Difference between revisions of "Tablighi Jamaat and allegations of terrorism"
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Latest revision as of 20:56, 26 September 2010
The Tablighi Jamaat movement is an Islamic missionary and revival movement founded in India in the early twentieth Century, as a response to Christian evangelists working among poor and poorly educated Muslims in British India.[1][2][3][4] In recent years, allegations and concerns have risen about whether, or how much, the organization is linked to Islamic terrorist groups, such as Al Qaeda.[5] However Tablighi followers insist that they do not preach violence and have denied any involvement with terrorist groups.[6] [7] Ameer of Tablighi Jamaat, along with several prominent members, strongly condemn the enforcement and preaching of Islam through violence.[8]
Contents
Background
A December 2001 article by the Boston Herald cited Indian security concerns branches of the jamaat were related to Al-Qaeda. Yet "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid apparently did not remain with the group because they were not violent enough.[9] More recently, on July 19, 2006, Indian authorities questioned two clerics of Tablighi Jamaat in Tripura state regarding the July 11th Mumbai commuter rail bombings, which resulted in the death of 209 people and wounded over 700. In their defense Taibur Rahman, the leader of Tablighi Jamaat in Tripura state, said, "Investigators are free to question them and be satisfied, but they should not be harassed."[10] It is also alleged extremist members of MULTA, with ties to the Pakistani ISI, passed into Bangladesh under the guise of members of Tablighi Jamaat.[11]
A soldier of the Pakistani army accused of attacking former Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf, who was later hanged on the orders of military court, was a member of Tablighi Jamaat, claimed by his father in an interview to BBC Urdu.[citation needed] The person arrested like Rafaqat and Hasnain from Rawalpindi in connection with Mohtarmma Benazir's murder are also said to be members of Jamaat, said by their mother to BBC Urdu.[citation needed]
An article published in NY Times reported quoting Pakistani security officials that the terrorists who attacked Ahmadi community's religious centers killing more than 80 people in May 2010, resided in Tablighi Jammat's headquarters at Raiwind and the Ibrahim mosque, a centre of Tablighi Jamaat in Lahore, for weeks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/world/asia/30pstan.html
According to an article published in the Winter 2005 of Middle East Quarterly, "In 1995, the Pakistani army thwarted a coup attempt by several dozen high-ranking military officers and civilians, all of whom were members of the Tablighi Jamaat and some of whom also held membership in Harakat ul-Mujahideen, a U.S. State Department-defined terrorist organization." A very direct comment from the FBI in the article stated, "We have a significant presence of Tablighi Jamaat in the United States," the deputy chief of the FBI's international terrorism section said in 2003, "and we have found that Al-Qaeda used them for recruiting now and in the past."[12]
On January 18, 2008, 14 men who were alleged to have been members of the Tablighi Jamaat were arrested in Barcelona, Spain on suspicious of organizing a terrorist attack. During the raids, police confiscated material for making explosives, including four timing devices. Using international intelligence, it is thought the group was planning to carry out an attack on Barcelona.[13]
Debate over Tablighi Jamaat's alleged ties to terrorism
While low-level intelligence analysts, in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, have written justifications for the continued detention of Guantanamo captives based on alleged associations between the detainee and Tablighi Jamaat, other organs of the United States government, such as the United States Institute of Peace, take a more benign view of Tablighi.[1]
Bazer Azmy, a Law Professor at Seton Hall University, and one of Guantanamo captive Murat Kurnaz's lawyers, asked three American professors of Religion to write letters explaining to Kurnaz's Administrative Review Board the non-violent and apolitical roots of the Tabligh movement.
