderstood term of "jihad" and the media's misuse of the term "holy war". He then outlines the reasons, from an Islamic perspective, that justify the use of violence. And then he makes a very effective argument that shows how other religious texts can easily be taken out of context and misused by their zealous believers. This 40 minute presentation is good for non-Muslims who may have an inaccurate view of Islam as well as Muslims who may be harboring extremist or intolerant feelings. Mohamed Magid is a well-known and highly respected Imam from Sudan who currently resides in the Northern Virginia area. His sober and balanced approach is refreshing, especially in light of all the negative rhetoric prevalent in the media regarding this topic.

----------------

MIM: Further proof of ADAMS ties to terrorism is their current list os speakers includes Imam Johari Abdul Malik and Chairman Ahmed Tontonji:

http://www.adamscenter.org/Content.asp?ID=154

The chairman of ADAMS is Ahmad Totonji, an Iraqi-born citizen of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a key target of Operation Green Quest. Totonji was also named as a defendant in a $1 trillion lawsuit filed by more than 600 relatives of people who died in the 9/11 attacks. He acted as a co-founder and officer of the Saudi-founded/Saudi-funded (and now defunct) SAAR Trust. Additionally, he served as Vice President of the Safa Group and the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT).

Officials have linked the non-profit IIIT to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, testified before Congress in August of 2002 that IIIT employee Tarik Hamdi had personally provided batteries for Osama bin Laden's satellite phone, keeping the wandering terrorist mastermind connected to his scattered ground troops. According to an Operation Green Quest affidavit, IIIT had also sponsored Basheer Nafi, "an active directing member of (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) front organizations." Nafi, who acknowledges a chummy relationship with Sami al-Arian, lectures at London's Muslim College. For this reason, Operation Green Quest raided the homes of Abdul Hamid Abu-Sulayman, former IIIT president; Jamal Barzinji, Director of IIIT; and Hisham Al-Talib, Director IIIT.

Customs agent David Kane also uncovered a monetary tie between IIIT and terrorism. Kane claims that, during a raid in Tampa, he found letters that prove IIIT sent at least $50,000 to the World Islamic Studies Enterprise (WISE), a front for Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The same affidavit states Ahmad Totonji personally signed an IIIT check in the amount of $10,000 to Sami al-Arian's Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace on November 1, 2001. Such fortunes are chump change for the SAAR Trust, founded by Saudi magnate Suleiman Abdul Al-Aziz al-Rajhi. SAAR received $1.7 billion in donations in 1998 alone.

Totonji's prolific connections to Wahhabi radicalism do not end there. He was a co-founder of the radical Muslim Students Association, as well as serving as its second President. Totonji also served as a founder and Secretary General of the World Association of Muslim Youth (WAMY), a Saudi-supported (and hence, Wahhabi) group federal agents raided in May 25, 2004, resulting in the arrest of Ibrahim Abdullah, the current Vice-President of WAMY-USA. WAMY was among the 100-plus organizations that have operated out of the Grove Street facilities. As Kenneth R. Timmerman noted in a recent exposé, "Until the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the head of the WAMY office in Herndon was Abdullah bin Laden," Osama bin Laden's younger brother.

Totonji has also personal ties to Louis Farrakhan. At a February 2000 meeting with Farrakhan, Totonji presented each Nation of Islam imam with a gift set of eight books on Islam and voiced his hope that NOI would bolster Islam within North America. In 1996, Farrakhan traveled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria and Libya, where he denounced the United States alongside Muammar Qaddafi -- among other things, accusing President Clinton of conspiring to launch a pre-emptive biological weapons attack against innocent Iraqis. (Farrakhan's relationship with international terrorist regimes is long and deep. In 1986, Farrakhan attended seminars on weapons and explosives in Libya, and Qaddafi has acted as a frequent financial patron of NOI.)

