Islam in America Pt. 2
The Obama Connection
(This is the second part of an expose, in which part one focused on the ties between Bill and Hillary Clinton with multiple Islamic organizations which have close ties with or who support terrorists. This is an extremely important story which others have also researched and reported on, because of the implications this is having, and will have more so, if our government continues to be passive to these groups and people who support them.)
There are many ties between Obama and some in his Administration with the Muslim Brotherhood and other terrorist Islamic organizations; but first, we need to know the differences between Sunni and Shia Islam.
Islam has always been more of an ideology than just another religion. In 632 when Muhammad died, tribal Arabs who followed him couldn’t decide over who should inherit both the political and religious office. The majority, now known as the Sunnis, backed Abu Bakr, a friend and father of Muhammad’s 9-year-old wife Aisha. The minority group is the Shia and they thought Muhammad’s relatives claimed that he had anointed his cousin Ali. Those who supported Abu Bakr won the majority, although Ali did briefly rule later as what was called the 4th Caliph, the title given to Muhammad’s successors. The split between Sunnis and Shiites was made permanent when Ali’s son Hussein was killed in 680 in Karbala by the ruling Sunni caliph’s troops. Sunni rulers continued to control political power, while the Shia instead looked for direction from their imams, the first being descended directly from Ali.
All Muslims follow five ritualistic pillars of Islam and read the Koran. Sunnis rely mostly on the practice of Muhammad and his teachings the “sunna”, while the Shia believes their ayatollahs are representatives of their god Allah on earth. Most Shia sects focus on their belief that the twelfth and final imam is hidden and will reappear one day to rule the world. The Shiites claim Sunni dogma has led to extremist sects such as the Wahhabis, which unified modern Saudi Arabia, the House of Saud and is still dominant today. Many Sunnis do not consider Shia to be proper Muslims.
The Salafi-Jihadist variant of Sunni terrorism follows the ideological goals of reactionary Sunni Islam which leans toward a complete Sunni Islamic Caliphate stretching from Morocco to Indonesia and the Philippines. They use terrorist acts to achieve their goals, and while it’s been their agenda since Osama Bin Laden’s 1996 fatwa … The Salafi-Jihadist movement continues to pressure weakened regimes in Islamic states with an objective to establish itself in a safe haven to plan global terror. This is what we’ve been seeing during the past 4 years during what is termed the Arab Spring, and continues now in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.
The Salafi-Jihadist movement includes Al Qaida, whose roots go back to the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which began an insurrection against a secular governed Algiers in the 1990s. Later some broke away and formed the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). GSPC at first gained support from Algerians by promising to continue the rebellion without killing civilians, but a government supported by the French, made a counterterrorism campaign against them and squashed most of the group by the early 2000s.
The group aligned with al-Qaeda in the 2000s to gain relevance through terrorist acts and improve recruiting and fundraising. Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was at the time second in command for Al Qaida, announced the union on September 11, 2006, and GSPC was renewed as Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) early the next year.
Other groups affiliated with Al Qaida include Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Sayyaf Group,The Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM), Al Qaida in Iraq, Ansar al-Islam, and Ansar al-Sunna among others.
The Salafi is a movement within Sunni Islam. Salafism is considered to be the literalist and most strict approach to Islam and have a strict interpretation of Sharia, Islamic law with the Salafi Jihadis who promote violent jihad as a legitimate expression of Islam. This aligns the Salafists with the same ideologies as the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Salafis call themselves Sunnis, but some people believe Salafis are a different sect from traditional Sunni Muslims, others believe that Salafis and Wahhabis are the same. They have their own beliefs and laws, their own leaders and systems, a religion with strict and extremist ways and they insist on the literal truth as understood by its meaning of Qur’anic scripture, the Hadith and most importantly, what was commanded by Muhammad. There are those however who are considered “Purists”. These are Salafists who focus on non-violent da’wah (proselytizing), education, and purification of religious beliefs and ways of life. This falls more in line with Saudi Wahibists yet there are ties within the Wahibists sect with terrorist Sunni groups. Wahibism is the official religious ideology of the Saudi Kingdom, and is a form of Salafism. Saudi leaders are very active in funding and promoting Salafism around the world and Saudi money has also promoted Salafi teachings through TV stations, websites and publications.
