Taking Islamism to the Streets

Andrew Walden
FrontPageMagazine.com | Monday, September 21, 2009

“Our Time Has Come”, say Islamists planning to lead “at least 50,000 Muslims” to Capitol Hill Friday, September 25. Organizers--including several tied to the 1993 World Trade center attack--boast "the Athan will be chanted on Capitol Hill, echoing off of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and other great edifices that surround Capitol Hill...."Attorney and "main organizer" of “Islam on Capitol Hill”, Hassen Ibn Abdellah is President of the Elizabeth, New Jersey Dar ul-Islam, Inc. Abdellah was, described October 25, 1993 by the New York Times, as the “most aggressively combative of the lawyers” representing the terrorists who staged the 1993 World Trade Center attacks. His client, the Egyptian-born Mahmud Abouhalima, was convicted of helping to manufacture and transport the bomb detonated in the 1993 attack and is now incarcerated in the Federal "Supermax" prison at Florence, Colorado.

In 2004 Abdellah represented Numan Maflahi, a New Jersey Muslim tied to al-Qaeda fundraising. The New York Times July 10, 2004 reported:

Prosecutors said Mr. Maflahi, a gas station owner who lives in Little Ferry, N.J., had been the driver and personal assistant for Sheik Abdullah Satar, a former member of parliament in Yemen. They have described Sheik Satar as a fund-raiser with ties to Al Qaeda.

Yesterday, Mr. Maflahi's lawyer, Hassen Ibn Abdellah, told Judge Nina Gershon of Federal District Court in Brooklyn that her sentencing decision was a test of whether "this country could be fair to Arab-Americans."

Five years later, why does the "aggressively combative" Abdellah think his "Time Has Come"? The August 31 Newark Star-Ledger explains: "It was President Obama's words at his inauguration in January, and then his speech in Egypt in June, that led Abdellah and an area imam, Abdul Malik, to begin discussing the idea...."

Is there a message hidden in the date of the rally? September 25, 2009 is nothing on the Islamic calendar but it is September 12, 2009 in the old Julian calendar. This is not the only recent example of unlikely coincidences. Islamists from the Muslim Association of Hawaii this spring used false statements about Islamic history--including claims that historical Julian dates were actually Gregorian dates-- to maneuver the Hawaii State Legislature into celebrating "Islam Day" on September 24, 2009--which is September 11, 2009 on the Julian calendar. Islamists June 30 convinced the New York City Council to pass a resolution calling on New York Public Schools to be closed every year to celebrate the Islamic holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha which will fall on September 10, 2010 and September 11, 2016, respectively, as the dates of the Islamic lunar calendar rotate through the modern calendar.

Mr. Abdellah was also attorney for a Washington, DC Muslim taxi driver, Mahmud Faruq Brent, who pled guilty April 2, 2007 to traveling to Pakistani Kashmir and training with the Islamist terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba in 2002. The Washington Post reports "His attorney, Hassen Ibn Abdellah, said Brent does not intend to cooperate with authorities or testify against the other defendants." Brent was tied to a "Virginia Jihad Network" including several other convicted terrorists.

Abdellah may have failed to help his clients evade justice in those trials, but he still has hopes for another kind of Islamist victory in the court of public opinion. He tells the Star-Ledger one of his goals for the rally is "to change the face of Islam so people don't feel every Muslim believes America is 'the great Satan....'"

"Abdul Malik" is the other organizer listed on the rally flyer. In a video posted on his Facebook page and discovered by bloggers at SquareMileWife, Abdul Malik explains: "Polygamy is an American tradition." In a post he writes: "Democracy is not revelation, and democracy does not equal freedom, for in democracy you have apartheid, you have slavery, you have homosexuality, you have lesbianism, you have gambling, you have all of the voices that are against the spirit of truth; so no we don’t want to democratize Islam, we want to Islamize democracy."

