Thread: Presbyterian Church USA Teams Up With American Islamists

From the Clarion Project
Presbyterian Church USA Teams Up With American Islamists

The Church is an official interfaith partner with U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entities and supporters of Sharia for America.

BY RYAN MAURO
Sun, October 6, 2013


Headlines

• CAIR’s Guide to Media Manipulation
• Britain Reports Schools Taken Over by Islamist 'Hardliners'
• Yemenite Girl Who Fled Forced Marriage Debates Cleric on TV
• Top Iranian Cleric: Nothing Ruled Out Against America

A writer giving soft treatment to Islamists wouldn’t be a new development, but Ben Daniel isn’t just any writer. He’s the pastor of a church and his book was published by the Presbyterian Church USA. This church of 1.8 million has become an ally of Islamists.

Pastor Ben Daniel leads Foothill Presbyterian Church of San Jose and his book, The Search for Truth About Islam: A Christian Pastor Separates Fact from Fiction, was released on March 25 by the official publisher of the Presbyterian Church USA.

His book “explores what he calls ‘the American cult of fear,’ particularly as it relates to the rise of Islamophobia in the United States.”

Islamists have used the term “Islamophobia” to gain political influence and bash opponents – including ant-Islamists Muslims -- long before the 9/11 attacks. Now, even Muslims are speaking out against the abuse of the term.

At an August 22 speaking engagement at Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church, which was attended by almost 150 people, Pastor Daniel said that the CIA estimates there are less than 20,000 terrorists in the entire world.

That’s incorrect, but many Christians in the audience won’t know that. The UN says Al-Shabaab in Somalia alone has 5,000 members. Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria has around 7,000 members. There are over 50 groups designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the U.S. State Department, most of which are Islamic.

Pastor Daniel’s willful blindness to the greater Islamist threat is apparent in his book when he upholds Imam Zaid Shakir as an admirable moderate. He says that Shakir’s Zaytuna College in California is “filling an important niche in American higher education.” There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about the education there – including one from earlier this year, when Shakir said thatSharia-based governance is superior to the U.S. Constitution.

Specifically, Shakir said that constitution-based citizenship is “a lofty ideal but after 200, 300 years of experimentation, we find that inequality is greater than it has ever been in the history of humanity.” Instead, governance based on Islamic law is what should be pursued, he asserted.

Secularism says we keep religion out. Why? Because if we have religion and religion is the basis of membership in the community, we can’t have perfect equality. We can’t have perfect equality. If Islam is the basis, the kafir won’t be equal with the Muslim. The Christian or the Jew will be a dhimmi. They won’t be equal with the Muslim,” he preached.

In 2006, Shakir told the New York Times “he still hoped that one day the United States would be a Muslim country ruled by Islamic law.” Shakir is also famous for writing anti-American poems,justifying attacks on U.S. soldiers, being a 9/11 conspiracy theorist and preaching that a new Caliphate is needed that will wage jihadwith “weaponry against the enemies of Islam.”

Pastor Daniel’s book is just an example of what is happening in the Presbyterian Church USA overall. (The Presbyterian Church USA is one of about 14 large denominations of Presbyterians in the U.S. and about the same number of smaller ones.)

The Presbyterian Church USA is an official interfaith partner of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity and unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing trial in American history.

The two are also both members of the Shoulder-to-Shoulder Campaign. ISNA is so proud of the interfaith coalition that it bragged about it during a meeting with Islamist Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan this year.

The Presbyterian Church also is part of the Religions for Peace USA coalition that also has a heavy Islamist component including ISNA. The Church has a representative on its Executive Council and Council of Presidents.

In July 2012, the Presbyterian Church Office of Public Witness blasted Rep. Michele Bachmann and four other members of Congress as essentially being bigoted “Joseph McCarthys.” The legistalors’ offense was requesting a review of the Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations’ involvement with the U.S. government. The Church passionately defended ISNA, the Muslim Public Affairs Council andHuma Abedin.