- According to Qamar-ul Huda, a Professor of Islamic Studies and Comparative Religion at Boston College, wrote that: “From the very beginning the Jama’at al-Tablighi has deliberately distanced itself from politics, political activities, and political controversies.”[2]
- According to Barbara D. Metcalf, Director of the Center for South Asian Studies and the Alice Freeman Palmer Professor of History at the University of Michigan: “I will also attempt to explain why it is implausible to believe that the Tablighis support terrorism or are in any way affiliated with other terrorist or ‘jihadi’ movements such as the Taliban or Al Qaeda's.”[3]
- According to Jamal J. Ellias. Professor of Religion at Amherst College: “I must emphasize this last point, that the Tablighis formally and actively believe that traveling to engage in missionary activity fully discharges any religious obligation to engage in Jihad.”[4]
A report entitled "Islamist terrorism in the Sahel: Fact or Fiction?", by the International Crisis Group described the Tablighi[14]:
- "The other stream of Islamic fundamentalist revivalism practice is strictly non-political, and has never been linked directly to violence."
And[15]:
- "As noted above, the Tablighis are best known for their proselytising (among muslims), organised around retreats. It is here that worries emerge. The Jama'at al-Tabligh itself is staunchly apolitical. No source interviewed by Crisis Group could specify an instance of Tablighis breaking the law or engaging in specifically political activity in any of the four countries. A Malian scholar of Islam spent 50 days of itinerant preaching with the Da'wa, and noted no deviation from their apolitical stance. Nevertheless, both Western and African intelligence services consider them a significant potential threat."
Dominic Whiteman describes investigating Muslim groups in order to prepare a list of suspect groups for the United Kingdom government.[16] He wrote:
"Tablighi Jamaat’s leadership is no more guilty for the group’s links to Islamist terrorists than the Pope is for the Catholic church’s links to IRA terrorists. In fact, if all Britain’s Muslims were Tablighi Jamaat devotees and lived their lives according to Tablighi doctrines, there would be little to no problem with violence-espousing, extreme Islamism in the UK."
Lack of documentary proof of how al Qaida was tied to Tablighi Jamaat
Fayad Yahya Ahmed asked his Personal Representative to provide him with a document explaining how al Qaida was related to Tablighi Jamaat.[17] His Personal Representative replied: "We searched for a document to show that there is a connection but did not find one."
Terrorist suspects alleged to have links to Tablighi Jamaat
In the United Kingdom, Shehzad Tanweer, a suicide bomber involved with the 7 July 2005 London bombings, had been an attendee of Tablighi Jamaat meetings. However, the organization maintains it apolitical nature.[18]
American intelligence analysts have justified the continued extrajudicial detention of dozens of Guantanamo captives, in part, on allegations that Tablighi Jamaat has ties to terrorism.
Who | Accuser | Status | Notes | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abdallah Saleh Ali Al Ajmi | JTF GTMO | repatriated |
| ||||||||||||||||
Abdel Ghalib Ahmad Hakim | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Abdelaziz Kareem Salim al-Noofayee | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Abdul Hakim Bukhary | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Abdul Rahman Nashi Badi Al Hataybi | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Abib Sarajuddin | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Ahmed Bin Kadr Labed | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Ahmed Hassan Jamil Suleyman | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Asim Thahit Abdullah Al Khalaqi | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Bostan Karim | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Fahed Abdullah Ahmad Ghazi | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Faiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Fayad Yahya Ahmed | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Ghallab Bashir | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Hussein Salem Mohammed | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Khalid Mahomoud Abdul Wahab Al Asmr | JTF GTMO | NLEC freed |
| ||||||||||||||||
Khalid Saud Abd Al Rahman Al Bawardi | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Khan Zaman | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Lufti Bin Swei Lagha | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Majid Abdallah Husayn Muhammad Al Samluli Al Harbi | JTF GTMO | Reptriated |
| ||||||||||||||||
Mohammad Ahmed Abdullah Saleh Al Hanashi | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Mohammad Lameen Sidi Mohammad | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Mohammed Ali Salem Al Zarnuki | JTF GTMO | unknown |
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Mohammed Nasir Yahya Khusruf | JTF GTMO | unknown |
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Mohammed Sulaymon Barre | JTF GTMO | unknown |
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Mohammed Yacoub | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Mohmmad Ahmad Ali Tahar | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Muhammad Abd Allah Mansur Al Futuri | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Murat Kurnaz | JTF GTMO | released |
| ||||||||||||||||
Musa Ali Said Al Said Al Umari | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Saad Masir Mukbl Al Azani | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Shams Ullah | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Sultan Sari Sayel Al Anazi | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Usama Hassan Ahmend Abu Kabir | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Yasim Muhammed Basardah | JTF GTMO | unknown |
| ||||||||||||||||
Yunis Abdurrahman Shokuri | JTF GTMO | released |
|
The Tablighi movement has triggered the attention of other counter-terrorism agencies. An article in The Guardian quoted an organizer at a Tablighi movement meeting in Britain[54]:
"I know three or four people who come here regularly who are informants, After September 11 the security services met with our elders at our headquarters and told them that they keep the flight records of every Tablighi member who travels abroad. But we are not worried. They can close us down and it will not matter because the effort will continue. We have no fear."
