“The best positioned group to help al-Qaeda launch an attack in the US.”
by Jerry Gordon (April 2008)
Wall Street Journalist Danny Pearl was on his way to a meeting with Jamaat ul-Fuqra (JF) founder, Sheik Mubarak Ali Gilani in Lahore, Pakistan on January 22, 2002. He was on the hunt for al Qaeda connections when he was abducted and slaughtered by Islamic Extremist and British citizen, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh.
Were there any connections between the shadowy Sheik Gilani and the murder of Pearl? Pakistani authorities had Gilani jailed and later put under house arrest. Given the turmoil in that country, we may never know the extent of his involvement.
What we do know is that since the founding of JF, or the “community of the impoverished,” by Gilani in 1980, a network of 45 paramilitary training camps in the US and Canada have been created. The group here in the US has committed attacks and robberies, acquired contraband arms, engaged in counterfeit activities, and proselytized effectively among Afro-American prison inmates. JF members participated in the 1993 terror bombing of the World Trade Center.
JF seeks to “purify Islam” through violence.
What is of great concern is that federal and state law enforcement authorities have investigated and monitored JF and its front group Muslims of the Americas (MoA) and delisted the group as a terrorist organization. Nor has the IRS taken away MoA’s charitable tax exempt status.
Look at this response by the State Department to a question about why JF was taken off the official terrorist list.
Question: The group headed by Sheik Gilani used to be designated by the State Department as a terrorist group but it was taken off the list. Why?
Answer: Jamaat ul-Fuqra has never been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. It was included in several recent annual terrorism reports under “other terrorist groups,” i.e., groups that had carried out acts of terrorism but that were not formally designated by the Secretary of State. However, because of the group’s inactivity during 2000, it was not included in the most recent terrorism report covering that calendar year.
Here’s what the MoA has to say about Jews, Christians, Gays , America and violence its website:
On Jews
“Jews are an example of human Satans. This is why Jews are the founders of Satan worship and Masonic lodges, and are now trying to take over the entire globe in which the global religion is to be Satanism….In the US there are now thousands of temples where Satan is worshipped. This Satanism has now become the ultimate tool in the hands of Zionists. ”
On Christians
“If you ask any Christian ‘What is meant by belief in God Almighty?’ he will not be able to give you any rational explanation. On the contrary, he will confuse you, and damage you psychologically…Christians would rather submit to the theory that they have killed their god and now believe in the supremacy and power of Satan. Try to imagine the type of mentality that is build upon such a belief: Masochism, suicide, Satanism…they confuse the matter still more by introducing the fable of the Risen Christ, but have never produced a solitary witness to testify that he or she actually saw Christ ascending…One certain factor in the propagation of this nonsense is that the priests want poor, simple folk to believe in Jesus as the Son of God, whereas Jesus himself never proclaimed to be such… The vicars of Christ, after having completely confused western man in the matter of belief, use this method to manipulate the people in such a way that the priests are accepted as gods who have the power to send people to Heaven, Hell, or atone their sins… By having put their god on a crucifix as opposed to executing Satan, they not only have blasphemed against the Wisdom and Judgment of God Almighty, but reduced Him to a role of subservience to Satan. Similarly, by attributing the words of the Bible to God, they also attribute all their fallacies, inaccuracies, irrationalities, lies, and contradictions to Him!”
— “Psycho-Religious Causes of Some Incurable Diseases,”
On Gays
“The agents of Shaytan (Satan) are many. Many efforts are put forth to mislead masses into darkness via Satanic philosophies, ideologies, and schisms brought forth to divide and keep humanity divided, resulting in immorality, bigotry, break-down of family structure, and numerous unspeakable crimes against humanity. A perfect example of this point would be homosexuality.”
On America
“America is no longer the home of the free and the land of the brave. The constitution and the Bill of rights are just pieces of paper that don’t mean a damn thing anymore, unless you are white and an anti Muslim hatemonger of course. The Ku Klux Klan no longer need to wear pointed hoods and remain underground, as they are sitting in the oval office and walking the halls of congress.”
On Violence
“All Muslim nations are in danger because the enemy will not rest until it has subjugated (or eliminated) ISLAM from the map, while it defends the terrorism of Israel….We must put a stop to the violence and aggression against our peoples… by force if necessary. We must work with each other and collectively refuse to accept the injustice and aggression of the West and [its] protégé Israel. If we take these steps be assured that ALLAH…will do the rest.”
As noted in Militant Islam Monitor, JF’s objective, indeed “their foremost duty” as revealed in a 1991 investigation of its Open Quranic University, is “to wage Jihad against the oppressors of Muslims.” This is an organization of Islamist extremists more virulent in many ways than the Muslim Brotherhood fronts in this country and abroad.
JF found fertile ground in US prisons and attracted Muslim converts. Estimates of ul-Fuqra members in the US range as high as 6,000.