The Presbyterian Mission Agency website’s "interfaith links of interest" include ISNA, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). All four have Muslim Brotherhood origins and three of the four appear in a 1991 list of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood’s fronts.

The Presbyterian Church is currently updating its 2010 study on Christian-Muslim relations that was prompted by “alarming anti-Muslim statements and actions.” The list of advisors and sources for the study includes various Islamists including Tariq Ramadan, the grandson of the Muslim Brotherhood’s founder.

Screenshot from the documentary "The Grand Deception" with Syeed's statement

We don’t have to speculate about what the ultimate objective is for ISNA, including its interfaith campaigns. Sayyid Syeed, the current leader of its interfaith office was videotaped in 2006 saying, “Our job is to change the constitution of America.”

The Presbyterian Church USA has around 1.8 million members, over 10,000 congregations and 14,000 ministers. Although its membership has been shrinking yearly, its pro-Islamist political activity should not be ignored.

http://www.clarionproject.org/analys...ican-islamists

SNA's Interfaith Partners

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) works with numerous religious, faith-based, and interfaith organizations for interfaith dialogue and advocacy on a range of public policy issues. For a sampling of these organizations, please see below.
American Baptist Churches USA

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is one of several major Baptist organizations in the United States and includes about 5,800 congregations and 1.5 million members. ISNA worked with ABCUSA and other Baptist groups to develop national and regional Baptist-Muslim dialogues. ABCUSA is also a member of the Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign.[/COLOR]

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and approximately 1,800 affiliated Baptist churches. ISNA worked with CBF and other Baptist groups to develop national and regional Baptist-Muslim dialogues. CBF is also a member of the Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign.

Church World Service

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]Founded in 1946, Church World Service (CWS) is the relief, development, and refugee assistance ministry of 35 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations in the United States. Working in partnership with indigenous organizations in more than 80 countries, CWS works worldwide to meet human needs and foster self-reliance for all whose way is hard. ISNA works with Church World Service on issues of global poverty issues.
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Hartford Seminary

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]Hartford Seminary is a higher-learning educational institution that develops the leadership capacities of religious leaders and the wider public by seeking to cultivate and share a consciousness of God. Although it is a predominantly Christian institution, the seminary also trains Muslim chaplains through The Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. Beginning in 2010, ISNA, Hartford Seminary, and the Jewish Theological Seminary developed the workshop and dialogue series, Judaism in Islam in America.

Church of the Brethren

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination of about 125,000 members in more than 1,000 congregations in the United States and Puerto Rico; about 150,000 in the fast-growing Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (Church of the Brethren in Nigeria); and hundreds more in India, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. The Church of the Brethren is a peace church and an active member of the Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign.
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Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a Protestant Christian denomination in the US and Canada. The denomination was born in the 1800s, and continues to be influenced by its founding ideals of unity in Christ with openness and diversity in practice and belief. It is a member of the Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign.
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a Protestant Christian denomination in the US and Canada. The denomination was born in the 1800s, and continues to be influenced by its founding ideals of unity in Christ with openness and diversity in practice and belief. It is a member of the Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign.

Episcopal Church

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian denomination with nearly 2 million members in the United States. The Episcopal Church is a member of the Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign.


Faith in Public Life

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]Faith in Public Life (FPL) is a strategy center for the faith community advancing faith in the public square as a powerful force for justice, compassion and the common good. FPL provides its media savvy to a number of interfaith coalitions including the Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America came into existence in 1982 as the result of the union of three North American Lutheran church bodies. The ELCA engages with ISNA in numerous interfaith dialogue efforts and is a member of the Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign.[/COLOR]

Faith in Public Life

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]Faith in Public Life (FPL) is a strategy center for the faith community advancing faith in the public square as a powerful force for justice, compassion and the common good. FPL provides its media savvy to a number of interfaith coalitions including the Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign.
Faith United Against Tobacco

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]Faith United Against Tobacco was launched by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and leaders from multiple religious denominations, including ISNA, to mobilize the faith community to support proven solutions to reduce smoking.

