Bush's term "Islamic fascism" precisely describes Muslim terrorist ideology. See background on article below. People should know where terrorists are coming from. Bruce Imam Siraj Wahaj, a member of CAIR's Board of Advisors, was listed as a potential unindicted co-conspirator in the World Trade Center bombing case. As the Imam (i.e. spiritual leader) of the al-Taqwa Mosque in Brooklyn, he provided a forum for Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman (convicted of being the mastermind of the conspiracy). He is also Vice President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a group that embraces elements of the Muslim Brotherhood (possibly the oldest of the radical Islamic groups). Wahaj is closely affiliated with the Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA) before which he was an invited speaker at its 19th annual conference in 1996. In 1991, he told the Islamic Association of North Texas that Operation Desert Storm was part of a plan 'to destroy the greatest threat to the Western world, and that is al-Islam.' he 'calls for replacing the U.S. government with a caliphate.' Wahhaj was a character witness for Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman, the Muslim cleric convicted of taking part in the first WTC bombing and planning to blow up U.S. buildings and bridges. Wahaj was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in that case. According to Salon.com, in a 1991 speech before the Islamic Association of North Texas, Wahaj called Operation Desert Storm, 'one of the most diabolical plots ever in the annals of history' and predicted that America will fall unless it 'accepts the Islamic agenda.' Islamic Society of North America Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). ISNA, headquartered in Plainfield, Indiana, is a front for various groups including the Muslim Brotherhood (the oldest militant fundamentalist organization) and Hamas.
: Imam Siraj Wahhaj, 49, spiritual leader of Brooklyn's Masjid At-Taqwa, is the vice president of the Islamic Society of North America, the largest organization representing Muslims in America. He also sits on the board of advisers of its financial wing, the North American Islamic Trust. A former minister in the Nation of Islam, Imam Wahhaj was a colleague of Malcolm X whose philosophies also shifted from Nation of Islam to Orthodox Islam ideology later in his life. He is the first Muslim to open a session of the U.S. Congress with prayer. In a New York anti-drug campaign he led, 15 crack houses were shut down. Wahhaj served as the vice amir of the Majilis Ashura of New York City, which is a council of Muslim leaders representing 43 different Muslim communities. : Five of the accused (WTC I) suspects are immigrant Sudanese who, observers have noted, often attended American Black Muslim mosques in their neighborhoods, such as the Masjid at-Taqwa on Fulton Street in Brooklyn. 'Our masjid is always championing some cause or other,' said the mosque's imam, Siraj Wahhaj. He noted that the large, busy mosque's embrace does include a rich mix of such prominent foreign Muslims as Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali, who turned out to be the alleged leader of the bombing plot, and local leaders like Mr. Hampton-El. But the mosque's international causes are only dealt with in the Koran's spirit of peace and brotherhood, he emphasized. 'I remember Siddig pleading for us to get more involved in the community,' said the imam, who is a warm defender of Mr. Hampton-El, a combat volunteer in the Afghanistan war who is known as Dr. Rasheed at the mosque. Public misconceptions abound about Islam in the current anxieties over bomb plots, Mr. Wahhaj complained. 'We don't accept the idea of terrorism. Our mosque is open to all, but not to fanatics.' : ISNA has recently feigned openness to non-Wahhabi Muslims, just as its leaders portrayed themselves as 'anti-terrorist' to President Bush. :In June 1991, Siraj Wahaj, a black convert to Islam and the recipient of some of the American Muslim community's highest honors, had the privilege of becoming the first Muslim to deliver the daily prayer in the U.S. House of Representatives. On that occasion he recited from the Qur'an and appealed to the Almighty to guide American leaders 'and grant them righteousness and wisdom.' A little over a year later, addressing an audience of New Jersey Muslims, the same Wahaj articulated a rather different vision from his mild and moderate invocation in the House. If only Muslims were more clever politically, he told his New Jersey listeners, they could take over the United States and replace its constitutional government with a caliphate. 'If we were united and strong, we'd elect our own emir [leader] and give allegiance to him. . . . [T]ake my word, if 6-8 million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us.' In 1995, Wahaj served as a character witness for Omar Abdel Rahman in the trial that found that blind sheikh guilty of conspiracy to overthrow the government of the United States. More alarming still, the U.S. attorney for New York listed Wahaj as one of the 'unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators' in the sheikh's case. The disparity between Wahaj's good citizenship in the House and his militant forecast of a Muslim takeover-not to mention his association with violent felons-is only one example of a larger pattern common to the American Muslim scene. (11/13/2001): Other speakers at the rally also praised Hamas and Hezbollah and some made anti-American statements as well. Muzammil Siddiqi, president of the Islamic Society of North America, exclaimed: 'America has to learn if you remain on the side of injustice, the wrath of God will come.' This is the same Siddiqi who was a guest at the White House a month ago for a meeting with President Bush and prominent Muslims reportedly organized by Norquist and the Islamic Institute. (12/4/2001): ISNA, headquartered in Plainfield, Indiana, is a front for various groups including the Muslim Brotherhood (the oldest militant fundamentalist organization) and Hamas.