Nor has Farrakhan been the only black racist beneficiary of Totonji's generosity. Totonji has made a $1,000 donation to the unsuccessful re-election campaign of Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-GA, as did others connected with the Safa Group. McKinney is best remembered for alleging President Bush had advance knowledge of 9/11; her father famously blamed McKinney's woes on "Jews. J-E-W-S." Taha al-Alwani, Hisham Al-Talib and Jamal Barzinji gave $500 apiece to McKinney.

ADAMS's woes, however, are far from confined to one man. Brothers Omar and Muhammed Ashraf were also raided. Omar is a member of the ADAMS Project Committee and Executive Vice President of Sterling Management Group, Inc. Muhammed is ADAMS Legal Advisor and also an attorney to Abdurahman Alamoudi, who has been arrested for laundering Libyan money.

I

http://www.adamscenter.org/Content.asp?ID=154

SCHEDULE OF ROTATING SPEAKERS UPDATED ON JULY 19, 2005

1st Tuesdays Imam Johari Abdul Malik
2nd Tuesdays Altaf Taufique
3rd Tuesdays Daoud Nassimi
4th Tuesdays Altaf Taufique

1st Saturdays Sulaiman Jalloh
2nd Saturdays Youth Group* (see details below)
3rd Saturdays Shad Imam
4th Saturdays Jamal Barzinji / Sulaiman Jalloh

1st Sundays Khaled Troudi
2nd Sundays Imam Johari Abdul Malik
3rd Sundays Magd Kamalmaz / Khaled Troudi
4th Sundays Khaled Troudi

5th days in the month
Saturday, July 30 Hisham Altalib
Sunday, July 31 Khalid Iqbal
Tuesday, August 30 Louis Al-Haffar
Saturday, October 29 (Ramadhan)
Sunday, October 30 (Ramadhan)
Tuesday, November 29 Khalid Iqbal
Saturday, December 31 Hisham Altalib

5th days in the month
Saturday, July 30 Hisham Altalib
Sunday, July 31 Khalid Iqbal
Tuesday, August 30 Louis Al-Haffar
Saturday, October 29 (Ramadhan)
Sunday, October 30 (Ramadhan)
Tuesday, November 29 Khalid Iqbal
Saturday, December 31 Hisham Altalib

* Youth Group
July 9 - Abdul Malik Ahmad
August 13 - Owais Balti
September 10 - Hasanain Chaudry
November 12 -Saqib Sheikh
December 10 - Awais Sheikh
--------------------------

Alleged Terrorist Recruiter on Trial

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/regional/s_320260.html

But at the nearby Dar Al Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, where as many as 3,000 Muslims attend Friday prayers, spokesmen are not hesitant to talk. Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, the mosque outreach director, said al-Timimi is a brother in need in a Muslim community under siege.

Al-Timimi's supporters in northern Virginia have held various fund-raisers, first for legal costs for the 11 men charged in the so-called Virginia paintball jihad network and now for al-Timimi.

Abdul-Malik said the community still reels from the prosecution of the 11 men, only three of whom ever went to Pakistan and none of whom made it to the Taliban.

Over the last year, two of the men were acquitted. Six pleaded guilty to lesser counts, including federal firearms and explosives charges and conspiracy. The remaining three were convicted of violating the Neutrality Act in a conspiracy in which prosecutors charged the men took up arms to aid a foreign power.

Prison sentences for the nine who pleaded guilty or were convicted ranged from three years to life in prison.

Abdul-Malik said the Muslim community in northern Virginia has rallied around their families.

"About the only thing we haven't done is a car wash. Whether it is individuals soliciting people privately, dinner sales, bake sales after the prayers or an international bazaar, we've done it," Abdul-Malik said....

"...Who al-Timimi's supporters are isn't clear. A support committee has launched a sophisticated Web site and raised more than $150,000 for his defense, but those underwriting the effort are hesitant to discuss it.