Postings on several Islam-related Facebook pages announce; "Jumm`ah (Friday Prayers) will be given by Imam Abdul Malik at 1 p.m. sharp on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. This is a free event and many buses will be leaving from various masjids, including Masjid al-Taqwa {I believe it's $20.00 round trip}. I'm not sure if Obama will be in attendance but 50,000 plus attendees are expected...."

Imam Siraj Wahhaj of Brooklyn, NY Masjid Taqwa reportedly has pledged to fill "50 buses" for "Islam on Capitol Hill." Wahhaj's profile on the Discover The Networks website explains:

In September 1991 Wahhaj stated the following: "…And [Allah] declared 'Whoever is at war with my friends, I declare war on them.' ... Your true friend is Allah, the messenger, and those who believe.... Hear what I'm telling you well. The Americans are not your friends ... The Canadians are not your friends ... The Europeans are not your friends. Your friend is Allah, the Messenger and those who believe. These people will never be satisfied with you until you follow their religion ..."

In a 1992 address to an audience of Muslims in New Jersey, Wahhaj expressed his desire to see Muslims seize control of the United States and replace its constitutional government with an Islamic caliphate. “If we were united and strong,” Wahhaj said, “we'd elect our own emir [leader] and give allegiance to him.... [T]ake my word, if 6-8 million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us.”

In 1995 Wahhaj was named by U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White as a possible co-conspirator to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Wahhaj angrily objected to that designation, noting in his defense that he had eaten "dinner with Secretary of State [Madeline] Albright -- after the list" of co-conspirators had been released.

In the summer of 1999, Wahhaj testified as a character witness for convicted terror mastermind Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman. Wahhaj stated, on the record, that he considered it an honor to have had an opportunity to host Abdel-Rahman at his mosque, describing the latter as a “respected scholar ... bold ... [and] a strong preacher of Islam.”

In February 2001 Wahhaj, along with Ihsan Bagby, founded the Muslim Alliance of North America, a predominantly black organization representing Muslims indigenous to the United States.

In August and September of 2001, just prior to the 9/11 attacks, Wahhaj was a guest speaker a "Jihad Camp" in Pennsylvania. The camp was organized by Safet Abid Catovic, a leader of the Benevolence International Foundation, a "charity" that would be shut down in November 2002 on charges that it had provided funding for al Qaeda.

In January of this year, Abdellah's Dar ul-Islam Mosque played host to Mohammad Qatanani, to speak on "The State of Islam and the Muslim." Qatanani, Imam of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, one of the largest mosques in the NY-NJ area, was convicted in Israel in 1993 of serving as a recruiter for the terrorist Hamas organization. Charged with hiding his Israeli conviction on his US visa application, several interfaith supporters joined 250 Muslims outside his 2008 deportation hearings. In a video of the rally, Qatanani, described on the Dar ul-Islam website as "expert on ... Palestine and Palestinian affairs", is seen waving to the crowd in a way which closely resembles the Nazi-style Hamas salute--another coincidence, of course. The decision granting Qatanani a green card is now under appeal by US attorneys.

Scheduled to recite Koranic verse at the September 25 rally, Egyptian-born Sheikh Ahmad Dewidar has a master's degree in Shariah Law and is Imam of the Islamic Center in New York City. According to the biographical notes posted on “Islam on Capitol Hill”, "(Dewidar) stood shoulder to shoulder with US President George W. Bush and UN Secretary General Kofi Anan at Ground Zero as Imam of the Islamic Center in Mid-Manhattan to speak on behalf of the Muslim community to condemn the September 11 attacks."

In a 1995 interview recorded and translated by MEMRI, Dewidar addresses the same issue as Abdellah: "to change the face of Islam."

Dewidar: In 1995 I heard some sermons, saying that Muslims should march on the White House from some of the mosques.

Host: What do you mean by “march on the White House”?

Dewidar: One cleric said in his sermon: “We are going to the White House, so that Islam will be victorious, Allah willing, and the White House will become into the Muslim house.”

Host: How? I don’t understand.

