Home      |      Weblog      |      Articles      |      Satire      |      Links      |      About      |      Contact


Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > First US Muslim Army Chaplain Joins Muslim Brotherhood Group ISNA AS 'Director Of Chaplain Services And Islamic Endorsing Agent'

First US Muslim Army Chaplain Joins Muslim Brotherhood Group ISNA AS 'Director Of Chaplain Services And Islamic Endorsing Agent'

October 4, 2013

MIM: More proof that the Muslim Chaplaincy Is a hotbed of radical Islamism. The chaplains are educated in da'wa proseltysing and one of their primary goals is converting non Muslims to Islam. The title of 'Islamic Endorsing Agent' says it all. For more on the Islamic Society of North America's chaplaincy 'services' to the US Army and their ties to terrorism and extremism see the Investigative Project article below.

ISNA Welcomes Chaplain (LTC Retired) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad to Staff

Please join ISNA in welcoming Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad to the ISNA General Secretariat as Director of Chaplain Services and Islamic Endorsing Agent. Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad, LTC, U.S. Army (Retired) comes to ISNA after working as the first full-time Muslim Chaplain in the Department of Veterans Affairs. During his final assignment on active duty, he served as the Command Chaplain for the US Army Public Health Command (USAPHC) and Behavioral Health Program Manager in the Directorate of Health Promotion and Wellness (DHPW).

"As the Chaplaincy profession continues to grow within our American society, I'm very excited about the role Islamic Chaplaincy will continue to play in meeting the many challenges that are inherent in performing and providing religious support within a religiously diverse and pluralistic environment. With Allah's help and guidance, as ISNA's Director of Chaplaincy, I look forward to meeting these challenges and leading our many chaplains, chaplain candidates, and lay leaders, with the dignity and balance that reflect our Islamic faith, its traditions, as well as the mission and vision of the Islamic Society of North America," said Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed.

Chaplain (LTC) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad was affirmed into the U.S. Army as the first Islamic Chaplain in the U.S. Armed Forces at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. on December 3, 1993. His initial assignment was with the 28th Combat Support Hospital at Ft. Bragg, NC. He served with the 2nd Battalion 9th Infantry Regiment at Camp Casey, Korea, and the 593rd Corps Support Group, Ft. Lewis, WA, and hospital chaplain at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC. He was then assigned as the Brigade chaplain 4th Brigade, 1st Calvary Division, Ft. Hood, TX. He was assigned as the DISCOM Chaplain for 1st Infantry Division, in Kitzingen, Germany, Family Life Chaplain, USAG-Heidelberg, and IMCOM-Europe. From 2008 to 2010 he served at the USA Chaplain Center and School as instructor in the Chaplain Captain Career Course, C4 Course Developer, and Task Analyst. Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed has been married the past 35 years to Saleemah Rasheedah Abdullah. They have five sons, and two daughters.

ISNA is excited to welcome Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed as part of ISNA's staff, knowing that he brings a wealth of knowledge, and expertise to this important area of work. He has been an integral part of ISNA's chaplaincy program for decades. "We look forward to significantly enhancing ISNA's chaplaincy programs in strength as well as scope under his leadership," said ISNA's Interim Secretary General, Dr. Iqbal Unus.
http://www.isna.net/isna-welcomes-chaplain-ltc-retired-abdul-rasheed-muhammad-to-staff.html


Former Defense IG Blasts Chaplain Vetting

by IPT News • Dec 1, 2010 at 4:49 pm

http://www.investigativeproject.org/2362/formner-defense-ig-blasts-chaplain-vetting

A former Defense Department (DoD) inspector-general is urging Congress to reform the Pentagon's vetting process for military chaplains, calling current procedures a potential risk to national security.

In a letter sent last month to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein and obtained by Fox News, former Inspector-General Joseph Schmitz raised concerns about the continuing role of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) as one of two endorsing agents for military chaplains. Schmitz pointed to ISNA's inclusion as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2008 Holy Land Foundation terror case, saying that it "suggests that terrorist organizations can and do disguise themselves as charitable organizations."

Schmitz also noted that Louay Safi, ISNA's former endorsing agent, was an unindicted co-conspirator in the terrorism trial of Sami Al-Arian, who pleaded guilty to one count of raising funds for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization. Safi had appeared on the Defense Department's website listing ecclesiastical agents until approximately two weeks ago. He told FoxNews.com that he has "left ISNA and moved on to another career."

In his letter, Schmitz cited the case of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, currently on trial for the murders of 13 fellow soldiers at a Fort Hood, Texas military base last November. Observing that Hasan had acted as a Muslim lay leader and received training from an approved civilian religious group involved with the DoD chaplain program, Schmitz wrote that the case "demonstrates that international terrorist organizations can also try to disguise their agents as chaplains and religious lay leaders."

In 2004, Schmitz made a series of recommendations for vetting chaplain nominees which were not implemented by the Pentagon. In his Nov. 8 letter to Feinstein, he wrote that he had recommended establishing nonreligious criteria to justify removing religious organizations from the chaplaincy program. But his suggestions - which included barring groups that advocated the violent overthrow of the U.S. government and those listed on a watch list as terrorist organizations - were rejected as "legally problematic" by the Armed Forces Chaplains Board.

A DoD spokesman said that some of Schmitz's recommendations have since been implemented. For example, religious organizations can be rejected if they are under indictment and or if they appear on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations.

But those changes don't go far enough, Schmitz says. "Somebody ought to challenge the DoD on precisely how it vets its chaplains as well as its chaplain 'endorsing agents' to ensure non-complicity in terrorism or criminal activities, and who, if anyone, vetted Major Nidal Hasan as a so-called 'Muslim lay leader' at Fort Hood," he wrote in his letter to Feinstein.

Read more about the military chaplain program here, here and here.

http://www.investigativeproject.org/2362/formner-defense-ig-blasts-chaplain-vetting

Printer-friendly version   Email this item to a friend