Radical Islam – The Memphis Connection

Before this post can be understood as relevant to most readers, a brief overview of the origins of the Al Qaeda network is required. As most people are aware, Osama bin Laden is a Saudi national and a strict adherent of Wahhabism. What many don’t understand is that although Saudi Arabia is ruled by a monarchy, the monarchy draws its political power from the religious order of Wahhabi.

Although the region in which the country stands today has an ancient history, the emergence of the Saudi dynasty began in central Arabia in 1744. That year, Muhammad ibn Saud, the ruler of the town of Ad-Dir’iyyah near Riyadh, joined forces with a cleric, Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab, to create a new political entity. This alliance formed in the 18th century remains the basis of Saudi Arabian dynastic rule today.

There is a reason why the majority of the 9/11 hijackers originated from the same region of Saudi Arabia where Wahhabism is deeply rooted. Further, when the Taliban gained dominance in Afghanistan, it was the Saudi ‘religious police’ who directly mentored them on how to organize an Islamic State. Most of us just know the sound-bites and propaganda fed to us by the nightly news and fail to understand that our current conflict is with forces given birth to with the aid of our ‘friend’ Saudi Arabia.

Al Qaeda is actually a union of the adherents of Wahhabi and those of the Egyptian (Islamic Jihad) Muslim Brotherhood (headed by  Al Qaeda’s #2, Ayman al-Zawahiri). The Egyptian head of the snake first appeared in the first WTC bombing in 1993 with the religious leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Omar Abdel-Rahman. Sheik Rahman’s followers in the U.S. enlisted the aid of Ramzi Yousef, a Baulchi with ties to Iraqi Intelligence and trained in bomb-making in Saudi funded training camps in Pakistan. It was Yousef who would later develop the plan that his uncle,  Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) would bring into completion with the assistance of Bin Laden after Yousef’s arrest, now known as the 9/11 attacks.

With that very limited background, it is important to understand that when dealing with Saudi Arabia, we are dealing with two, but very much linked, entities, the monarchy and the Wahhabi sect of Islam. The Wahhabi’s are also a sub-sect of the Sunni sect of Islam and connections can be made to a wide range of different radical groups, including those involved in the liberation of Palestine. The key is that political Jihad has its modern origins and support base with the Wahhabi’s.

In the United States, the activities of Wahhabism is conducted by the North American Islamic Trust.

The North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) is a waqf, the historical Islamic equivalent of an American trust or endowment, serving Muslims in the United States and their institutions. NAIT facilitates the realization of American Muslims’ desire for a virtuous and happy life in a Shari’ah-compliant way.

In 2007, NAIT was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator along with CAIR in case involving support and financing of terrorist organizations. They own the deed to around 27% of the mosques within the United States. So, when I read the interview with a cleric associated with a NAIT mosque done by WND, I became concerned about some of the connections they had established with the Muslim Brotherhood.

However, current NAIT Chairman Muzammil Siddiqi appears in secret Brotherhood documents as a high-ranking member of its shura council in America, according to documents cited in “Muslim Mafia.”

“Within the organizational structure of NAIT, there have been numerous groups and individuals identified as being part of a covert network of revolutionaries,” the FBI warned in a previously classified internal memo about the Muslim Brotherhood.

“This faction of Muslims have [sic] declared war on the United States, Israel, and any other country they deem as an enemy of Islam,” the memo continues, as quoted in “Muslim Mafia.” “The common bond between these various organizations is both religious and political, with the underlying common goal being to further the holy war (Islamic jihad).”

Justice recently declassified a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood manifesto that lists ICC’s owner NAIT among Brotherhood front groups participating in a seditious conspiracy of “eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within” through a “grand jihad,” with the ultimate goal of making Islam “victorious over all religions.”

The secret manifesto was found in a terrorist suspect’s home in Northern Virginia and entered as evidence in the Holy Land Foundation trial.

According to “Muslim Mafia,” NAIT was founded in 1973 with massive funding from the Saudis. It was formed as an investment vehicle for the Muslim Brotherhood in North America, acquiring title to more than 300 mosques and Islamic schools in the U.S.

As readers may recall, last year I did some background work on the Muslim Society of Memphis located on Stratford Road here in Memphis. On June 1, 2009, Carlos Leon Bledsoe a native of Memphis, shot two soldiers outside a recruiting station in Little Rock, Arkansas, killing one and seriously wounding the other. I located the mosque attended by Bledsoe in Memphis at the Muslim Society of Memphis and attempted to speak with the Imam there with limited success. I was able to locate a member of the mosque who was active online with a Yahoo group known as American Muslim Struggles. I joined the group and found links to a video done by Anwar Al-Awlaki, a Yemeni cleric with direct links to the 9/11 hijackers and a known recruiter for Al Qaeda. Later, this same cleric was learned to be associated with the Fort Hood shooter. Yusuf Sneed is the name a reformed Memphis gang member, Joseph Sneed, took after his ‘jail-house’ conversion to Islam. He protested my earlier posts, so I sent him an email notifying him that I was working another story on the center and gave him the opportunity to respond. He has not responded to the email.

