This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2389
September 20, 2006
MIM: The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) aka The National Conference for Christians and Jews, describes themselves as ' a human relations organization dedicated to fighting bias'. But the presence of Mujahid Ramadan on their executive board and the groups decades long association with radical Islamist organisations proves otherwise. NCCJ secretary Mujahid Ramadan, also works with the Muslim American Society, a radical Islamist group with ties to Al Qaeda and Jamaat Al Islamia, and was the vice chair of the American Muslim Council, whose president, Abdelrahman Alamoudi, was jailed for 23 years on terrorism related charges, which included a Libyan funded plan to kill Saudi Prince Abdullah.
The NCCJ's mission stated mission to 'fight bias' and the inclusion of Mujahid Ramadan is at the very least a 'conflict of interests'. More egregiously, it is indicative of a pattern whereby the organisation's board and members have aided and abetted radical Islamists by granting them a veneer of legitimacy in the NCCJ.
NCCJ executive board member Mujahid Ramadan is an Imam of the Muslim American Society, a group whose goal is implied in their name, to make the United States into a Muslim American Society. The NCCJ's involvement with radical Islamist can be seen as part of their program , and Muhajid Ramadan is but one of the many Islamists who have are working with the NCCJ to promote radical Islam under the guise of interfaith understanding and dialouge.
The Muslim American Society and it's partner organization ICNA The Islamic Circle of North America, also have youth division known as Young Muslims.
The Young Muslims held Jihad and Afterlife camps for Muslim men and continue to hold retreats all over the United States aimed at training Muslims in both physical Jihad and Jihad through conversion. They base their ideology on the teachings of the Muslim Brotherhood, the ideological precursor of Al Qaeda.
MAS has recently raised money for the legal defense of two jailed terrorist plotters. Ali Ali Tamimi – who was convicted last year of recruiting Jihad fighters for training camps, and Abu Omar Ali – who was jailed for his plans to assassinate president Bush. The inclusion of Muhajid Ramadan ( a convert to Islam who changed hs name to Muhajid – Holy Warrior) NCCJ which says it's aims are to "promote understanding and respect among all races religions and cultures" may be one factor behind the NCCJ's promotion of Islamist causes. Muhajid Ramadan is not the only NCCJ official who has openly aided and abetted Islamist causes under the guise of dialogue and mutual understanding.
In addition to his position as secretary of the NCCJ organization,Muhajid Ramadan, who is an Imam in Las Vegas, uses his position as the secretary of the NCCJ board as a façade to promote MAS's radical Islamist agenda.and defend terror supporting individuals and organizations.
According to a webpage biography the NCCJ executive board secretary Muhajidin Ramadan was a member of the Black Panther Party and converted to Islam in 1981. He is the resident Imam of Masjid As Sabur in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was the Vice Chairman of the American Muslim Council, a terror linked organization whose president, Abdulrahman Alamoudi, was jailed in 2004 for 23 years on a slew of terrorism related charges which included a Saudi funded plot to assassinate the Saudi King Abdullah . The AMC has raised funds for Muhajideen in Bosnia and ran a Muslim chaplaincy program which converted scores of American soldiers stationed in Saudi Arabia to Islam. (see complete bio below)http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=887&category=civicMakers
NCCJ board member Muhajid Ramadan is carrying on the AMC's Jihad through conversion activities as an employee of the Las Vegas local government. According to an online biography "He served in the probation Department of the Clarke County Juvenile Services and became a policy advisor to the Las Vegas Police Department and Sheriffs Department.
When the Hamas and Al Qaeda terror funding ‘charities' Holyland Foundation , Benevolence International Foundation, were closed down by the US government in after the 9/11 terrorist attacks NCCJ secretary Ramadan who was identified as ‘a local Imam with the Muslim American Society' had this to say:
"Is the cure worse than the illness?" asked Mujahid Ramadan, a local imam with the Muslim American Society. "To get some 'bad' people, we're going to hurt a lot of innocent people."
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Jan-18-Tue-2005/news/25683849.html
After the disclosure that the United States government was monitoring radiation in mosques an article reprinted on the MAS website recounted that :
The most intense monitoring has been in the Washington, D.C. area, but federal officials say that when threat levels have risen, the surveillance has also been heightened in five other cities, including Las Vegas. When informed of the monitoring program, local Muslim leader Mujahid Ramadan said that as an American born Muslim, he is very concerned.
