BBC exposes Columbus mosque speaker, hatemonger Khalid Yasin

The BBC’s Panorama program on Monday, “Muslim First, British Second,” addressed the growing problem of Islamic radicalization flourishing under the guise of “non-violent” Muslims. What they discovered is that extremist preachers, while nominally disclaiming violence, in fact, are a major contributor to the atmosphere of hate that breeds Islamic terrorism.

So it was no surprise then that one of the hatemongers they profiled was none other than Khalid Yasin, who was in Ohio last year conducting fundraisers in Columbus and Dayton. As we reported here exclusively at COAT last May, Yasin spent more than a week touring a number of Columbus-area mosques and Ohio State, his visit sponsored by the Islamic Society of Greater Columbus.

The segment on Khalid Yasin begins around the 9:40 mark:



Sure is nice to see a major media outlet addressing this problem — even if they are 3,866 miles away. Now if only get the media a little closer to home to begin seriously tackling this issue. Not holding my breath.

Changing of the Guard?

One would have thought that with all the attention that Ahmad al Akhras and his close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated group CAIR (as alleged by the Federal Government in the ongoing Holyland Foundation [HLF] trial in Houston, Tx.), that the International Academy of Columbus would have steered clear of any potentially controversial figures when creating a new Board of Education.

They didn’t. By replacing Al Akhras with Dr. Hazem Gheith, the operation went from ‘troubling’ to overtly dangerous (when looked at through the long term goals of the Muslim Brotherhood and their ‘grand jihad’ against the West).

On the good side, while CAIR is listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF case, the Muslim American Society (MAS) is not. They are however considered the operational arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States and, according to the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT),

[f]ounded as the United States chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood, the international Islamist, anti-Western organization whose goal is the “introduction of the Islamic Shari`ah as the basis controlling the affairs of state and society.”

According to the Secretary of the State of Ohio, in 2007 Dr. Hazem Gheith incorporated a 501 c3 (not for profit) organization in Columbus, Ohio called the Muslim American Society.

Gheith is not only on the Board at the International Academy, but also served as the president of Masjid Omar ibnal Khattab (Omar Mosque) back when Columbus Al Qaeda ‘associates’ Iyman Faris, Nuradin Abdi, and Christopher Paul were ‘hanging out’ there (and involved in martial arts training — amongst other projects. . . .).

I wonder what the Muslim Brotherhood’s flagship, the MAS is doing wanting to be involved in educating Columbus’ children?

Maybe we can get Abukar Arman or Abukar Osman to check with Mr. Gheith and make sure they are not trying to subvert or influence Columbus’ youthful immigrant population.

Funny coincidence; Arman and Osman associated with another group advocating for Shari`a law dominance.

Small world.

BREAKING: Columbus Al-Qaeda cell member Christopher Paul to plead guilty!

UPDATE #1: Added local news video from 10TV reporter Maureen Kocot below.

UPDATE #2: For those not familiar with the terror problem in the Columbus area, I’ve also added below the 5 minute CBN News feature from last October, “Jihad in Central Ohio” (link is to video text; video below).

UPDATE #3: Incredible as it seems, take a gander at my most recent post, “Local Muslim leader defends convicted Columbus Al-Qaeda cell members”.

UPDATE #4: Now that Paul has officially pled guilty, see my wrap-up, "What Columbus Al-Qaeda cell member Christopher Paul pled guilty to".

This is breaking news, but it is being reported today that Columbus Al-Qaeda cell member Christopher “Kenyatta” Paul has agreed to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. While two of Paul’s conspirators, Iyman Faris and Nuradin Abdi, have already been convicted on terrorism charges, we also know from court documents in these three cases that there are at least 10 others known to have been involved in the Columbus Al-Qaeda cell that have not yet been charged.

You might remember that several prominent Muslim organizations and self-appointed Islamic spokesmen (CAIR National Vice Chairman Ahmad Al-Akhras included) openly criticized Paul’s April 2007 arrest as evidence of Islamophobia (see Erick Stakelbeck’s CBN News article, “Columbus Al-Qaeda Man Charged, CAIR not pleased”). What is CAIR’s response today? Nothing appears on their website. For Al-Akhras’ comments regarding Christopher Paul and his other convicted terrorist associates, see my FrontPage article, “Hometown Jihad: Getting By With a Little Help from His (Terrorist) Friends”. Oh, and Christopher Paul was the longtime martial arts instructor at Masjid Omar Ibn El Khattab, where Ahmad Al-Akhras attended before fleeing the country earlier this year.