I checked the Shelby County Tax Assessor’s website to see if NAIT held any properties here in Memphis. Low and behold, the Muslim Society of Memphis is on property owned by NAIT. In all, NAIT owns 10 properties, 7 of which are associated with the Muslim Society.

Two of the properties are associated with the Mosque and community center on Stratford Road. The largest parcel (1065 Stratford) was purchased in 1980 and a smaller (1055 Stratford) purchased later in 1996. To the south of the mosque are two smaller properties, one a parking lot (1015 Stratford) purchased in 2001 and a residence (1023 Stratford) bought at the same time. Around the corner from the mosque on McCrory are three small homes also owned by NAIT. One (4615 McCrory) was purchased in 1994, another (4605 McCrory) in 1995, and the third (4619 McCrory) in 1987.

When I visited the area this week, I noted that the homes on McCrory are located next door to one another. They appear to be poorly maintained, but people do live in them as evidenced by cars in the driveway(s).  What I did find odd was that some of the windows appeared to be covered with black, or very dark material on the interior. The McCrory properties are also ‘connected’ to the Stratford mosque property via a walkway as shown in the Google Earth imagery below.

The Stratford Road ‘complex’ is obviously quite a bit more than just a mosque.

Another property to my surprise was the mosque located near the U of M campus (3529 Mynders Ave) purchased in 1985. I personally know an Egyptian and Jordanian who worship there and was invited one year to join them at the mosque for a Rhamadan service. So nothing in this post should be construed as an indictment against those who worship at these mosques. Nothing that I have uncovered so far indicates active radical activities by either the worshipers or Imams associated with them (other than Bledsoe and the other individual noted).

The remaining property is an 11 1/4 acre tract of land located 4038 East Shelby Drive (un-developed) purchased in 2002.

What is clear however, is that the tentacles of radical Islam are not limited to some far-away land. Al-Awlaki is still recruiting via YouTube and his followers here in Memphis are still promoting his version of Jihad (note: Yusuf took down his link to Al-Awlaki’s video after we exposed it here at BCR). Local converts to Islam are taking trips to Yemen and other areas under the influence of Al Qaeda and returning with agenda’s unknown. Last year, one of them acted out their version of Jihad on two soldiers in Little Rock.

I should note that all of the anti-American photographs and links to Jihad material have been removed from American Muslim Struggles. Does this mean that those sentiments are no longer felt by the person who originally posted them, or does it simply mean they are going to be more careful about posting such material in the future? I suspect the later since the photographs remained posted until I notified Sneed that I was writing another post on the mosque (they were posted as recent as a few weeks ago when I checked the group).

Memphis death tied to terror? – Investigation into phony driver’s license scheme, 9-11 ties

Tennessee license examiner Katherine Smith’s burned body was found Sunday in the wreckage of a car that appears to have been torched, say authorities. She was to testify the next day before a federal magistrate judge for a detention hearing on a charge of conspiracy to obtain fraudulent identification documents.

Smith and five co-defendants were arrested Feb. 5 after they left a state driver testing station. Prosecutors said Smith had processed four driver’s license applications that morning based on false information provided by co-defendant Khaled Odtllah, 31, of Shelby County.

At Monday’s hearing, federal prosecutor Tim DiScenza described Smith’s death as “most unusual and suspicious.” He also said two of her co-defendants had “connections” to the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

More…

Smith was one of six people charged last week by federal officials with conspiracy to get Tennessee driver’s licenses under false pretenses.

Also charged were Khaled Odtllah, 31, of Shelby County; Sakhera Hammad, 24, of New York City; and Mohammed Fares, Mostafa Said Abou-Shahin and Abdelmuhsen Mahmid Hammad. Authorities didn’t provide ages for the last three and said they admitted being in the country illegally.

At a federal court hearing Monday for Odtllah and Hammad, FBI agent J. Suzanne Nash testified that when Smith was arrested last week she had told authorities she was buying an Acura Legend from Odtllah.

Nash said authorities were trying to determined what caused the car to burn. The gas tank did not explode and the car was only slightly dented from the crash, she said.

Nash also said when Sakhera Hammad was arrested, investigators found a visitor’s pass for the World Trade Center, dated Sept. 5, 2001, in his wallet.

Sakhera Hammad told authorities he was a plumber and worked on the center’s sprinkler system. He said Abdelmuhsen Mahmid Hammad was a cousin who worked with him, Nash said.

Nash said federal authorities also learned that Odtllah had drive to Memphis from New York City on Sept. 11.

Muslim student in Memphis arrested; pilot impersonation materials found in apartment

When FBI agents walked into Mahmoud Maawad’s spartan apartment at 3557 Mynders # 5 on Sept. 9, they found a desk, chair, computer and a Koran.

They also found an airline pilot’s uniform, a chart of Memphis International Airport, and instructional DVDs, including one called “How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act.”

Please note that in this story, Maawad lived just a few doors down from the mosque owned by NAIT at 3539 Mynders.

I certainly hope the FBI is not being so politically correct that they are not keeping a close eye on these operations. They are without a doubt converting some Memphians to Islam with jail house programs. At some point, these same converts are being introduced to radical forms of Islam (Bledsoe a case in point). I think Homeland Security would spend their time more wisely worrying about NAIT and CAIR than with tea party protesters.