"Many people in the community want to help and donate money, but they are so scared from government harassments(sic). No one is willing to come and announce his/her name to the media. Our community is in a state of paranoia," an anonymous spokesman for al-Timimi's support group wrote in response to a request for comment from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

--


MIM: Jamal Barzinji, who was tied to seven terrorist funding enterprises connected which were targetted in operation Greenquest, recently spoke at ADAMS and was fittingly described as a 'well known Washington DC community leader'.

Barzinji's support for Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden also render him uniquely qualifed to urge government leaders to "take Muslims into their confidence". Barzinji emphasised that Muslims have already raised "two generations" in the U.S. Note that the ICNA conference was intended to discuss the impact of 9/11 on Muslims - and that Barzinji called his talk the Impact of London Bombings on American Muslims!

--------------------

http://www.wrmea.com/archives/Sept_Oct_2005/0509058b.html

Impact of London Bombings on American Muslims

A state of increased nervousness has descended on American Muslims, particularly after the July 7 bombings in London. This was evident at the Qutba (sermon) that was delivered Friday, July 22, by Dr. Jamal Barzinji, a well-known Washington, DC community leader. The ADAMS Center in northern Virginia, where Barzinji spoke, is the area's largest Friday congregation, with more than 2,000 Muslims coming to pray each Friday in three separate shifts.

While Barzinji said he appreciated that British Prime Minister Tony Blair reached out to the Muslim leadership in his country to get to the causes of the problem, he said he did not see such a gesture here in the United States following the 9/11 tragedy.

Reassuring President George W. Bush of the loyalty and patriotism of American Muslims, Barzinji said Islam is a peaceful religion, and that the deeds of a handful of misguided youths should not be cause to condemn the entire Muslim nation.

Barzinji urged government officials to take American Muslims into their confidence and work with them in establishing peace. "We have come here in search of peace, freedom, and economic opportunity," he said. "We have already raised two generations here. The stakes are as high for us as for any other American. Let us work together toward peace and prosperity."

Barzinji appeared to echo the sentiments of the entire congregation.

----------------------------------------------

MIM: What the journalists fail to point out in this article is that some of the Muslims interviewed deny that Muslims were involved in the 9/11 attacks, and others justified them on the grounds they resulted from American foreign policy.

----------------------------------------------

Worship and Worry
Fear for Other Muslims Mixes With Support for U.S.

By Debbi Wilgoren and Ann O'Hanlon
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, September 22, 2001; Page B01

A large sign outside the mostly Afghan mosque in Springfield condemned
the terror and mourned the Americans lost. Inside, worshipers worried
aloud about what America, their adopted country, will do to their
countrymen back home.

At the All Dulles Area Muslim Society mosque in Sterling, where new
paint and throw rugs covered the anti-Muslim graffiti that vandals had
sprayed inside, leaders announced that the mosque had raised $6,000 for
the American Red Cross and organized a blood drive.

And in Falls Church, Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki told his flock that churches
had offered their support to the mosque, including providing escorts for
Muslim women. But he also had more somber news: A Muslim woman was
beaten Wednesday, he said, and the niece and nephew-in-law of a fellow
worshiper are lost in the wreckage of the World Trade Center.

It was Friday, the Muslim holy day, when the faithful gather in mosques
for midday worship. On this day, it is said, for at least one hour, all
prayers are accepted. The ritual was comfortingly familiar, but at
mosques in Washington and its suburbs yesterday, it seemed clear that
nearly everything else has changed.

Armed guards from a Muslim-owned security firm searched cars and
handbags and patted down worshipers before allowing them to enter the
Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church. Muslims there and elsewhere
debated whether women should abandon their traditional head coverings to
keep themselves from becoming targets for reprisals. A man in
Springfield acknowledged significantly trimming his beard. The Islamic
Community Center in Laurel asked for volunteers to guard the building.

"Tensions are high, and we're worried," said Muhammad Asim, a spokesman
for the Laurel mosque. "It's a little harder to be a Muslim in this
country than it was a week ago."

Asim took pains to deny any connection between the mosque and Moataz
Al-Hallak, a Laurel cleric whom federal prosecutors have linked to Osama
bin Laden and questioned about last week's attacks.