(12/4/2001): Imam Siraj Wahaj, a member of CAIR's Board of Advisors, was listed as a potential unindicted co-conspirator in the World Trade Center bombing case. As the Imam (i.e. spiritual leader) of the al-Taqwa Mosque in Brooklyn, he provided a forum for Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman (convicted of being the mastermind of the conspiracy). He is also Vice President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a group that embraces elements of the Muslim Brotherhood (possibly the oldest of the radical Islamic groups). Wahaj is closely affiliated with the Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA) before which he was an invited speaker at its 19th annual conference in 1996. In 1991, he told the Islamic Association of North Texas that Operation Desert Storm was part of a plan 'to destroy the greatest threat to the Western world, and that is al-Islam.' (12/28/2001): Amongst the organisations in the USA with which the TJ is believed to be closely associated are the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Muslim Youth of North America (MYNA). The President of the ISNA used to be one Sheikh Abdullah Idris Ali, an American immigrant of Sudanese origin, who was also the Pesh Imam and Khatib of a mosque in New York. The annual convention of the ISNA held at Columbus, Ohio, from September 11,1995, was addressed, amongst others, by Mr.Hamza Yusuf, an American citizen of Greek origin, who, after embracing Islam, had lived for six years in Mauritania to study Islam and then work as a TJ preacher, Mr. Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, the famous pop singer, who embraced Islam after coming into contact with the TJ in Pakistan, Dr.Saghir of Algeria, and Dr.Israr Ahmed, the Amir of the Tanzeem Islami of Pakistan and a worker of the TJ. Addressing the convention, Dr. Israr Ahmed said: 'The process of the revival of Islam in different parts of the world is real. A final show-down between the Muslim world and the non-Muslim world, which has been captured by the Jews, would soon take place. The Gulf war was just a rehearsal for the coming conflict.' He appealed to the Muslims of the world, including those in the USA, to prepare themselves for the coming conflict. The convention was told that the ISNA had a US $ 100 million budget for spreading Islamic education in the US through the publication of text-books, setting-up of week-end Islamic schools and a weekly cable TV programme called 'Onsight' which would be available in all the States of the US. (3/1/2002): JEDDAH--There is good scope for spreading the message of Islam in America now, more than ever before, says Ibrahim Hussein Malabari, director general of the Toronto Islamic Center and a senior official of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). 'People in America are now eager to learn about Islam, especially after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. As a result of this overwhelming response, there was big demand for Islamic books and Qur'an cassettes. More and more people are coming to the fold of Islam,' he pointed out. The number of non-Muslims visiting mosques and Islamic centers these days has increased considerably, Malabari said. Muslim scholars are invited to give lectures on Islam at churches, campuses and companies. Muslim leaders and intellectuals appear on television channels to clarify their position on major issues, especially terrorism. Malabari has embarked on a project in association with the Riyadh-based Al-Haramain Charitable Foundation to distribute pamphlets on Islam to every American home. (For more information contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]). Quoting a report of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Malabari said the number of people who have embraced Islam after the Sept. 11 attacks was four times higher than before the horrific incident. Many American intellectuals like John Esposito of the Georgetown University have spoken highly about Islam. Dr. Murad Hoffman, a German who embraced Islam, considers the US a fertile land for Islam to flourish. According to Malabari, many of the reports on anti-Muslim hate crimes in America and Canada were exaggerated. He said the murder of two Muslim students in Mississauga, 25 km west of Toronto, were not related to hate crimes. 'My information is that it is the result of a family dispute.' However, Malabari pointed out that there were some incidents of threats and attacks in different parts of the United States and Canada. 'There were also some serious incidents; mosques were burned and three or four people were killed. But compared to other countries, the hate crimes were far less in the US and Canada. If the Sept. 11 attacks had taken place in some other country, thousands would have been killed in the backlash,' he said. Malabari said the majority of non-Muslims had shown sympathy toward Muslims after the Sept. 11 attacks and offered help to protect Islamic centers and mosques. 'But there was no need for such help as the hate crimes quickly subsided. At some campuses, non-Muslim girl students wore hijab as a show of solidarity with their Muslim friends,' he pointed out. In many cities Christian-Muslim dialogues were organized, generating strong cooperation and understanding between the two communities. This prompted Jews to hold similar dialogues with Muslims. Companies like General Motors arranged lectures about Islam. Dr. Sayyed Muhammad Saeed, secretary-general of ISNA, delivered a lecture on Islam for GM executives. Lilly company in Indiana also arranged a lecture by Saeed, drawing thousands of company employees. Malabari described Americans as a tolerant and open society. 'They are ready to learn. Common people of the country are, however, ignorant about Islam. They don't know much about the people in other countries. American media has a big role in creating a bad impression about Islam and Muslims as they often present a distorted picture of them. All they know about Islam and Muslims is through the media and Hollywood films which portray Muslims, especially Arab Muslims, negatively.' Malabari visited New York last month after the attacks. He said he had expected a tough time at the airport, especially as his passport showed his recent visits to Algeria, Turkey and Egypt and a visit to Pakistan sometime ago. 