Also recall that local wackademic, Ohio State National Security Studies chair John Mueller has published a book, “Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them”, and created a cottage industry of touring the country claiming that there is no domestic threat from Al-Qaeda to the United States. No doubt Mr. Mueller is not available today for comment.

Here’s the Associated Press report:

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Court documents say an Ohio man will plead guilty in an alleged plot to bomb overseas U.S. military facilities and European resorts.

Christopher Paul of the Columbus suburb of Worthington is the last of three Ohio men charged with alleged terrorist activities.

Documents filed Monday in federal court in Columbus say Paul will plead guilty Tuesday to one count of using bombs in a terrorist attack with a possible sentence of 20 years.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment. Paul’s attorney, Jim Gilbert, says the documents speak for themselves.

The Columbus Dispatch report is more specific, saying that Paul has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. He could face life in prison.

UPDATE #1: Here’s a video news report by reporter Maureen Kocot courtesy of 10TV CBS News.



UPDATE #2: As a refresher to our local terrorism problem, here’s the CBN News video, “Jihad in Central Ohio” (link is to video text):

Hate sheikh Khalid Yasin’s “Islamic Hatred in the Heartland” tour continues in Columbus all this week

International hate sheikh Khalid Yasin, whose message of hate, bigotry and violence had been condemned around the world (for instance, the 2005 condemnation of Yasin’s views by Australian NSW Premier Bob Carr), will be spending the entire upcoming week featured at events all around Columbus. He will be hosted at several mosques affiliated with the Islamic Society of Greater Columbus (ISGC).


You might recall that Yasin appeared at an event in Dayton earlier this month for Masjid At-Taqwa at Sinclair Community College, and his appearance covered by Dayton NBC affiliate WDTN.


Just as a refresher, here are some of Khalid Yasin’s extremist views (covered in this previous post):

• Yasin says that the US government was behind the 9/11 attacks. (“Khalid Yasin: The New Voice of Islam?” Sunday, October 9, 2005)
• Yasin claims that AIDS was invented at a US government lab and spread by Western governments through UN agencies and Christian missionaries. (“Khalid Yasin: The New Voice of Islam?” Sunday, October 9, 2005)
• Yasin advocates for the death penalty for homosexuality. (“Home Grown”, Sixty Minutes, Channel Nine, July 24, 2005)
• Yasin justified the terrorist bombings in Bali because of years of alleged Western oppression. (“Khalid Yasin: The New Voice of Islam?” Sunday, October 9, 2005)
• Yasin says that the Quran permits wife-beating and that equal rights for women is a “delusion” and “foolishness”. (cited in “Undercover Mosque”, Channel 4 [UK], January 15, 2007)
• Yasin calls the beliefs of Christians and Jews “filth”. (cited in “Undercover Mosque”, Channel 4 [UK], January 15, 2007)
• Yasin says that Muslims cannot have non-Muslim friends. (“Home Grown”, Sixty Minutes, Channel 9 [Australia], July 24, 2005)
• Yasin rejects any separation between Islam and the state and openly advocates for the reestablishment of the caliphate. (Sunday Nights with John Cleary, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, September 7, 2003)
• Yasin visited Jemaah Islamiah terrorist leader Abu Bakar Bashir in prison. (“Koranic TV next step for radial sheikh”, Sydney Morning Herald, August 20, 2005)
• Yasin has lectured with Hizb-ut-Tahrir hatemonger Omar Bakri Mohammed, who was banned from the UK in 2006.
• Yasin was in Saudi Arabia on 9/11 soliciting support from the Al-Qaeda front Al-Haramain Foundation, which was designated a terrorist organization in 2004 by the US government, to help finance his Islamic Broadcasting Company.

And here are some of his statements and positions observed by the Australian media as noted in a July 24, 2005, article in the Sydney Morning Herald (“Sheikh calls Prime Minister’s comments inflammatory”):

Sheik Khalid Yasin, the executive director of the Islamic Teaching Institute which is dedicated to the work of promoting Islam, told a large gathering of young muslims at Bankstown Town Hall in Sydney last week that muslims could not be friends with anyone who did not share their faith.