Muslims around the country expressed their outrage at being targeted. "
MIM: With executive board member Muhajidin Ramadan on the board it is little wonder that at a recent NCCJ ‘interfaith event' in Birmingham, the group brought in Raed Awad as their ‘stand in' Muslim speaker. Awad had been recommended by a Muslim NCCJ member who was also a member of the Birmingham,Islamic Society where Awad serves is a 'volunteer Imam and teacher'. Awad left South Florida in 2002 after the arrest of Adnam Hassoun, his terror fundraising colleague who ran the Benevolence International Foundation. It can hardly be a coincidence that the old website of the Birmingham Islamic Society had a link to BIF in 2001.
At the event Awad launched into an attack on Israel and it was only afterwards that those present realised that he was a documented terrorist funder.
MOSLEM LEADER ATTACKS ISRAEL
Next speaker was Imam Raed Awad, a volunteer Imam and teacher at the Birmingham Islamic Society. Awad contended that the recent war was just a continuation of the injustices and oppression perpetrated by the Israelis.
He said that he was born in a village outside of Ramallah and remembers Israeli leader Moshe Dayan driving through his area in 1967 telling people they were now "under occupation." The occupation has not stopped since that time, Awad claimed.
Awad also criticized the Israelis for targeting civilians in the recent conflict, maintaining they purposefully bombed families and children.
The Birmingham Jewish Federation's Jewish Community Relations Chair, Maury Shevin, followed Awad and spoke about the mission of the BJF's JCRC, which is to build bridges with the broader community.
He also talked about the beautiful city of Haifa, a city in Israel where people of different faiths live together, and what a tragedy it was to see it bombed. http://www.bjf.org/update/2006/08/middle-east-conflict-rears-itself-in.html
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MIM: Mohammed and Awad's connection go beyond a tape.
Mohammed Shufayat Mohammed, Imam of Dar Ul Uloom Islamic Institute first taught Jose Padilla about Islam.
From Dar Ul Uloom Padilla 'progressed' to Masjid Al Imam, where Imam Raed Awad, an agent for the terror 'charity' The Holyland Foundation' converted him.
Awad's congregant Adnam Hassoun of the Al Qaeda linked Benevolence International Foundation, helped raise money to send Padilla abroad to an Al Qaeda training camp together with the Masjid Al Imam congregation.
MIM: The tape which Awad and Mohammed made together is a template for 'Jihad through Da'wa' and reveals that any interfaith efforts which Awad is making in Alabama on behalf of the Birmingham Islamic Society are for the sake of introducing non Muslims to Islam as a prelude to conversion,
Awad might be hoping to bolster his terrorist recruitiment track record and find a convert who will also have the Jihadi aspirations that his protege dirty bomber wannabe Jose Padilla, but not get caught.
Who Is Better Than One Who Invites To Allah? and The Leader & the Follower on the Day of Judgment (Shafayat Mohamed, Raed Awad) (video)
Product description:
A reflection on time's past and how the early generations sacrificed their lives and wealth for the sake of Allah to spread the message of Islam. Maulana Shafayat exhorts the Muslims of today to put Allah first in all worldly affairs, stop making excuses, and bring the message of "La ilaha ilallah" to the people of this land. "Why don't we spend some time on a daily basis to teach somebody about Islam?" The answer to this question will put most people on the spot and cause serious reflection about our situation and role here in America.
"We are just trying to be saved from Hell, we are not striving for the love of Allah." "We live in a time where we want to have everything, but we're not prepared to do."
http://www.onlineislamicstore.com/a4249.html
MIM:
Raed Awad made a tape together with Dar Ul Uloom Imam Maulana Shafayat Mohammed, about Islam being the only true religion, which is sold by the Meccacentric Da'wa (prostlytising) Group. Awad and his friend Mohammed both mentored dirty bomber wannabe Jose Padilla on his road to Islam and terrorism. Maulana Shafayat Mohammed's Darul Ul Uloom Islamic Training Center was under investigation for ties to several Jihadi wannabes,including Padilla's bomb making buddy inPakistan, Adnan Shukrijumah who was also living in Florida before fleeing the US as one of America's most wanted terrorist fugitives.