Who | Accuser | Status | Notes | ||
Ahmed Raffiki | Pakistani Intelligence |
| |||
Amjad Sarwar | MI5 |
| |||
Lackawanna Six | FBI |
| |||
Kafeel Ahmed | MI5 Indian Intelligence |
suicide bomber |
| ||
Mullah Khaliq Dad | Pakistani Intelligence |
| |||
Mohammad Sidique Khan | MI5 | suicide bomber |
| ||
Nadeem Hassan | FBI | Green Card challenged | |||
Sufiyan Patangia | Indian Intelligence | ||||
Tarkan K. | German intelligence Turkish intelligence |
Turkish prison |
|
References
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nicholas Howenstein, Islamist Networks: The Case of Tablighi Jamaat, United States Institute of Peace, Nicholas Howenstein October 2006
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Murat Kurnaz ARB, Department of Defense, pages 93-95
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Murat Kurnaz ARB, Department of Defense, pages 96-98
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Murat Kurnaz ARB, Department of Defense, pages 103-105
- ↑ "Tablighi Jamaat: Jihad's Stealthy Legions] Middle East Quarterly". |date=Winter 2005 |publisher=Middle East Quarterly |accessdate=2007-01-18
- ↑ ""Tablighi Jamaat does not preach jihad, says senior Muslim leader"". The Hindu. 2007-07-09. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ↑ "Hindu News". Hindu. 2007-07-09. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ↑ "Tableeghi jamaat rejects gunpoint Sharia". GeoNews. 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
- ↑ Tabliq a thorn in sides of several governments Reprinted on ApologeticsIndex.org
- ↑ Indian investigators question preachers about bombings Taipei Times
- ↑ Appendix One - Muslim Fundamentalist Organizations in North East India—A Compendium Terror Sans Frontiers: Islamic Militancy in North East India, Jaideep Saikia
- ↑ Sachs, Susan (July 14, 2003). "A Muslim Missionary Group Draws New Scrutiny in U.S." U.S. The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
- ↑ BURNETT, VICTORIA (January 19, 2008). "Spain Arrests 14 in Plotting Attack". U.S. The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
- ↑ "Islamist terrorism in the Sahel: Fact or Fiction?" (PDF). International Crisis Group. March 31, 2005. pp. page 12. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
- ↑ "Islamist terrorism in the Sahel: Fact or Fiction?" (PDF). International Crisis Group. March 31, 2005. pp. page 13. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
- ↑ Dominic Whiteman (March 22, 2007). "Not bowled over by Tablighi Jamaat". Global Politician. Retrieved 2008-06-23. mirror
- ↑ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Fayad Yahya Ahmed's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - page 86
- ↑ "Terror link group to build London's biggest mosque". Evening Standard. 2006-07-16. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
- ↑ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Abdel Ghalib Ahmad Hakim's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 15-21
- ↑ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Abdelaziz Kareem Salim al-Noofayee's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 8-21
- ↑ Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Abdul Hakim Bukhary's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - October 4, 2004 page 193
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Abdul Rahman Nashi Badi Al Hataybi Administrative Review Board - page 92
- ↑ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Abib Sarajuddin's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 193
- ↑ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Ahmed Bin Kadr Labed's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 107
- ↑ Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Ahmed Hassan Jamil Suleyman's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - September 28, 2004 page 189
- ↑ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Asim Thahit Abdullah Al Khalaqi'sCombatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 11-23
- ↑ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Bostan Karim's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 138-150
- ↑ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Fahed Abdullah Ahmad Ghazi's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 11
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Faiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari Administrative Review Board - page 31
- ↑ Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Fayad Yahya Ahmed's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - October 14, 2004 - page 124
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Ghallab Bashir Administrative Review Board - page 103
- ↑ Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Hussein Salem Mohammed's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - December 8, 2004 page 261