"It's a shock to hear that [a cleric] might know something about this,"
Asim said.

Sermons at his mosque and several others denounced the attacks as
contrary to the essence of Islam, which in Arabic means "submission" and
shares the same root as the word for "peace." They quoted the Koranic
teaching that taking the life of even a single person is comparable to
taking the life of all mankind.

"Those who committed these horrific acts of course did not care about
Islam," said Zia Makhdoom, imam of the Mustafa Center in Springfield,
which draws mostly Afghan immigrants who oppose the extremist Taliban
regime that for years has given refuge to bin Laden.

"They're actually the enemies of Islam who have put all Muslims in
danger," Makhdoom continued. "We have to distance ourselves from these
acts and these people. We should do nothing to further blemish the image
of Islam."

But within the chorus of condemnation was a distinct echo of uncertainty
about the U.S. response to the tragedy. Worshipers at Dar al-Hijrah said
they are not convinced that bin Laden and his followers masterminded the
attacks -- and are concerned that President Bush has not offered
concrete proof.

They said U.S. foreign policy, from its strong ties to Israel to its
harsh treatment of Iraq over the last decade, has helped create an
anti-Western climate in Muslim countries that enables bin Laden's brand
of extremism to flourish. And they predicted that an all-out war on
extremists in those countries would only result in mass civilian
casualties and further despair.

"We were told this was an attack on American civilization. We were told
this was an attack on American freedom, on the American way of life,"
Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki said in his sermon. "This wasn't an attack on any
of this. This was an attack on U.S. foreign policy."

He and others interviewed at area mosques agreed that those behind the
attack should be brought to justice. But even Muslims who believe that
the attack was the work of bin Laden urged restraint toward the country
that harbors him.

After years of war and chaos, the common people of Afghanistan have
nothing, the scholars have fled, "the doctors are so poor they are
begging," said Abdulghaffar Karzai, of Gaithersburg, who was the Afghan
ambassador to Egypt before he moved to the United States 21 years ago.

"The best solution is for good government," said Karzai, who was
worshiping at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring. "To rebuild
Afghanistan. That would free it."

At Masjid Muhammad, a mostly African American mosque in Northwest
Washington, Imam Yusuf Saleem urged Muslims to display U.S. flags and
recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school. But few there or at suburban
mosques yesterday wore the flag pins or red, white and blue ribbons that
other Americans are donning in droves.

Worshipers said they have wept for the fallen -- more than 1,200 of whom
are said to have been Muslim -- and will continue to do so. But there
are also tears for the dozens of hate crimes reported against Muslims in
recent weeks, for the parents too worried to bring their children to the
mosque and for the women in traditional dress who are afraid to venture
out at all.

Al-Awlaki said a woman stumbled into Dar al-Hijrah Wednesday morning
after being attacked by a man wielding a bat as she walked in nearby
Seven Corners. Mosque officials urged her to report the attack to
police, but she declined, citing her uncertain immigration status.

"You deal with the grief, and you deal with a backlash," said Saif
Rahman, 23, a paralegal whose Northern Virginia law firm represents
several Muslims who have been questioned by federal investigators. "It's
like a double whammy. . . . It's like pouring salt in an open wound."

Muslim leaders acknowledged the pain members of their community are
feeling but urged them not to deny their faith.

"We cannot be apologetic about being Muslims in this country," said Imam
Mohamed Magid, of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society mosque. "We have a
right to be Muslim."

Sabahat Adil, who heads Dar al-Hijrah's social service outreach, said
she is holding out hope that non-Muslims were responsible for the
terror. Otherwise, she does not know what she will tell her three young
boys.

"It will be the hardest talk I ever gave," Adil said. The terrorists
"may say they are Muslims. But, wa Allah hi" -- an Arabic phrase that,
roughly translated, means by God's name -- "they cannot be Muslims."

Staff writers Bill Broadway, Anita Huslin, Mary Otto and Peter Whoriskey
contributed to this report.

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