Dewidar: This is simply a slogan. I’m only saying this to...

Host: Are they going to occupy the White House or what?

Dewidar: No, they say that through the domination of Islam and its ideas, the White House will change.

Host: This will happen one day, but not this way. Islam will be victorious, no doubt, but not this way.

Dewidar: It will not happen unless the Muslims abandon their slogans and become a role model. If a Muslim doctor who invents a cure in the hospital or performs an important operation successfully – all the media will broadcast it live and announce it worldwide. The Muslim who makes do with breaking the wooden podium, with screaming, and with patronizing, condescending rhetoric that “Islam is coming, and it will change the face of the earth,” while at the same time he cannot even change the face of the Islamic capitals, which overflow with garbage – this path will lead to no good.

The NY Sun, July 6, 2005 reports:

Ahmad Dewidar, was recently called "the face of the next generation of Muslims in America." He has met with President Bush, Mayor Giuliani, Governor Pataki and U.N. Secretary-General Annan....

...On June 15, (2005) Dr. Dewidar was interviewed by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's Web site, www.ikhwanonline.com. When asked about how the attacks of September 11, 2001, impacted the spread of Islam in America, he said that he witnessed hundreds of Americans converting to Islam. Hinting at an American government conspiracy related to the attacks, he said, "Whether or not these events were planned, or pinned on the Muslims, or something else - [it] provided an opportunity for [the American government] to legislate dubious laws that restrict the growth and presence of Islam in the U.S."

Regarding American skepticism toward Islam following September 11, 2001, he said, "The media - most of which is under Zionist control - has helped to spread this perception." Later in the interview he said that "the Jews" control the press. When asked, "What is the extent of the Muslim community's influence on American society?" He answered, "The Zionist community numbers only 3 million, but they control the government, the politics, the economy, and the media in the U.S."

Also while speaking to the Web site of the Muslim Brotherhood, he denounced President Bush's policy in the Middle East, claiming it was dictated by Natan Sharansky: "This Jew has despicable goals, and we see their effects today in America's actions in the region, imposing its opinion and its outlook on democracy, education, and political involvement on our countries."

Speaking to the Newark Star-Ledger, Abdellah claims: "This is not a protest. Never has the Islamic community prayed on Capitol Hill for the soul of America. We're Americans. We need to change the face of Islam so people don't feel every Muslim believes America is "the great Satan,' because we love America."

This seemingly pro-America statement is similar to another seemingly pro-America statement he made to the October 25, 1993 by the New York Times on behalf of Nidal A. Ayyad:

"That's the beauty of our system. There's no problem with the practice of Islam. That's also the problem that this case presents. You look at Ayyad. He's an American. He can practice his religion and his way of life here. Why would he blow up the World Trade Center?"

Of course Nidal A. Ayyad did blow up the garage of the World Trade Center, killing six and injuring 1,042 in a failed attempt to topple the buildings. Evidence introduced at trial showed that this "American" received $10,000 from Khalid Sheikh Mohammad to pay for the WTC attack. Ayyad is now locked up in the Florence, Colorado Federal Supermax Prison.

The Muslim Brotherhood, tied to both Dewidar and Qatanani is a worldwide Islamist organization dedicated to re-establishing an Islamic Caliphate. The Muslim Brotherhood’s 32-page ‘Civilization-Jihadist’ plan for the US was exposed in a document introduced as evidence in the Dallas, TX, "Holy Land Foundation" trial. It spells out detailed strategies for Islamic organizations in the US and calls for "settlement" meaning "Islam and its movement become part of the homeland it lives in." (pg 19)

The plan further explains, "The process of settlement is a 'Civilization-Jihadist' process with all the word means. The Ikhwan (Brothers) must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their own hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions." (pg 21)

A New Jersey Muslim who donated money for Rally expenses told the Star-Ledger, "Yesterday I was viewed as a terrorist, and today I've been given a permit on Capitol Hill to come and pray in a spirit of unity."