The group’s founder, Sheik Gilani, refers to himself as the ‘sixth Sultan ul-Fuqra’ and fashions himself as a direct descendent of Muhammad.
Headquarters for JF in the US is located in upstate Hancock, New York. Other JF locations include: Hagerstown, MarylandFalls Church, Virginia York, South CarolinaDover, TennesseeBuena Vista, ColoradoTalihina, OklahomaTulare County, and Squaw Valley , California. Large complexes have been established in Red House, Virginia and Commerce, Georgia near Macon. JF also has two basic training facilities in the Metro Toronto area in Canada.
The JF front group and tax exempt charity, MoA, maintain offices in Tallahassee, FloridaBinghamton, New YorkSpringfield, MassachusettsDover, DelawareRoanoke, Virginia.
The chronicle of JF’s activities in the US is mind boggling as laid out in a New Media Journal article by researcher, Dr. Paul Williams, entitled: “In the Belly of the Beast: Jamaat ul-Fuqra”:
Jamaat ul-Fuqra has close ties to al-Qaeda. In December 1993, Sheik Mubarak Ali Gilani, the founder of ul-Fuqra, was an honored guest at an international gathering of Islamic terrorists at the residence of Hassan al-Turabi in Khartoum. At the gathering, Sheik Gilani and Osama bin Laden were caught on film chanting, “Down, down with the USA!” “Down, down with the CIA,” and “Death to the Jews.” The film now remains in the “Alec File” – the CIA dossier on bin Laden.
Members of the group have been arrested for trafficking in firearms, including AK-47s.A recent report prepared by the Center for Policing Terrorism maintains that Jamaat ul-Fuqra “may be the best positioned group to launch an attack on the United States, or, more likely, help al-Qaeda to do so.”
Since the time of its establishment at a radical mosque in Brooklyn, New York, Jamaat ul-Fuqra has been responsible for more terror attacks on America soil (30 and counting) than all the other terrorist groups combined. It has spawned and sponsored assassinations, kidnappings, mass murder, grand theft and fraud.
Some noted associates of Jamaat ul-Fuqra include Richard Reid, the Shoe bomber and John Allen Muhammad, the Beltway sniper.
Members of the group, including Clement Rodney Hampton-El took part in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
JF’s pattern of violence stretches back to the 1980’s. Witness these accounts in both Canada and the US from the Militant Islam Monitor:
In the 1980s, they carried out various terrorist acts, including numerous fire-bombings across the United States. JF’s early targets in North America were ethnic Indians and targets linked to various Indian sects. In July 1983, Stephen Paul Paster, a front ranking JF member, was responsible for planting a pipe bomb at a Portland hotel owned by followers of the Bhagwan Rajneesh cult. After his arrest in Colorado, Paster served four years of a 20-year prison sentence for the bombing. He was suspected but not charged in two other bombings in Seattle in 1984 – the bombings of the Vedanta Society temple and the Integral Yoga Society building. Currently, Paster is reported to be based in Lahore, Pakistan, from where, intelligence sources say, he provides explosives training to ul-Fuqra cadres.
After the Portland bombing, two ul-Fuqra cadres allegedly killed Mozaffar Ahmad, a leader of the minority Ahmadiyyah sect, in Canton, Michigan. Both suspects reportedly perished in a fire they set at the Ahmadiyyah mosque in nearby Detroit. The JF is also reported to have been involved in the killing of three Indians on August 1, 1984 in a suburb of Tacoma, Washington. JF is suspected of involvement in a series of fire bombings of Hindu and Hare Krishna temples in Seattle, Denver, Philadelphia and Kansas City.
US officials in 1989, during a search of a storage locker in Colorado Springs, recovered a large cache of armaments and documents with links to the JF. Among the arms recovered were handguns, semi-automatic firearms, explosives, pipe bombs, bomb components and several bombs. Some of the seized documents described the activities and code of the “Muhammad Commandos of Sector 5,” who were reportedly involved in arms training and intelligence gathering. The documents, including maps and lists, contained details of potential JF targets and victims in Los Angeles, Arizona and Colorado. Targets included oil and gas installations and electrical facilities, US. Air Force Academy and other military sites, and people in 12 US states and Canada with Jewish or Hindu-sounding names. Various JF publications were seized during this search. Titles of some of the publications seized included “Guerrilla Warfare”, “Counter Guerrilla Operations”, “Understanding Amateur Radio”, “Fair Weather Flying,” and “Basic Blueprint Reading and Sketching.”
In 1991, JF’s plans to bomb an Indian cinema and a Hindu temple near Toronto were unsuccessful. Five JF cadre members were arrested at the Niagara Falls border crossing after US Customs agents searched their cars and found visual evidence and plans of the interiors of the targets including a description of time bombs. A Canadian jury convicted three American JF cadre members of conspiracy to commit mischief and endanger life. A fourth suspect, who had come to Canada from Pakistan shortly before the planned bombing, fled to Pakistan after his colleagues’ arrest, according to evidence presented at the trial.