'But a young, white officer at the airport allowed me to move on without questioning,' he explained. At the London airport also Malabari did not face any trouble. He visited the Islamiya Primary School established by Yusuf Islam in London. 'The director of the school, who is originally a New Yorker, said they had closed the school for three days as a precautionary measure after the Sept. 11 attacks. Now the school is functioning smoothly.' The school director pointed out that they had received threatening calls. 'At the same time we received more than 200 letters from non-Muslim individuals and organizations offering help and protection,' Malabari quoted the director as saying. He said in the streets of London he saw Muslim women walking freely, wearing hijab as if nothing had happened. According to a recent Los Angeles Times report, several Muslims interviewed by the paper said their employers had issued statements about how they expected their employees to respond to the Sept. 11 attacks. Kent Kresa, chairman of Northrop Grumman, released a statement to the company's 80,000 employees saying there is a zero-tolerance policy against racial, ethnic or religious hate. _____ U.S. Muslim group's head says Bush's term 'Islamic fascism' adds to misunderstanding of Islam By CARLA K. JOHNSON Associated Press Writer ROSEMONT, Illinois The newly elected head of the largest Muslim group in North America said President George W. Bush's recasting of the war on terror as a "war against Islamic fascism" was inaccurate and only adds to a misunderstanding of the religion. Ingrid Mattson, the first woman president of the Islamic Society of North America, said Friday at the opening of the group's 43rd annual convention that labeling terrorism as "Islamic" was not helpful to people of her faith. "I'm convinced that it is not only inaccurate, but unhelpful. If our major concern is security, security of this country, this is a term that has very bad resonance in the Muslim majority world and makes us feel uncomfortable here," Mattson said. Bush and other Republicans have been using the term "Islamic fascism" in recent speeches. White House aides and outside Republican strategists have said the term is an attempt to more clearly identify the ideology that motivates many organized terrorist groups. Mattson said her group would argue for a change in rhetoric away from "Islamic fascism." U.S. officials are attending the meeting here, including Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England. "We're hoping that there can be some adjustment to this language and we're trying to voice that opinion to those who have been using this, circulating this term," she said. The challenges of changing misperceptions of Islam and fighting fear of Muslims after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 will be an underlying theme of the Islamic Society's four-day meeting that is expected to draw more than 30,000 Muslims from Canada and around the United States, said Abdul Malik Mujahid, chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. Muslims in America "continue to face dehumanization and a growing trend of Islamophobia," Mujahid said. As an alternative to "Islamic fascism," Mattson suggested the words "terrorism, crime, violence," adding that she and other Muslims don't understand why the label "Islamic" is included when Bush and other leaders talk about terrorism. "The products that are coming from the Muslim world are not being called 'Islamic products' or 'Islamic oil,'" she said. Mattson acknowledged that terrorist groups "do misuse and use Islamic concepts and terms to justify their violence." "But I think that when we then bestow that term upon them we only make the situation worse and somehow give validity to their claims which we need to deny and reject," she said. But drawing its own fire was the Islamic Society's invitation to former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who is expected to address the convention Saturday. "Khatami ... behaved as an enemy of America and our most cherished values," said Jay Tcath, vice president of the Chicago Jewish Federation in a statement. "It is disturbing that any American organization would honor him by providing such an important platform." Tcath said American Jews remember "the egregious 1999 imprisonment and circus trial of 13 Iranian Jews on trumped-up charges of espionage for Israel," which happened under Khatami's presidency. "One could only hope that the sponsors' desire to be gracious hosts will not preclude them from publicly challenging Mr. Khatami's record and worldview," Tcath said. Mattson said the invitation to Khatami was a "natural extension of our role as proponents of dialogue and learning." She said the group hopes to show Khatami "how the American Muslim community has dealt with issues of religious freedom and tolerance and perhaps he can carry some of that message back." Khatami, whose receipt of a visa was announced this week by the State Department, also plans to attend a U.N. conference in New York and to speak on the role of religion in promoting peace at the Washington National Cathedral during his trip to the United States. The annual convention also will host nonpolitical sessions on subjects including retirement planning, Internet marketing, home schooling and dating. The meeting also will focus on voter registration, with more than 50 volunteers signing up new voters. ____ On the Net: http://www.isna.net/ 060901 193002 Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. FAIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. All rights to these copyrighted items are reserved. Articles and graphics have been placed within for educational and discussion purposes only, in compliance with "Fair Use" criteria established in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. The principle of "Fair Use" was established as law by Section 107 of The Copyright Act of 1976. 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