- ↑ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Khalid Mahomoud Abdul Wahab Al Asmr's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 19-29
- ↑ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Khalid Saud Abd Al Rahman Al Bawardi's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 15-33
- ↑ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Khan Zaman's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 207
- ↑ CSRT Summary of Evidence memoranda (.pdf) prepared for Lufti Bin Swei Lagha's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - October 15, 2004 - page 143
- ↑ OARDEC (30 June 2005). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Harbi, Majid Abdallah Husayn Muhammad Al Samluli" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. pp. page 82–84. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
- ↑ OARDEC (15 August 2006). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Al Harbi, Majid Abdallah Husayn Muhammad Al Samluli" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 35–37. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Mohammad Ahmed Abdullah Saleh Al Hanashi Administrative Review Board - pages 81-82 18 April 2005
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Mohammad Lameen Sidi Mohammad's Administrative Review Board - page 5
- ↑ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Mohammed Ali Salem Al Zarnuki's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 41-59
- ↑ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Mohammed Nasir Yahya Khusruf's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 11-22
- ↑ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Mohammed Sulaymon Barre's Administrative Review Board hearing - pages 144-156
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Mohammed Yacoub Administrative Review Board, April 19, 2005 - page 56
- ↑ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Mohmmad Ahmad Ali Tahar's first Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 100-116
- ↑ Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Muhammad Abd Allah Mansur Al Futuri's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - September 29, 2004 - page 244
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Musa Ali Said Al Said Al Umari Administrative Review Board - page 69
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Saad Masir Mukbl Al Azani Administrative Review Board, May 27, 2005 - page 3
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Shams Ullah Administrative Review Board - page 10
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Sultan Sari Sayel Al Anazi, Administrative Review Board, May 2, 2005 - page 8
- ↑ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Usama Hassan Ahmed Abu Kabir's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 116-124
- ↑ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Yasim Muhammed Basardah's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 233
- ↑ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Yunis Abdurrahman Shokuri's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 70-85
- ↑ Paul Lewis (August 19, 2006). "Inside the Islamic group accused by MI5 and FBI". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
- ↑ B Raman (May 21, 2003). "Bomb jitters in Pakistan, too". Asia Times. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ↑ 56.0 56.1 Pratyush Pratyush (August 18, 2006). "Suspected Terrorists for Recent UK Terror Plot Keep Faith in Tablighi Jamaat". India Daily. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
- ↑ "Bomb plotter 'spent time in Scotland'". The Scotsman. August 21, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
- ↑ John Kifner, Marc Santora (September 16, 2002). "Sixth man arrested in alleged N.Y. terror cell: Authorities tracked group before Sept. 11". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ↑ 59.0 59.1 "Trial & terror: On 7/7 anniversary, Jeep passenger appears in court over bomb attacks". London: The Independent. July 8, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ↑ 60.0 60.1 Doward, Jamie (July 8, 2007). "The making of a new terror". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ↑ "16 suspected Taliban held in Pishin". Dawn. January 8, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ↑ Khalid Hasan (January 26, 2006). "FBI detains doctor for alleged terror links". Asia Times. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
- ↑ 63.0 63.1 Praveen Swami (October 2, 2003). "Evidence, faith clash in Pandya murder case". Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ↑ 64.0 64.1 Holger Stark, Dominik Cziesche (July 18, 2005). "Lessons from Leeds". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 2007-07-10.