Shukrijumah came to appear as a blip on the FBI's radar screen in March, 2001, after special agents in Miami launched an investigation of the Darul Uloom Institute and Islamic Training Center, which operates out of a large storefront on the Hollywood/Pines Boulevard in Pembroke Pines. The agents were interested in the activities of Imran Mandhai, who frequented the mosque and stated his intention to create a jihad cell that would consist of 25 or 30 men, including his pal, Adnan el Shukrijumah. The cell, Mandhai maintained, would target electric substations, Jewish institutions, a National Guard armory, even Mount Rushmore. www.canadafreepress.com
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MIM: In 2005 Awad spoke in Birmingham event at a joint Christian,Muslim, Jewish Thanksgiving service saying he "felt comfortable chanting the Koran in a church" a veiled reference to the Islamist vision of establishing Islam as the only religion on earth and turning all houses of worship into mosques. This ambition has turned into a reality with the announcement that the BIS has purchased a church facility which they plan to turn into a mosque and Islamic center in a quest to make Birmingham into an Islamic Society.
Due to the growth of Islamic Academy of Alabama and the Muslim community, BIS recognizes the need to expand its facilities. The principle criterion, as defined by the BIS new community center search committee, is geographic proximity to the majority of Muslims in Birmingham. Hoover, Alabama (which is situated 10-miles south of downtown Birmingham, Alabama) has been identified as the ideal area to locate a community center. BIS has contracted to purchase an existing 13,000 square feet church facility situated on approximately 6.5 acres.
Awad's statement saying "Muslims always give thanks to God", was intended to mean that Allah was the only true God and only Muslims could worship properly.
Imam Raed Awad of the Birmingham Islamic Center said he felt comfortable chanting from the Koran in a church and it showed the commonality of different faiths at a time they can all celebrate. "Muslims always give thanks to God," he said. http://www.al.com/weblogs/print.ssf?/mtlogs/bama_bhamnews_break/archives/print095843.html
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MIM: On September 3, 2006 terror funder and terrorist enableer Raed Awad was a speaker with the Children of Abraham on a premises provided by the United Way. The event which was open to the public presented an unintentional parody. It was held in the Chapel of Flowers Hall at Huntingdon College to hear presentations on "sources of violence and resources for peace." (!)
Almost two years ago a small group in Montgomery began to explore how we might be involved together as children of Abraham. With discussions about once a month among a core group, a larger gathering was convened at the United Way headquarters -- a very appropriately named organization for our objectives.
Rabbi Kenneth Segel, Imam William Abdullah and I gave short presentations about what we had in common from each of our faith communities, especially as related to "Father Abraham." We attempted to keep the invited group roughly equivalent in terms of Jews, Christians and Muslims from the Montgomery area; and we had a good discussion together following the presentations.
Several months later a somewhat larger group was invited to hear lay people from each of the faith communities talk about how it felt to be a member of a minority religion (on behalf of the Jews and Muslims) or their feelings on first getting to know someone of a minority religion (on behalf of Christians). Small group table discussions shared similar memories and feelings. Once again, the group invited to gather was roughly equal in numbers of Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Now after two years of building friendships and trust, the Children of Abraham are opening their dialogue to the whole community and are inviting anyone of good will in Montgomery to join them Sunday afternoon. We will no longer try to keep the faith groups equal in number, and encourage all people who have an interest in creating better understanding and communication to join us.
The Jewish perspective will be given by Stephen Silvern from Auburn University. The Christian presentation will be made by Jason Borders of the Huntingdon College religion faculty. The Muslim presenter will be Raed Awad from the Islamic Society in Birmingham. The moderator will be Richard Chambers, retired professor of Middle Eastern studies at the University of Chicago.
http://www.bjf.org/update/2006/08/middle-east-conflict-rears-itself-in.html
MIM: Awad's ties to international terrorism lead from Florida to Afghanistan, .Awad oversaw Padilla's conversion at the Al Imam Masjid in Florida, is the registered agent for the Hamas terror funding front the Holyland Foundation, http://ict.org.il/organizations/orgdet.cfm?orgid=13and worked together with Adnan Hassoun, the registered agent of BIF, the Benevolence International Foundation, an Al Qaeda funding front, http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/po3632.htm to raise funding to send Padilla for ‘religious training in the Middle East' where he ended up joining forces at a terrorist training camp in Afganistan with dirty bomber wannabe Adnan Shukrijumah (also a former Florida resident) .
Hassoun is currently in jail on terrorism charges and Padilla is awaiting trial in Miami , on charges of conspiring to build and detonate a dirty bomb.Hassoun was a member of Awad's mosque and the Birmingham Islamic Society where he is billed as a 'volunteer' Imam and teacher. The website of the BIS carried a link to BIF in 2001.
