              
|
New IPT Profile: Muzammil Siddiqiby IPT A prominent Islamic scholar and imam, Muzammil Siddiqi is a consistent advocate of expanding Sharia law, albeit through peaceful means, to the United States.The Investigative Project on Terrorism put together a detailed profile of Sidddiqi which can be found here. He is the director Islamic Society of Orange County (ISOC) and served as president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) from 1997 to 2000. He remains on the ISNA board of directors in addition to serving as chairman of he ISNA affiliated North American Islamic Trust (NAIT). ISNA was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Hamas-support trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). Prosecutors say HLF was a key element in a "Palestine Committee" created by the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. to advance the needs of the terror group Hamas. ISNA is the first group listed among "our organizations and the organizations of our friends" in a Muslim Brotherhood strategy memo dated May 22, 1991. In his public role, Siddiqi has built a colorful history of doublespeak – expressing seemingly welcome statements about terrorism yet praising the violent jihad waged in Israel and elsewhere. But this might be best illustrated by an interview he gave the San Francisco Chronicle for an article about Muslims and homosexuality in June 2001. "Siddiqi said he did not condone violence against gays," the article reads, "but supported laws in countries where homosexuality is punishable by death." He has advocated bringing Sharia law to America. In an October 1996 question and answer article in the Pakistan Link. Asked whether Muslims should be politically active in non-Muslim states, Siddiqi said "By participating in a non-Islamic system, one cannot rule by that which Allah has commanded. But things do not change overnight. Changes come through patience, wisdom and hard work. He repeated the theme during a "Live Dialogue," on IslamOnline.net on May 31, 2001. "Once more people accept Islam, insha'allah, this will lead to the implementation of Sharia in all areas," he said In a speech from the early 1990s, Siddiqi spoke of jihad and listed violent campaigns as the model for liberating Palestine: I can see that there is already some impact after Jihad in Afghanistan in the Intifada movement in Palestine. With this, more courage, more strength, more confidence and shall I even say that in a few years we will be celebrating with each other the victory of Islam in Palestine. Insh'allah, we shall be celebrating the coming of the Masjid al-Aqsa under the Islamic rule. We shall be celebrating insh'allah the coming of Jerusalem and the whole land of Palestine insh'allah and the establishment of the Islamic State throughout that area. His mosque, the Islamic Society of Orange County, hosted Omar Abdel Rahman in 1992. Rahman already was well known advocating violence against the Egyptian government. Siddiqi translated Abdel Rahman's lecture, which the New Yorker magazine reported in January 2007, "dismissed nonviolent definitions of jihad as weak. [Abdel Rahman] stressed that a number of unspecified enemies had ‘united themselves against Muslims' and that fighting them was obligatory. ‘If you are not going to the jihad, then you are neglecting the rules of Allah,' he said. The opportunities for jihad were virtually everywhere, ranging from apostate Middle Eastern regimes to ‘those who are taking the wealth of Muslims from petrol or from oil.'" Siddiqi did not contest the sheikh's remarks. Rather, a video of the lecture later was sold at the ISOC gift shop. Related Items
Comment on this item |
|||||||||
 |
© 2008 The Investigative Project on Terrorism. | Legal Information |
