The Islamic Center of Detroit conference will damage the Michigan Muslim community by giving the stage to a panel pro-extremist speakers. The Islamic Center of Detroit (ICD) recently announced their first Muslim Revival Conference 2018: Reconnect. The stated goal of the conference is “to inspire positive change within the Michigan Muslim community.”
The ICD has strong Muslim Brotherhood connections. The mosque has co-hosted events with Muslim Brotherhood affiliated groups, such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). AMP has a history of employing terrorist financiers, with at least five AMP officials previously served with the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood’s pro-Hamas Palestine Committee and CAIR was identified as a Muslim Brotherhood entity from evidence presented at the Holy Land Foundation trial.
In 2006 Rafeeq Jaber, a founding board member of CAIR, spoke at a rally held at ICD where he reportedly shouted into a loudspeaker to loud applause that Israelis “are not human!” He further added, “They are terrorist!… They are barbaric! They are not human!” He concluded his remarks by reminding the audience that “the highest form of jihad is to save the world against an oppressor,” like Israel. In 2012, CAIR- Michigan director Dawud Walid gave a speech at ICD where made anti-Jewish and anti-Israel remarks, saying the Jews earned Allah’s wrath.
Some of the speakers at the ICD Conference have similarly distasteful views and associations, including:
Siraj Wahhaj
Imam Siraj Wahhaj is a radical preacher who served as a character witness for the “Blind Sheikh,” Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was found guilty of masterminding terrorist plots against the United States, including his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Wahhaj In 1992, Wahhaj gave a sermon in which he advocated for armed jihad in streets for the benefit of Islam. After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, gave a sermon asking the question, “Who are the real terrorists?” He named three entities: The U.S. government, big business and the media. Wahhaj has also preached that Muslims should not associate with non-Muslims claiming, “Woe to the Muslims who pick kafirs [non-Muslims] for friends.” Wahhaj has also described homosexuality as “a disease.”
Suleiman Hani
Suleiman Hani is a cleric and lecturer at the Al-Maghrib institute. Hani has argued that blasphemous images and videos against Islam should be against the law in Western Countries, in order to maintain logical consistency with some Holocaust denial laws that exist in Europe. Hani has accused Israel of “committing genocide and ethnic cleansing” and prays that god will “rid this world of these cold-blooded killers.“
Hani frequently presents shows on Huda TV, an Islamic television station that hosts prominent extremist clerics. Huda TV’s website hosts articles claiming a conspiracy to destroy the Muslim home, perpetrated by “The enemies of Islam, including the Jews and the Christians.”
Abdul El-Sayed
Abdul El-Sayed, a former Michigan gubernatorial candidate has several problematic associations. As a Clarion Project exclusive, we were first to bring attention to El-Sayed’s embrace the Islamic House of Wisdom, a radical, pro-Iran, mosque in Dearborn Heights. The Islamic House of Wisdom is one of three Iran-linked mosques in Michigan.
Recently, El-Sayed started a PAC dedicated to supporting left-wing candidates. During his own political campaign, the Islamist Money in Politics initiative found that El-Sayed earned the support of Islamist donors connected to various groups identified by the U.S. government as Muslim Brotherhood entities.
The list includes donors affiliated with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), Muslim American Society (MAS), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)and Esam Omeish, whose support for radical groups has made him known internationally.
Alex VanNess is a Research Analyst for the Clarion Intelligence Network and a Fellow at the Endowment for Middle East Truth. He formerly served as Director of the Middle East Peace and Security Project for the Center for Security Policy and as a staffer on Capitol Hill.
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