Faith United to End Childhood Obesity

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]Faith United to End Childhood obesity was formed by the Campaign for Healthy Kids to advance the obesity-related policy change necessary to create sustained and scaled improvements in children’s health. Faith United includes faith groups representing diverse views and perspectives, united by the desire to promote children’s health through policies that embody the principles of effectiveness, equity, and local leadership.

Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence is a diverse coalition of nearly 50 denominations and faith-based organizations united by the call of our faiths to confront America’s gun violence epidemic and to rally support for policies that reduce death and injury from gunfire.

Faithful Reform in Health Care

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]Faithful Reform in Health Care was founded to: 1) help build a more collaborative infrastructure among the various faith groups working for reform; and 2) connect current research in values-based messaging with faith teachings to help move the health care reform agenda beyond the issues that have resulted in political deadlock. ISNA works with Faithful Reform in Health Care to advocate foraccess to health care for all.

The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) is a national non-profit dedicated to strengthening relations between ethnic and religious communities in North America, co-founded by orthodox Rabbi Marc Schneier and hiphop mogul Russell Simmons. FFEU and ISNA work closely together to strengthen Muslim-Jewish relations in North America through the annual Weekend of Twinning and international exchanges of rabbis and imams.


Friends Committee on National Legislation

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) fields the largest team of registered peace lobbyists in Washington, DC. Founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), FCNL is nonpartisan and serves as a member of the Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign.

Interfaith Alliance

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]Interfaith Alliance is the only national interfaith organization fully dedicated to protecting the integrity of both religion and democracy in America. It celebrates religious freedom by championing individual rights, promoting policies that protect both religion and democracy, and uniting diverse voices to challenge extremism. ISNA works with Interfaith Alliance on numerous religious freedom issues, particularly through the Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign where it serves as chair of the Advocacy Task Force.

Interfaith Broadcasting Commission

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]ISNA is a member of the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission, a cooperative venture of faith communities in partnership with the ABC, CBS and NBC television networks and their affiliated stations in every part of the nation. The IBC offers high quality programming four to six times a year on each network, bringing to the broadcast industry and the general public thoughtful, original content that heightens the awareness of and appreciation for the many ways that religious faith plays a positive role in American life.

Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important] The Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition (IDAC) is a diverse, nonpartisan coalition of religious and religiously affiliated organizations whose core spiritual values affirm the rights and dignity of people with disabilities. IDAC seeks to mobilize the religious community to speak out and take action on disability policy issues with Congress, the President and Administration, and society at large. ISNA is a Steering Committee member of IDAC.

International Center for Religion and Diplomacy

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD) is a Washington-based non-governmental organization whose mission is to prevent and resolve identity-based conflicts that exceed the reach of traditional diplomacy by incorporating religion as part of the solution.[/COLOR]

Jewish Council for Public Affairs

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) was formally established in 1944 to serve as the representative voice of the organized American Jewish community in addressing the principal mandate of the Jewish community relations field. ISNA works with the JCPA in numerous interfaith coalitions, including Fighting Poverty with Faith and Shoulder-to-Shoulder.

The Jewish Theological Seminary of America

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTSA) is the largest Jewish Studies and rabbinic ordination institution in North America based in the conservative Jewish tradition. It articulates a vision of Judaism that is learned and passionate, pluralist and authentic, traditional and egalitarian; one that is thoroughly grounded in Jewish texts, history, and practices, and fully engaged with the societies and cultures of the present. ISNA, JTSA and Hartford Seminary worked together to form the workshop and dialogue series Judaism and Islam in America.