“They’re not your friend because they don’t understand your religious principles and they cannot because they do not understand your faith,” he said.

The sheik said young Muslims should not attend university because they would lose their direction.

“University is a gateway for deviation,” he said.

“You forget your Islamic direction. Now you have become compromised through some kind of intellectuality.”

The sheik told the Nine Network men whose wives disobeyed them should be beaten.

He quoted a verse from the Koran and translated it.

“Now specifically, if you take that word literally, it means literally, beat them lightly,” Sheik Yasin said.

“Beat them, like I would my child.”

He also said homosexuals should be killed.

“We don’t make any excuses about that, it’s not our law, it’s the Koran,” he said.

With that in mind, it’s interesting to see that Yasin will be leading both youth and women’s events while in Columbus this week. Also interesting is that he will be speaking at Ohio State University this week, despite the fact that he’s said that Muslims should not attend university: “The university is a gateway for deviation. You forget your Islamic direction. Now you have become compromised through some kind of intellectuality.”

Will it be CAIR-OSU, the Muslim Student Association, or both sponsoring his OSU visit?

Here’s his schedule for this upcoming week (courtesy of Basil Mohamed Gohar and Columbus Dawah):

Shaykh Khalid Yasin in Columbus this week (updated schedule)

Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem

Assalaamu ʿalaykum wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barakaatuh

Alhamdulillaah, our community is truly blessed to have with us Shaykh Khalid Yasin, perhaps best known for his powerful & inspiring lecture, The Purpose of Life. He will be visiting several locations throughout the community during his stay in the coming week, in shaaʾ Allaah. Please visit this page frequently as the schedule is being updated and finalized.

Saturday (May 24th, 2008)
Ibn Taymiya Masjid & Islamic Center (map)
7:00 PM Presentation

Sunday (May 25th, 2008)
Masjid Omar bin El-Khattab (map)
4:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Ladies only)
After Maghrib khaatirah (everyone)

Monday (May 26th, 2008)
Abubakar Siddique Islamic Center (map)
After Maghrib khaatirah

Tuesday (May 27th, 2008)
Masjid Oumar Al-Foutiyou (map)
After Maghrib khaatirah

Wednesday (May 28th, 2008)
Ibn Taymiya Masjid & Islamic Center (map)
7:00 PM Presentation

Thursday (May 29th, 2008)
Event at OSU (details still coming)

Friday (May 30th, 2008)
Masjid Omar bin El-Khattab (map)
Jumuʿah Khutbah @ 1PM
After Maghrib khaatirah

Saturday (May 31st, 2008)
Masjid Omar bin El-Khattab (map)
10:30 AM Youth Program
After Maghrib presentation

Sunday (June 1st, 2008)
Ibn Taymiya Masjid & Islamic Center (map)
7:00 PM Presentation

Will our self-proclaimed “interfaith” leaders, such as Abukar Arman and the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio condemn ISGC’s promotion of this international hatemonger?

You know the answer as well as I do. . .

Oh, wait, Khalid Yasin is being hosted by Abukar Arman’s mosque three times this week. Nevermind.



Here are the links to the international media coverage cited above of Khalid Yasin’s campaign of hate:

Interview, Sunday Nights with John Cleary, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, September 7, 2003

“Khalid Yasin in conversation”, The Religion Report, Australian Broadcasting Corporation National Radio, September 10, 2003

“Sheik calls Prime Minister’s comments inflammatory”, Sydney Morning Herald, July 24, 2005

“Home Grown”, Sixty Minutes, Channel Nine, July 24, 2005

Marian Wilkinson, Anne Davies and Andrew Clennell, “Muslims unites — it’s time to disown terror”, Sydney Morning Herald, July 26, 2005

Tom Allard, “Koranic TV next step for radical sheik”, Sydney Morning Herald, August 20, 2005

“Khalid Yasin: The New Voice of Islam?” (transcript), Sunday, October 9, 2005

“Undercover Mosque” (transcript), Dispatches, Channel 4 [UK], January 15, 2007

Robert Spencer, “Guess Who’s Speaking at the Local Mosque”, Human Events, May 14, 2008

Patrick Poole, “Islamic Hatred in the Heartland”, FrontPage Magazine, May 14, 2008

Ohio State Muslim Student Association funded by terror organization Kindhearts

A belated plug for my article published on Tuesday, “Terror Funded MSA at Ohio State”, regarding the Ohio State Muslim Student Association’s financial backer, Kindhearts, which was raided by federal authorities and shut down by the US government for terrorist financing. (I would also note our recent post about the OSU MSA’s playing host to now convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist leader Sami Al-Arian.)