MIM: An account of Awad's fundraising and domestic abuse activities appeared in a lengthy article in the Miami New Times entitled: "A Tale of Two Mosques" http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/2002-08-08/feature.html
Excerpts:
José Padilla, whom the Bush administration alleges was plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb in the United States for al Qaeda before his arrest, attended religious classes at the liberal Darul Uloom, but his real spiritual home after converting to Islam in 1992 was Masjid Al-Iman.
A plain, neatly kept little building across the street from a small public park, Masjid Al-Iman attracts roughly 250 people for the weekly Friday sermon. African Americans founded the mosque about twenty years ago. (It is located just west of I-95 south of Sunrise Boulevard.) During the past decade, though, it was headed by an Islamic fundamentalist Palestinian named Raed Awad, who counted Padilla as one of his faithful followers.
During a telephone interview from his new home in Alabama, Awad says Padilla never stood out as an extremist before he left for Egypt in 1998. "He was a polite person, very reserved, he was a -- what is it? A shy person. He hardly asked any questions," says Awad, who left South Florida last year. "I was surprised he would like to travel, because he wasn't that type of outgoing person."
The only private time Awad says he spent with Padilla was when he counseled the young man on his marriage (a dubious undertaking for Awad, who is divorced and whose former wife repeatedly accused him, in local police reports and court papers, of physically abusing both her and their children).
Before Padilla left for Egypt, Awad and members of Masjid Al-Iman raised money to help pay for the trip. Awad certainly has a knack for fundraising. From 1998 through 2000 he served as the registered agent in Florida for the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a Palestinian charity group based in Texas. With a briefcase full of checks, he traveled the United States and Latin America raising money from Muslims for the foundation. Although he refuses to estimate how much he collected, he doesn't deny it was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It was dirty money, however, according to the Bush administration, which froze the foundation's bank accounts this past December. For years the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been scrutinizing the Holy Land Foundation for alleged ties to Hamas, Awad says. On February 24, 1998, terrorism expert Stephen Emerson testified before Congress that the organization funded terrorism, paid martyred suicide bombers' families, and held rallies "calling for jihad and death to the Jews."
Federal officials have yet to offer proof the foundation was indeed a front for Hamas, and Awad adamantly denies it. "The money went to help Muslims," he insists. "There were certain projects in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Jordan. We were instructed never to talk about politics when we raised funds."
The Bush administration also froze the bank accounts of the Benevolence International Foundation and the Global Relief Foundation, two Chicago-based groups with ties to Osama bin Laden that were represented in Florida by Awad friend and fellow Masjid Al-Iman member Adham Hassoun of Sunrise. Hassoun, also a Palestinian, was jailed in June on suspicion he aided Padilla in the alleged bomb plot.
Awad echoes what many local Muslims say about Hassoun: He wasn't an extremist but he could, with his passionate pro-Palestinian and anti-U.S. foreign-policy stance, sound like one. "Hassoun was a member of my mosque, and he would give emotional speeches -- he was a firebrand," Awad recalls. "He was a very kind, very sensitive, very helpful man. He would help anyone. But he was passionate. I often told him: 'Your words will bring trouble upon you.'
"He was critical of the U.S. government, and I am critical of the U.S. government. I see American policy as one-sided with the Israelis. I see a double standard."
When Awad stepped down from his position as Masjid Al-Iman's imam, or prayer leader, in early 2000, he asked friend Mahdi, who then headed the Miami Gardens mosque, to take over the congregation.
The Bush administration also froze the bank accounts of the Benevolence International Foundation and the Global Relief Foundation, two Chicago-based groups with ties to Osama bin Laden that were represented in Florida by Awad friend and fellow Masjid Al-Iman member Adham Hassoun of Sunrise. Hassoun, also a Palestinian, was jailed in June on suspicion he aided Padilla in the alleged bomb plot.
Awad echoes what many local Muslims say about Hassoun: He wasn't an extremist but he could, with his passionate pro-Palestinian and anti-U.S. foreign-policy stance, sound like one. "Hassoun was a member of my mosque, and he would give emotional speeches -- he was a firebrand," Awad recalls. "He was a very kind, very sensitive, very helpful man. He would help anyone. But he was passionate. I often told him: 'Your words will bring trouble upon you.'
"He was critical of the U.S. government, and I am critical of the U.S. government. I see American policy as one-sided with the Israelis. I see a double standard."