National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC), founded in 1950, consists of member faith groups from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches, with 45 million individuals in more than 100,000 local congregations across the nation. ISNA and the NCC worked together to form the National Muslim-Christian Initiative and engage in numerous joint interfaith coalitions such as the Faithful Budget Campaign, Fighting Poverty with Faith, and Shoulder-to-Shoulder

National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East (NILI) seeks to build a well-informed, broad and active interreligious constituency that urges the Administration and Congress to support active, fair, and firm U.S. leadership for comprehensive, just, and lasting Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace. ISNA leadership has been a formative part of NILI since its establishment in 2003, building consensus among Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders and working in a bipartisan manner with policy makers and members of Congress to build public support for peace.

National Peace Foundation

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The National Peace Foundation is an organization that was originally a part of the grassroots campaign to establish an Academy of Peace, leading the successful estabilshment of the US Institute of Peace in 1984. In 2007, ISNA and the National Peace Foundation received U.S. State Department grants to develop international visitors programs. These programs provided an opportunity to bring lay leaders from the Muslim world to the United States and to bring interreligious leaders from the Muslim world to the United States, in order to increase mutual understanding and interfaith dialogue

National Religious Campaign Against Torture

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a growing membership organization committed to ending U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.ISNA has been a founding member of NRCAT since January 2006. NRCAT now has over 300 participating member organizations, including national denominations and faith groups, regional organizations and congregations.


The New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good (NEP) is an organization that embrace the tenets of orthodox Christian theology and believes that fighting for the common good involves fighting against social injustice and the abuse of power by those who benefit from the power arrangements of an unjust world. NEP is dedicated to improving Christian-Muslim relations. It serves as a member of Shoulder-to-Shoulder and other interfaith coalitions


NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]Founded in the 1970s, NETWORK is a national "network" of Catholic Sisters to lobby for federal policies and legislation that promote economic and social justice. NETWORK is highly visible and active on critical issues such as peacemaking, comprehensive immigration reform, housing, poverty, health care, federal budget priorities, trade and hunger. ISNA works with NETWORK on several interfaith coalitions, particularly the Faithful Budget Campaign.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), with denominational offices in Louisville, Kentucky, has approximately 2.3 million members, more than 10,000 congregations and 14,000 ordained and active ministers. Presbyterians trace their history to the 16th century and the Protestant Reformation. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and ISNA work together in interfaith coalitions such as the Faithful Budget Campaign, the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition, and Shoulder-to-Shoulder.


Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (CMCU) was founded in 1993 and is housed at Georgetown University to build stronger bridges of understanding between the Muslim world and the West as well as between Islam and Christianity. The CMCU is currently headed by Dr. John Esposito, and in May 2012, ISNA and the CMCU held a joint symposium on religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries.

Progressive National Baptist Convention

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc a convention of African-American Baptists emphasizing civil rights and social justice. Founded in 1961, it is an association of Baptist churches throughout the world committed to the mandate of making disciples of Christ. The Convention is founded on the precepts of fellowship, progress, service, and peace and seeks to affirm the “priesthood of all believers.” The PNBC is a member of Shoulder-to-Shoulder and other interfaith coalitions.


United Church of Christ

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]Founded in 1957 as the union of several different Christian traditions, the United Church of Christ (UCC) is a distinct and diverse community of Christians that come together as one church to join faith and action. With more than 5,100 churches and 1.1 million members across the U.S., the UCC serves God in the co-creation of a just and sustainable world. The UCC is a member of Shoulder-to-Shoulder and numerous other interfaith coalitions.[/COLOR]
Religion Communicators Council

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Religion Communicators Council (RCC), founded in 1929, is an interfaith association of religion communicators at work in print and electronic communication, marketing and in public relations. The RCC provides opportunities for religion communicators to learn from each other. Together, RCC members promote excellence in the communication of religious faith and values in the public arena and encourage understanding among religious and faith groups. ISNA is a member.


Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Jewish Reconstructionist Movement is represented by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA), a professional Association for over 300 reconstructionist rabbis. Established in 1974, it serves as a collegial community representing the rabbinic voice within the Reconstructionist movement. Together with the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the RRA serves as a member of Shoulder-to-Shoulder.[/COLOR]

Sojourners

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]Founded in 1971, Sojourners is a national Christian organization committed to faith in action for social justice. It works to articulate the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church, and the world. Working through Sojourners magazine, Sojourners’ website sojo.net, public speaking events, media outreach, educational resources, books, advocacy, and trainings, Sojourners is an internationally influential voice at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Sojourners is a member of Shoulder-to-Shoulder and works in several interfaith coalitions.

T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights (formerly Rabbis for Human Rights-North America) mobilizes mobilizes rabbis and their communities to protect human rights in the United States, Canada, Israel, and the occupied territories; trains rabbis and rabbinical students to be strong human rights leaders, and; promotes rabbis and cantors as moral voices on the most crucial issues of the day. T'ruah is an active member of Shoulder-to-Shoulder and theNational Religious Campaign Against Torture.


Union for Reform Judaism

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) represents over 900 congregations across North America including 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), whose membership includes more than 1,800 Reform rabbis. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC) has served as the Washington, DC office of the URJ for over 50 years and is the hub of Jewish social justice and legislative activity in DC. The RAC educates and mobilizes the Reform Jewish community on legislative and social concerns, advocating on more than 70 different issues, including through interfaith coalitions like Shoulder-to-Shoulder andFaiths Calling.

Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA) is a religious organization that combines two traditions: the Universalists, who organized in 1793, and the Unitarians, who organized in 1825. Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion with Jewish-Christian roots. It has no creed and affirms the worth of human beings, advocates freedom of belief and the search for advancing truth, and tries to provide a warm, open, supportive community for people who believe that ethical living is the supreme witness of religion. It is a member of Shoulder-to-Shoulder.

United Methodist Church

[COLOR=#5A5A5A !important]The United Methodist Church (UMC) was created in 1968 when it united The Evangelical United Brethren Church and The Methodist Church. Today the UMC is the largest mainline Protestant denomination with over 7.7 million members in the US and Canada. ISNA's Washington, DC office is housed in the United Methodist Building, and the two organizations work together on a number of interfaith initiatives, including Shoulder-to-Shoulder.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is an assembly of the Catholic Church hierarchy who work together to unify, coordinate, promote, and carry on Catholic activities in the United States and to organize and conduct religious, charitable, educational and social welfare work at home and abroad. The bishops are served by a staff of over 350 lay people, priests, deacons, and religious. The relationship between the USCCB and ISNA dates back to the 1990s, when they began the Midwest Muslim-Catholic Dialogue. The USCCB is an Executive Committee member of Shoulder-to-Shoulder.

http://www.isna.net/interfaith-partners.html

From Discover the Networks.

ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA (ISNA)
6555 S. County Rd. - 750 E. Plainfield, IN 46168 110 Maryland Avenue NE - Suite #304 Washington, DC 20002	Phone 8317) 839-8157 / (202) 544-5656 Fax 8317) 839-1840 URL :http://www.isna.net/
Enforces extremist Wahhabi theological writ in America’s mosques

Promoting Sharia Law & Islamic Supremacism

ISNA leaders view Islam as being superior to all other faiths and destined to replace them. Taha J. Alwani, a leading official of the Fiqh Council of North America, which is run under ISNA, writes: “In considering the earth as an arena for Islam, Allah has promised its inheritance to His righteous people, and He has promised that Islam will prevail over other religions.”

In a similar spirit, ISNA co-founder Muzammil Siddiqi wrote in a 2004 fatwa: “The Qur’an makes us fully aware that there are a variety of religious communities, each happy with its own version of the truth. They all possess some truth which is a part of the true Islam in their midst, but regrettably none of them has preserved the message of Allah in its complete and authentic form. Allah sent Prophet Muhammad to guide humanity to the original and authentic faith and the message of Allah.”