A money laundering scheme run by the Red House Commune is reportedly similar to a Colorado operation that was shut down in 1993. Colorado law enforcement agencies convicted five JF cadre members for defrauding the Colorado government of approximately $350,000 through bogus workers’ compensation claims. Prosecuting agencies have indicated that the amount had been laundered through Professional Security International (PSI), a JF security firm, and MoA. A portion of the funds was tracked through PSI to JF couriers who traveled to Pakistan. The PSI reportedly enabled JF cadre members to obtain federal licenses to buy weapons. JF is also suspected of operating two more security firms located in New York.
The JF commune in Colorado is spread across 101 acres. A police raid recovered bombs, weapons and plans for terrorist attacks in 1993. Two other communes in New York and California have shooting ranges. The 1,800-acre settlement in the Sierra Mountains in California also reportedly has an airstrip.
More recently, JF was caught in a counterfeit clothing scheme uncovered by Federal authorities at the Red House, Virginia complex.
JF’s front group, MoA, was selling counterfeit goods in the millions to fund their programs. Three suspects were sentenced in a U.S. Eastern Virginia Federal District Court for terms ranging from 21 to 57 months.
Note these revelations in a Northeast Intelligence Network report on the Federal Court decision and sentencing of the JF terrorist financiers:
According to investigative reports, the counterfeit clothing ring led by Abbas Chouman, 43, of Astoria, NY generated over $7 million in revenue. Chouman was sentenced on Friday, October 12, 2007 to 57 months in federal prison for his role in the criminal copyright infringement scam. In September, Haqq, Pierre and Harmon were sentenced to 8, 24, and 27 month prison terms respectively for their roles in the operation; on August 2nd, Ishoc Uthman Ibn-Abdus Salaam, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being found guilty by a federal jury in Richmond of attempted conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods. Additionally, Terri Singleton, 34, of Beckley, West Virginia, one of Roundtree’s three wives, previously plead guilty to conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods with Roundtree. Singleton received two years probation in a separate federal court penalty hearing.
As part of the investigation conducted by this agency, it was determined that three of the above named defendants, Ismail Haqq, 33, Cherubin Pierre, 32, and Ronald Roundtree, 51 have ties to the MoA and JF encampments located within the United States and Canada.
The JF Mosque in Brooklyn, a literal ‘beehive’ of Islamist radicals, may have spawned several of the Fort Dix Six plot perpetrators. Three of the Fort Dix Six acknowledged attending services at the JF Mosque in Brooklyn. These Jihadis were caught by a sharp-eyed Circuit City clerk who contacted the FBI. The suspects have been incarcerated since June, 2007 have been denied bail and are awaiting federal trial in New Jersey.
The case of the Folsom, California prison Jihadis has all the hallmarks of a JF terror cell.
On December 14, 2007, a Los Angeles Federal District Court convicted members of a gang of jail house Muslim converts. They plead guilty to conspiracy to attack Los Angeles area synagogues, military installations and armed robbery charges in connection with a string of gas station holdups.
Here’s what the Associated Press had to say about the convictions:
Kevin James, 31 and Levar Haley Washington 28 plead guilty in a Los Angeles Federal District Court to launching Jihad attacks on gas stations and plotting to attack synagogues in the Los Angeles area. Federal District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney ordered sentencing for both in March and April, 2008. James could get up to 20 years for conspiracy, while Washington could “get 20 years in prison on the conspiracy charge and five years to life for the firearms offense”. Both James and Washington were jail house converts to Islam. Two others were convicted, Gregory Vernon Patterson and Hammad Riaz Samana. Patterson, Washington and James are American prison converts to Islam, while Samana is a Pakistani national and is presently under psychiatric care at a federal prison mental hospital facility. The Torrance, California police uncovered the plots when they investigated a string of 10 gas station heists in July 2005. They discovered details of a planned attack on Los Angeles synagogues planned for the Jewish high holiday of Yom Kippur that fall.
According to this AP report “Patterson and Samana are charged with conspiracy to levy war against the U.S. government through terrorism, conspiracy to possess and discharge firearms in a violent crime, conspiracy to kill members of the U.S. government uniformed services and conspiracy to kill foreign officials. Patterson is also charged with a robbery count and using a firearm in a violent crime”.
The four suspects were part of a radical Muslim group Jamiyyat ul-Islam (JIS) founded by James while an inmate at the California State Prison in Sacramento.
JF remains a clear and present danger here in America. It has broad appeal among convicted felons in our nation’s prison system. Through networks of prison Imams and social service outreach JF engages those recently released, after serving sentences, for training in its network of paramilitary camps. Why our federal law enforcement agencies have not shut these JF facilities down and closed the MoA tax exempt charities, given this chronicle of evidence and convictions, raises a question of who is asleep at our counter terrorism agencies?
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