When Awad stepped down from his position as Masjid Al-Iman's imam, or prayer leader, in early 2000, he asked friend Mahdi, who then headed the Miami Gardens mosque, to take over the congregation.
Mahdi, unlike Awad, wasn't born in the heat of Middle Eastern conflict. Rather he was brought up in Knoxville, Tennessee, in a family that worshiped at an African Methodist Episcopal church. It wasn't until 1978, when he was 24 years old, that he converted to Islam. A carpenter by trade, he helped found a group called the Muslim Community in Knoxville in 1984 and, four years after that, went to Saudi Arabia to study Islam. He returned in 1994 and ultimately became the imam of the Miami Gardens mosque. (Located at 4305 NW 183rd St., the mosque is one of the oldest in South Florida and boasts one of the largest congregations.) Mahdi accepted Awad's offer and took over Masjid Al-Iman, where he has been ever since.
Mahdi doesn't consider his mosque conservative or fundamentalist, just true to the religion: "Islam is Islam, and it has been since it was revealed 1400 and some odd years ago, and it is not the right of any individual to take it upon themselves to change it based on their own rationale or want or desire. We want to keep it in the truest form."
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MIM: Awad fundraiser and registered agent of the Hamas funding front the Holyland Foundation,left Florida shortly after the arrest of Adnam Hassoun, the head of the Al Qaeda funding front, the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF). He went to Alabama where he is now described as 'a volunteer Imam and teacher at the Birmingham Islamic Society of Alabama. Awad did not choose Alabama by accident, and it is also no coincidence that in 2001 the only listing in the alphabetical table of links on the BIS website was the Benevolence International Foundation. The BIS's mission statement is clear and proves that any attempts by their members to engage in interfaith is simply a way of trying to recruit converts to Islam and that the Muslims who are working with the NCCJ are using the community activities for Jihad through da'wa, and turn Birmingham into The Islamic Society of Birmingham.
"We will make the Muslim presence known by participation in local and national politics and community affairs".
"We will actively propagate the message of Islam to eliminate misunderstandings among non-Muslims and to invite them to Islam."
Birmingham Islamic Society And say: "Work (righteousness) : soon will Allah observe your work and His apostle and the believers: soon will you be brought back the knower of what is hidden and what is open: then will He show you the truth of all that you did." (Sura Tauba Ayah 105) Mission Statement Birmingham Islamic Society is committed to provide Islamic services to the Muslims in the greater Birmingham area. We will actively propagate the message of Islam to eliminate misunderstandings among non-Muslims and to invite them to Islam. Create an atmosphere whereby our youths and others are proud to declare their faith. We will provide the community with a forum for Islamic education. We Will make Muslim presence known by participation in the local and national politics and community affairs. We will provide a means for the community to interact with each other socially and provide a path for them to fulfill their obligation of zakah and sadaqah. Note: All activities shall be in accordance with the Islamic Shariah and approved by the Executive Committee of the Birmingham Islamic Society. BIS may seek opinion on issues from well-known Islamic scholars in USA and abroad. Objectives| Services | |
| - Provide means for daily, Jumma and Eid prayers - Provide activities for the holy month of Ramadan - Provide marriage, funeral and counseling services - Publish newsletter at regular intervals (currently bi-monthly) - Provide other services as needed | |
| Dawa | |
| - Propagate Islam among Muslims and non-Muslims - Educate new Muslims - Encourage and promote harmony between Muslims and non-Muslims | |
| Education | |
| - Provide an alternative to the public schools by establishing a full time Islamic school - Establish weekend Islamic school and summer education camp - Review and provide correct information on distortion found in public school text books regarding Islam and Muslims - Invite mainstream Muslim scholars for lectures | |
| Political | |
| - Participate in local and national government - Support Islamic issues around the globe Represent Birmingham Muslims in the Media - Support national Islamic organizations | |
| Social | |
| - Involve and/or initiate our stand against social ills in conjunction with other organizations - Motivate the involvement of the community in Masjid activities via social events - Provide at cost or profit, facilities for Muslim social events such as Marriages, Aqiqas, etc. - Provide Islamic education to the youth through training sessions, camp and establishment of youth organization | |
| Financial | |
| - Actively raise funds for all the Masjid activities - Establish zakat/charity fund for the needy - Support international causes including relief - Support national human rights organizations - Subsidize social, religious and entertainment events | |
MIM: In an interesting twist, BIS Imam Raed Awad's friend and terror funding colleague from his former Masjid Al Imam mosque in Florida, Adnan Hassoun , the registered agent for the Al Qaeda 'charity' Benevolence International, has filed an appeal today to have FBI wiretap evidence in his case dismissed.