According to ISNA leadership, Muslims are obliged to view political processes solely through the eyes of their faith. Alwani, for one, urges Muslims to participate in American politics “in order to protect our rights as American citizens”; to “facilitate our support of our fellow Muslims around the world”; to “help to spread Islam's message”; to “convey the universality of Islam”; “to protect our human rights, guarantee the fulfillment of our needs, and work for the improvement of living conditions for Muslims and non-Muslims in America and abroad”; and “to promote good and to forbid and prevent evil for the welfare of our society.” Further, Alwani exhorts Muslims to nominate fellow Muslims for political office; to “suppor[t] (both politically and financially) those non-Muslim candidates whose beliefs and values are most compatible with ours as Muslims, and who most address and support our issues and causes”; and, above all else, to become American citizens and registered voters who can go to the polls on election day.

Muzammil Siddiqi likewise emphasizes the need for Muslims to be politically active: "In Islam there is no division between religion and politics … We have to see everything from the Islamic point of view whether social, economical or political." Siddiqi aims to promote, in an incremental manner, theestablishment of universal Islamic rule and the creation of a worldwide Islamic state:

“[T]hings do not change overnight. Changes comes through patience, wisdom and hard work. I believe that as Muslims we should participate in the system to safeguard our interests and try to bring gradual change for the right cause, the cause of truth and justice. We must not forget that Allah's rules have to be established in all lands, and all our efforts should lead to that direction.”

ISNA leadership rejects all practices and social mores that fail to comport with the Wahhabist vision of Islam propagated by Saudi Arabia and the Muslim Brotherhood. For instance, Muzzamil Siddiqi calls homosexuality “a moral disorder,” “a moral disease,” “a sin,” and a “corruption” that merits the death penalty. Similarly, Taha Alwani has called homosexuality “an abomination,” “a crime,” and an “illness.” Regarding women's issues, Alwani has characterized the hijab as “part of the protection of the family and family values…. We don't like to see in society any woman to show herself in a way that attracts husbands of other wives." ISNA leader and board member Jamal Badawi is also a strong proponent of the hijab for women.

The Radicalization of American Mosques

Described by Islam scholar Stephen Schwartz as “one of the chief conduits through which the radical Saudi form of Islam passes into the United States,” ISNA focuses heavily on providing Wahhabi theological indoctrination materials to a large percentage of the mosques in North America. Many of these mosques were built with Saudi money and are required, by their Saudi benefactors, to strictly follow the dictates of Wahhabist Imams—an edict that affects the tone and content of the sermons given in the mosques, the selection of books and periodicals that may be read in mosque libraries or sold in mosque bookshops, and the policies governing the exclusion or suppression of dissenters from the congregations.

Kaukab Siddique, a Lincoln University professor who has called for the destruction of Israel, concursthat “ISNA controls most mosques in America and thus also controls who will speak at every Friday prayer, and which literature will be distributed there.”

Through its affiliate, the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT)—a Saudi government-backed organization created to fund Islamist enterprises in North America—ISNA reportedly holds the mortgages on 50 to 80 percent of all mosques in the U.S. and Canada. Thus the organization can freely exercise ultimate authority over these houses of worship and their teachings. Notably, the boards of NAIT and ISNA overlap considerably.

According to Sufi leader Sheikh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani’s January 7, 1999 testimony before a State Department Open Forum, Islamic extremists, at that time, had already gained control of “more than 80 percent of the mosques in the United States.” This, said Kabbani, “means that the ideology of extremism has been spread to 80 percent of the Muslim population, mostly the youth and the new generation.” In his personal investigation of 114 American mosques, Kabbani found that “ninety of them were mostly exposed ... to extreme or radical ideology, based on their speeches, books and board members.” This was largely due to the efforts of ISNA.

Similarly, a 2008 report by the International Assessment and Strategy Center indicated that ISNA wassupplying educational and support services to about 1,100 of the approximately 1,500 mosques in North America.

Complete report at.
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/p...asp?grpid=6178