Here’s the intro:

February 20, 2006 proved to be an eventful day for the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at The Ohio State University. Not only did that date mark the conclusion of their weekend-long “Leaders of Tomorrow” conference, but that was also the day that their conference sponsor, Kindhearts, was raided by federal law enforcement and closed by order of the Department of the Treasury for financing terrorism, freezing its assets.

According to the US government, Kindhearts, which was established following the closure of the Holy Land Foundation and the Global Relief Foundation, was not only engaged in providing millions for HAMAS in Lebanon and the West Bank, it had hired as a fundraising specialist the man identified by HAMAS head Khaled Mishal as the designated HAMAS bag man in the US, Mohammed El-Mezain. (For additional background on Kindhearts and its multiple connections to the international terrorism finance network, see Joe Kaufman’s FrontPage article, “The Black Hearts of Kindhearts”)

Kindhearts, however, was not the only terror-connected sponsor of the OSU MSA conference. Also supporting the MSA’s conference was its local parent organization, Masjid Omar Ibn El-Khattab, known affectionately in the Central Ohio area as “Masjid Al-Qaeda”. The mosque nearby the OSU campus was home to the largest known Al-Qaeda cell in the US since 9/11, with two former members — Iyman Faris and Nuradin Abdi — already convicted and serving prison terms for their participation, and another cell member — Christopher Paul — currently awaiting trial.

The third identified sponsor of the MSA conference, Ilmquest Productions, is the media arm of the Al-Maghrib Institute (profiled last year here at FrontPage, “Jihad U”). Ilmquest not only publishes and markets DVDs and CDs of Al-Maghrib “scholars”, but also a long-line of other extremist speakers, including Bilal Philips, Khalid Yasin, and Yemeni Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar Al-Aulaqi.

Read the whole article.

CAIR-Ohio and the Convicted Cop Killer

Convicted cop-killer Jamil Al-Amin (center), with his Central Ohio cop-killer defense crew, Siraj Wahhaj (left) and Ahmad al-Akhras (right)
The next time CAIR-OH does a “cultural sensitivity” seminar for one of our local law enforcement or homeland security agencies, perhaps someone there will ask the CAIR representatives about why their organization has persistently defended convicted cop-killer Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, who was convicted in March 2002 of murdering Fulton County (GA) Deputy Sheriff Ricky Kinchen and seriously wounding his partner in an ambush as they were serving an arrest warrant on him. He was convicted on all 13 counts and sentenced to life in prison. Deputy Kinchen was taken from his wife and two small children.

Even before Al-Amin’s trial, CAIR and several other prominent Islamic organizations championed his innocence. In a March 21, 2000 press release jointly-issued by CAIR even before Deputy Kinchen’s body was still cold, they claimed: “The charges of Imam Jamil are especially troubling because they are inconsistent with what is known of his moral character and past behavior as a Muslim.” Nothing was said about Al-Amin’s interstate flight to Montgomery, Alabama after the shootings or that when he was arrested police recovered the vehicle bearing bullet holes and the weapons used to ambush Deputies Kinchen and English.

One step these organizations, including CAIR, took was to form an alliance, the National Support Committee for Imam Jamil, and begin fundraising for his defense. One fundraising site was Columbus, Ohio, organized by CAIR-Ohio and the Islamic Society of Greater Columbus. Demonstrating their utter contempt for law enforcement, the keynote speaker was none other than Siraj Wahhaj, a member of CAIR’s Board of Advisors who was named by US District Attorney Mary Jo White as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The Columbus event was organized by then CAIR-Ohio president (now CAIR national vice chairman) Ahmad Al-Akhras, who we noted last month has fled the country for Qatar. The event was held at Masjid Omar ibn El-Khattab near campus, the gathering place for our local Al-Qaeda cell and known affectionately as “Masjid Al-Qaeda”.