MIAMI -- The man who allegedly recruited Jose Padilla to join al-Qaeda is challenging warrants obtained from a secret intelligence court by the FBI for wiretaps, which form the backbone of prosecutors' case against him.
Adham Amin Hassoun, a former computer programmer from Sunrise, contends that the FBI intercepted some of his phone calls between 1993 and 2002 without sufficient legal reason under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in papers filed in Miami federal court that disclosure of the top-secret documents challenged by Hassoun could "cause exceptionally grave damage" to U.S. national security because they contain sensitive intelligence-gathering methods and sources.
Hassoun, Padilla and Jayyousi are charged with being part of a North American terror support cell that provided money, supplies and recruits to violent Islamic extremists worldwide. Prosecutors say Hassoun recruited Padilla for al-Qaida shortly after Padilla, a former Chicago gang member, converted to Islam.
Hassoun's claims should be rejected," said prosecutors Julia Paylor and Mark Maldonado. "The FISA-authorized collection at issue was lawfully authorized and lawfully conducted."
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/padilla20.html
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http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/2002-08-08/feature_2.html
MIM: Needless to say, the NCCJ dialouge event turned into a vicious confrontation with Hamas fundraiser Awad, who railed against Israel and shocked those in attendance. The NCCJ members who had invited him, claimed they were unaware that he was tied to terrorism- a claim which research into the recent history of the organisations seems dubious at best.
Founded in 1927, the NCCJ has had a decades long connections with Islamists.
In 2004 they congratulated the Council of Islamic Organisations of Greater Chicago on their 10th year anniversary and proclaimed.
"The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) Chicago and Northern Illinois Region has worked together with Chicago area Muslim communities for the last fifty years.."
http://www.ciogc.org/events/10th_anniversary/support_messages.html#Othman
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MIM: The fact that NCCJ has worked with the CIOCG an umbrella group for every Islamist organistation in Chicago, should be enough to dispel any attempts by the NCCJ leadership of ignorance regarding the radical Islamists they are working with.
The Chicago Muslim community is know as one the oldest strongholds of Hamas in the United States, and is home to the Bridgeview Mosque Foundation, whose spokesman, Rafiq Jaber, is the head of the American wing of the Islamic Association of Palestine. The CIOCG, which the NCCJ has worked with for 50 years has hosted Prince Al Turki of Saudi Arabia who is one of their benefactors and a major contributor to Islamist propagation enterprises inthe United States.
The NCCJ's relationship with a myriad of Islamist organizations also raises the question of Saudi funding.
Many of the Islamists individuals working with the NCCJ have used the organizations interfaith activities and ‘dialouge' projects as a way of proselysing Islam, thereby disconnecting it to any Muslim group or organization and gaining legitimacy by posing as 'community oriented' organisation and access to funding and institutions they would not have had otherwise.
One case which shows how the NCCJ is lending their legitimacy to radical Islamist efforts to Islamise America, is the Islam Project, which is a da'wa (proseltysing) initiative which is Jihad through conversion and is funded and backed by Wahhabist groups such as ISNA,CAIR,and the CIE. The film which is being promoted "Muhammed the legacy of a Prophet " is a Saudi funded propaganda piece and PBS was widely criticised for using public funding to promote the project.
The NCCJ is working with a group of organisations including the Center for Muslim Christian Understanding which was recently renamed the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding in honor of their Saudi benefactor.
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal has promised millions to try to spread Islam in America .A 10 million dollar contribution he gave to Mayor Giuliani for victims of 9/11 was returned after he said Israel was the cause of the attacks. The Prince also raised money for the families of suicide bombers.
http://www.theislamproject.org/community/community.htm
Community Engagement
The PBS films Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet and Muslims are the keystones of the Islam Project, which also includes a national community engagement campaign to raise public awareness, build community bridges, support dialogue, offer educational resources, and explore workplace issues as they relate to Muslims.
The Islam Project is partnering with interfaith and other community-based organizations to focus attention on issues facing Muslims in America and throughout the world. The campaign includes a range of tools--both video and print--for use by community organizations, educators, civil rights leaders, policymakers, journalists, employers, and those in the general public who want to learn more about Muslims and Islam.
