Video of MOA Parade in Binghamton

Earlier in the week, we posted about the Muslims of the Americas parade in downtown Binghamton, NY celebrating Muhammad's birthday. The group has now posted video of the parade on the Islamberg YouTube page and they are embedded here below.

As we noted before, the only people that showed up for this event were MOA members, a handful of non-Muslim observers, and the police escort. As you'll see in the videos, the parade participants are carrying a number of banners. Most of these are banners for various other front groups MOA has formed to improve their image. They include International Quranic Open University, Inc.; Muslim Veterans of America; Muslim Scouts of America; Hand to Hands Social Service Agency, Inc.; and The Islamic Post, which is the group's newspaper. A contact of ours familiar with the group points out that most of the group's elders are there. These men are the older leaders that generally call the shots on the various compounds.

Also, note particularly in the videos how many women and children are marching. If you watch carefully, you see very few smiles on the faces of these people. They are marching and singing half-heartedly, but there is no doubt many of them are being forced to do this. We have heard a number of stories of women wanting to leave the group, some of them living in forced or polygamous marriages, tired of living in poverty and squalor amongst criminals with no real education or opportunities for their children, yet they are not allowed to leave. It is quite sad.

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Previous Posts

Follow-Up Report: MOA Parade in Binghamton

MOA on Parade

MOA Cop Killer On Trial in California

Finally facing justice for his crime, Ramadan Abdur-Rauf Abdullah, now 26, went on trial this week in Fresno County, California for killing Deputy Sheriff Erik Telen in 2001. He is pleading insanity in his defense.

Abdullah is originally from Binghamton, NY and was a member of the Muslims of the Americas (MOA). Spread throughout the country, the MOA, made up of primarily African-
Americans, are a cult-like offshoot sect of Sufi Muslims who follow Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani of Pakistan. The organization serves as a religious front for a radical militant group known as Jamaat ul-Fuqra, a secretive network also headed by Gilani. For all practical purposes, the groups are one and the same, though members' knowledge of and/or involvement in illicit activity varies.

We contacted a former follower of Sheikh Gilani with a very extensive knowledge of the group for comment on Abdullah's case. They remembered him from years ago and seemed to confirm the defense's assertion that he did have mental problems calling him "MAD". They continued with some additional background:

He terrorized the land [Islamberg in Hancock, NY]...Yes, he went insane...studying Sufiism. He could not be controlled on the compounds. Shaykh [Gilani] could not heal him with his healing powers, so [the men] were told to drop him off in the nearest township. Ramadan would chase us, jump us, tackle us...very dangerous. He said that he was Jesus, son of Mary, and...that he was the 7th Sultan [successor to Gilani].

But, he's not the first to go crazy. A few have, trying to practise the shaykh's form of Sufiism. He was sick for a year or so in Islamberg. He was sent to the California compound [Baladullah] from New York due to the inability to treat him through the shaykh's method. So, that resulted in him injuring others outside of the community. Well, MURDER isn't exactly an injury. Ramadan was only in California for less than two months. Then [there was] the Gateway scam...then the shaykh shut the village down. The shaykh didn't want Ramadan's name in association with him so much that he allowed 30 odd families w/little funds to go without housing. Even before the Gateway scam, California was already in the process of moving to other states because we were told we couldn't reside in the State of California.

So, according to our source, the boy did have some issues, but this certainly does not excuse what he has done. We mentioned that police noted during the shootout that Abdullah, because of the way he defended himself, seemed to them to have had some sort of training. To this, our source offered a very interesting anecdote:

No matter what, he still had enough of JF teachings in him so at some point he was sane. As a younger teenager he used to teach the younger boys...the basic training all members have. I do know he had excellent rifle training because I would hear his name in reference to that matter.

In fact, the prosecutor said in court of Abdullah's accuracy, "This was a very well-aimed and well-timed shot that was fatal to Deputy Erik Telen hitting him directly in the head." Telen died instantly.
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In Memoriam of Deputy Sheriff Erik Jon Telen



The California Peace Officers' Memorial

The Officer Down Memorial Page








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Meanwhile, local media is all over the Abdullah case.
Here's a sampling...



Continuing Coverage:
Click here to read and watch the latest news reports

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More Background on MOA in California:

The MOA has created quite a high-profile notoriety in Calfornia. The Gateway scam, alluded to above, was a widely-publicized case in which the MOA defrauded the State of California and stole millions of taxpayer dollars through a system of charter schools. Much of the money is believed to have been spirited away to Pakistan. One of the ringleaders of this scam, Khadijah Ghafur, was convicted last year and sent to prison. MOA claims she is a political prisoner.

Also, the state attorney general's office has made mention of the Fuqra organization and its activities in a couple of its reports:
Organized Crime in California - 2004
Organized Crime in California - 2005

WBTV (Charlotte) Visits Islamville

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WSB-TV in Atlanta looks into MOA/JF camps in Georgia

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PART II

CBN News Feature on MOA

The Virginia-based CBN News ran a feature story yesterday on Muslims of America on The 700 Club. They paid a visit to the group's compound in Red House, VA and even interviewed a former member. Erick Stakelbeck and Daveed Gardenstein-Ross, both respected counterterrorism experts, contributed to this piece.

Full disclosure: We were contacted recently by the reporter and cooperated with him on this story.

Click the link above to read the story and watch the video.

UPDATE: Here's the video

An American Islamic Mafia?

Al-Fuqra: Organized crime. Jihadi style.

Watch this(Intrepid Truth Media presents...)
A closer look at this secretive militant group reveals an organization that operates less like an insurgent group and more like La Cosa Nostra.

Meet the Godfather

"You have here a man whom many follow, many fear and many refuse to cross no matter what. He has body guards , many different homes and collects money from many people. Always thinking someone is watching him , always thinking that federal agents are going to bring down his empire , and in great fear of being attacked or someone crossing him. No it is not John Gotti, it is Mubarak Ali shah Gilani."

Gilani, a Pakistani with ties to the ISI and a number of jihadi groups including al-Qaeda, is believed to have several thousand followers in the United States. He is their godfather.

Khalid Khawaja, a former ISI official himself and friend of Osama bin Laden, is Gilani's spokesman, adviser, go-between, and for all practical purposes his "blood brother". He could be considered Gilani's consigliere.

Rank has its priveleges

Just as the Italian mafia has its pecking order - boss, underboss, capo, soldier, etc. - according to a former Fuqra member, members of the jamaat are similarly divided. Here are the titles according to rank:

Sheikh
Khalifa (reps or successors to the Sheikh)
Allamah (one whom is well taught in islam)
Maulana(religious teacher)
Ni'eeb (one who is the khalifa's right hand man)
Ameer (literally a mayor)
nazim (a novice, a trainee one who is on his way up the ranks)

Soldiers of Allah

As you may know, American mafia organizations refer to their enforcers as "soldiers". Note this excerpt of Sheikh Gilani speaking on a recruitment video (featured on NOW with Bill Moyers, "Gun Land", 11/15/02):

"We have already established under the auspices of Muslims of America, Incorporated … the organization is called Soldiers of Allah....You are most welcome to join one of our, you know, advanced training courses in Islamic Military Warfare. For which, you can get in touch with anybody in the Muslims of America in the United States, Canada, or anywhere, or in Pakistan."

Hit Men

Cell members are responsible for over 17 firebombings and more than 13 murders on U.S. soil.

Criminals on the Hustle

Front companies. Fake charities. White collar schemes. Welfare fraud. Identity crime. Robberies. Drug and weapons trafficking. Bootlegging. They've done it all.


[Hat tip to Pajamas Media for the link!]