Here is a copy of the announcement from CAIR-Ohio and the Islamic Society of Great Columbus for the Jamil al-Amin fundraiser:

From: “Ahmad Al-Akhras”
To: “Columbus Muslims”, “AACO”
Subject: (CAIR-Ohio) Imam Siraj Wahhaj in Columbus
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 16:30:59 -0400

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

CAIR-Ohio
Council on American-Islamic Relations, Ohio
4700 Reed
Road, Suite B
Columbus, Ohio 43220
Tel: 614-470-5228
E-Mail: cairohio@...
URL: http://www.cair-net.org

Islamic Society of Greater Columbus
580 Riverview Drive
Columbus, Ohio 43202
Tel (614)262-1310
E-Mail: info@isgc.org
URL: http://www.isgc.org

April 12, 2001

-----------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 12, 2001 (COLUMBUS, OH 4/12/2001) CAIR-Ohio and ISGC host Imam Siraj Wahhaj to speak about the case of Imam Jamil Al-Amin.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Ohio Chapter and the Islamic Society of Greater Columbus are pleased to host Imam Siraj Wahhaj on Friday April 27, 2001.

Imam Siraj Wahhaj will give Juma’ Khutba at the Bill McDonald’s Athletic Complex on Olentangy River and Bethel Roads. In the evening, Imam Siraj Wahhaj will speak at Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Mosque. The topic of the lecture, which will be after Maghrib Prayer, will be about the case of Imam Jamil Al-Amin of Atlanta, GA.

WHEN: FRIDAY April 27, 2001
Juma’a Khutbah
at Bill McDonald’s
and
Lecture
at 8:30 p.m. — after Maghrib Prayer

WHERE: Juma’a Khutba
at Bill McDonald’s
Intersection of Olentangy River Road and Bethel Road
Columbus, Ohio
and
Lecture: Defending Muslims Rights, the Case of Imam Jamil Al-Amin
at Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Mosque
580 Riverview Dr
Columbus, Ohio
Tel 614-262-1310

TITLE: Defending Muslims Rights, the Case of Imam Jamil Al-Amin

CONTACT: Mohammed Azhar Masood, (614) 937-3357, Ahmad Al-Akhras, (614) 989-5916

When the guilty verdicts were announced, CAIR and these other Islamic organization denounced the trial as unfair and mobilized for his appeal. In a news conference they said, “We do not believe the facts presented in court warranted a guilty verdict against Imam Jamil. His defense team offered credible evidence indicating that he was not the person who shot the deputies. We believe Imam Jamil will be exonerated on appeal.” Fortunately, all of his appeals were examined, considered and rejected.

Here is one description of the events surrounding Deputy Kinchen’s murder and Al-Amin’s arrest:

Preaching a firebrand version of Islam, Al-Amin in the 1980s became a pillar of Atlanta’s burgeoning Muslim community. He and the law stayed on separate paths until 1995, when he was arrested for shooting a drug dealer four times in the legs, and also charged with carrying a concealed and unlicensed .45 caliber handgun. A year later, he was investigated in connection with more than a dozen homicides, which a police report ascribed to revenge, business rivalries and eliminating people who “knew too much.” By 1999 he was arrested on charges of driving a stolen car and carrying a concealed weapon.

Even so, when the two sheriff’s deputies, Aldranon English, 28, and Ricky Kinchen, 35, found Al-Amin standing in a black trench coat by a parked black Mercedes-Benz, they were not prepared for what came next. Finding Al-Amin’s hands concealed, they followed standard procedure and ordered him to show his hands. “OK, here they are,” he replied and allegedly pulled out two guns, firing first a .223 caliber assault rifle, then switching to a 9 mm revolver. English was shot in both legs, the left arm and right chest. Six bullets killed Kinchen. The next day English identified Al-Amin from a selection of mug shots.

Al-Amin, meanwhile, fled to White Hall, Alabama, and for the second time in his life made the FBI’s most-wanted list. Four days later he was caught — this time by no less than one hundred well-armed police officers. Al-Amin was wearing body armor when apprehended. Police found in White Hall his black Mercedes — complete with a tell-tale bullet hole — two cartridge clips, a .223 caliber rifle and a 9 mm handgun. Ballistic tests showed the guns to be those used to shoot English and Kinchen.

Something our local law enforcement officials ought to consider next time they agree to cozy up to CAIR-Ohio for “cultural sensitivity” and “community outreach”.