National Partners
Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (Georgetown U)
Council on Islamic Education (CIE)
Freedom Forum, First Amendment Center
Hope in the Cities, Initiatives of Change
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ)
North American Interfaith Network (NAIN)
Pluralism Project at Harvard University
Local Partners
Atlanta: Southern Regional Council
Boston: Public Conversations Project
Cleveland: National Conference for Community and Justice-Northern Ohio
Dallas: Council on American-Islamic Relations--Dallas / Fort Worth Chapter
Detroit: Detroit Public Television/DPTV
Los Angeles: Center for Religion and Civic Culture, Days of Dialogue
New York: Auburn Theological Seminary
San Francisco: Interfaith Center at the Presidio
Islam Project materials may be useful in learning about what is believed to be the fastest growing religion in America.
If you want to hold an educational event about Islam in your workplace, think about including a screening of an Islam Project video module, and inviting a panel of local Muslim experts and practitioners who can talk about their own experiences and answer questions.
Case Study
"There was huge interest among the superintendents in the information that was presented in the clips, because it was new to many of them.--Executive Director, Cleveland NCCJ
In Cleveland, which has a growing Muslim community, the local chapter of National Conference on Community and Justice (NCCJ) decided to focus on the workplace as a locus for community education about Islam. They organized an event attended by school superintendents, school principals, and other key administrators representing 95 school districts.
At the event, NCCJ screened one of the Islam Project's modules and heard commentary by a professor from a local university, and a student panel. Participants were then encouraged to talk about their own concerns about meeting the needs of a rapidly changing student body, and to ask questions of the panelists.
Another case of how the NCCJ works with Islamists is that of Jim Howe, the director of the NCCJ office in Broward. Howe, a non Muslim, was on the board of a now defunct ‘charity' with the touching name "Americans and Israelis for Palestinan Orphans'which was founded and co directed Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout, the head of the Wahhabist funded AMANA-The American Muslim Association of North America.
Zakkout fund raised for the Hamas linked ‘charities' Islamic Relief and the Islamic Association of Palestine and also employed the father of dirty bomber wannabe Adnan Shukrijumah (who testified on behalf of one of the 1993 Day of Terror bomb plotters ), to be on the board of his Shamshuddin Islamic Center. Articles exposing this came out in the media, and it is virtually impossible for Howe not to have known of his colleagues involvement with the local terrorist network.
Another example of who Muslims use the NCCJ's to promote a radical Islamist agenda under the guise of interfaith dialogue , is Mohammed Sbakir, who was a member of the NCCJ interfaith outreach program . (In another case of horribly misguided interfaith, radical Islamist Shakir was invited by the American Jewish Committee to go on a mission to Israel in 2002. Shakir uses this trip and his membership at the NCCJ to bolster his façade of moderate Muslim.
Mohammed Shakir is also the head of the American Asian Advisory Board in Dade County Florida. http://www.miamidade.gov/AsianBoard/chair.asp.
Shakir used his position as head of the AAAB to help the Council on American Islamic Relations ( a Saudi funded front group for Hamas) organize feed the hungry events at which Imams would attempt to proselytize about Islam to those who came for meals. He also exploited his NCCJ connection to this end.
. Shakir also had personal working connections to several other terror linked institutions and individuals, and was on the board of one the Nur Ul Islam Academy in Cooper City whose director until 2001 was Raed Awad who acted as the director and agent of the the Holyland Foundation Hamas ‘charity' scam at the same time.Raed Awad is the Imam who converted dirty bomber wannabe Jose Padilla to Islam and worked together with Adnan Hassoun the head of Benevolence International Foundation (BIF) to raise funds to send Padilla on ‘religious training mission' to Pakistan via Egypt where he met up with the son of Gulshair Shukrijumah , Adnan, who was dubbed as "Mohammed Atta's successor".
. Hassoun's first lawyer, Akbar Hussain is presently a serving board member of the American Asian Advisory Board headed by Mohammed Shakir who works on NCCJ interfaith projects.
http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2208
The NCCJ has also been a participant and sponsor at radical Islamist events. In March 2006 they were among the co sponsors of the Council for American Islamic Relations annual banquet in Michigan whose sponsors included the Hamas 'charity' Islamic relief and radical Islamist organisations.
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http://www.americansagainsthate.org/releases/PR-NCCJ2.htm
May 17, 2005
For Immediate Release
Contact: Joe Kaufman ([email protected])
WEBSITES ASSOCIATED WITH MEMBERS OF NCCJ CONTAIN HATE MATERIAL
AAH CALLS FOR REFORM OF 'HUMAN RELATIONS' ORG
(Coral Springs, FL) In its mission statement, the National Conference for Community & Justice (NCCJ) describes itself as a "human relations organization dedicated to fighting bias, bigotry and racism in America." Despite this, certain members of the NCCJ fall far short of the mission.
Maulana Shafayat Mohamed of the Darul Uloom Islamic Institute and Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout of the American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA), both members of the NCCJ, head organizations whose websites have bigoted material aimed at homosexuals, Jews and Christians.
On Darul Uloom's site, one finds an article researched by Shafayat Mohamed entitled 'TSUNAMI - Wrath of G-d,' which blames gays for the tsunami disaster and refers to Jews and Christians as "perverted transgressors." The site also contains a picture on its homepage of Shafayat Mohamed shaking the hand of Ahmed Deedat, a well-traveled anti-Semite that has written books and given lectures defaming Christianity.
On the AMANA site, one can find an article entitled 'Homosexuality is not O.K.' It states, "Our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) before 1400 years ago said: 'Whenever you find in a society the act of homosexuality you will find disease and death.'" It ends with the following: "We pray that every sinful person go back to his creator and try to ask for forgiveness before it is too late and be guided. And if not, they should keep [a] low profile about their abnormal human activities."
In addition, on the AMANA site there is a link to a piece, entitled 'The Islamic Ruling on Homosexuality,' which states, "In order to maintain the purity of the Muslim society, most Muslim scholars have ruled that the punishment for this act should be… one hundred whiplashes for the man who has never married, and death by stoning for the married man." AMANA's site also sports a PowerPoint presentation which states, "Please help us protect our children from the zionist jews." And AMANA has a link to Deedat's official website.
Joe Kaufman, Chairman of Americans Against Hate, stated, "How can the NCCJ fight bias and bigotry, when it grants membership to those individuals who are affiliated with that same bias and bigotry? It is time for the NCCJ to restore its integrity and make the necessary reforms, so that it releases from its ranks those that do not adhere to its mission."
AAH Chairman Joe Kaufman is available for interview. E-mail: [email protected].
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May 13, 2005 AAH CALLS ON INTERFAITH COUNCIL AND NCCJ TO SEVER TIES WITH IMAM DARUL ULOOM JOINS OTHERS IN MAKING HOMOPHOBIC REMARKS ABOUT TSUNAMI (Coral Springs, FL) Darul Uloom, the Pembroke Pines madrasa where 'Dirty Bomber' Jose Padilla took classes in Islam, recently placed an article on its site claiming that homosexuals were at fault for the tsunami disaster that took the lives of over 200,000 innocent people. Quotes from the article ('TSUNAMI - Wrath of G-d') include: 1. "The least we could do as Muslims at this time and in this case WITH THE SIN OF HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE WORLD - is to spread the message by ENJOINING GOOD AND FORBIDDING EVIL." and 2. "TSUNAMI SIMILAR TO SODOM & GOMORRAH HITS GAY PARADISE." This is not the first time someone related the tsunami disaster to retribution against gays. In January of this year, on Saudi television, Sheik Fawzan al-Fawzan, a professor at Al-Imam University, stated that the tsunami was "punishment from Allah for homosexuality and fornication committed by residents and visitors of affected countries at Christmastime." And in December of 2004, the Westboro Baptist Church, the church notorious for picketing the funeral of brutally murdered Matthew Shepard, released a statement on its website, www.godhatesfags.com, exclaiming "Thank G-d for Tsunami & 2,000 Dead Swedes!!! How many tsunami-dead Swedes are fags & dykes?" The release then described the victims as "earthquake-dead perverts." Darul Uloom's site states that its anti-gay tsunami article, which also contained a bigoted quote against Christians and Jews, was "researched by" imam Maulana Shafayat Mohamed. This is interesting, since Shafayat Mohamed is involved in numerous interfaith activities; he is the co-founder of JAM (Jews & Muslims & All), and according to Darul Uloom's site, he is the President of the Interfaith Council of Greater Hollywood and holds a seat on the Board of Directors for the National Conference for Community & Justice (NCCJ). According to its 'Mission,' the NCCJ is "dedicated to fighting bias, bigotry and racism in America." Americans Against Hate (AAH) is calling on the Interfaith Council of Greater Hollywood and the NCCJ to end their relationship with Maulana Shafayat Mohamed immediately. AAH Chairman Joe Kaufman is available for interview. E-mail: [email protected]. |
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This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2389