Many Westerners, including politicians who should know better confuse the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists, believing that Salafists are the more extreme and the Brotherhood to be a moderate organization who promotes democracy. While it’s true that Islam is an ideology, one can’t dismiss the religious aspects and beliefs of the various Islamic groups, but this is what many in the West do because Muslims have purposely confused non-Muslims about Islam- calling it a religion when it’s convenient to gain religious freedoms under the Constitution, yet calling it a culture when it comes to things like teaching about it in American schools (more on this in part three). This may account for statements such as Director of National Intelligence James Clapper who claimed that the Brotherhood is a largely ‘secular’ group; a view he later backed away from.
The Brotherhood has stated in the past that it is a Salafi movement and they are also a reform movement, which shares the agenda of strict adherence to the example and teaching of Muhammad just as Salafists do. Their goals are the same, but with different strategies.
For Shia Muslims, as far as terrorism goes, they don’t have as deep an ideological grounding as Sunnis do. With the exception of Hezbollah, a long time enemy of and with their continuous terror campaign against Israel, Shia terrorism hasn’t been nearly as relentlessly wide spread as Sunni terrorism. Shia acts of terrorism are mainly from specific Iranian or Hezbollah policies and ends when the policy objective is fulfilled…typically terrorist tactics used range from suicide bombings, kidnapping and targeted assassinations. When Tehran or Hezbollah feels threatened by western policies or because of direct aid to Israel, that’s when the leaders begin planning, usually something immediate and very damaging.
With the recent revolutions in the Middle East and Africa, Western nations, mainly the US arming terrorists who are no better than Assad in Syria and Obama’s tactics in dealing with Iran’s nuclear program is gearing up for a conflict with Iran and/or Hezbollah.
What happened during the Arab Spring in many cases were spurred by militant groups and citizens, and cheered by Obama and others in the west. Obama supported regime change in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen, all nations dominated by Sunnis and of course in the case of Egypt Obama and Hillary strongly supported Morsi and the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood.
Obama remained silent when people in Iran were being murdered in the streets as they were begging the west for help in their desire for regime change. Iran is about 90 percent Shi’a. While now in Syria, which is predominantly Sunni, President Assad is a Shiite Alawite, and we are arming the terrorists who are Sunnis.
Both Sunni and Shia follow Sharia law, but it varies a bit because neither follows the exact same Hadiths. Even for Sunnis, Sharia differs a bit. The Sunnis version of Sharia is more strictly adhered to. All Sunni groups, no matter if they are terrorists such as Al Qaida other Salfist groups or so called moderate Muslim Brotherhood, their goals are the same, to Islamize the West, bring it under Sharia and establish the Caliphate. Obama along with others in our government have favored the overthrow of more secular or moderate governments for those who would impose the Caliphate.
Considering his relationships with the Brotherhood, and his administration’s open arms policy of hiring people with ties to the Brotherhood in high security positions in our own government, this is proving to be a dangerous precedent where Sharia, which is antithetical to our Constitution, has been introduced into the US in various forms. But how did we end up with someone in the office of the US Presidency who would support such Islamist organizations? This brings me back to Obama’s personal history and that little matter of association which was ignored completely by not only the mainstream media, but many in our government as well.
Obama purposely went seeking out Marxist groups, and in the case of family members, he has strong ties to Islamist Jihadist groups. People might not understand or care who he has ‘hung out’ with, nor may they care that his family is comprised of Marxist, communist, and Islamic with terrorist ties. They might not even consider that he has found the Muslim call to prayer to be “one of the prettiest sounds on earth”, yet he’s never said anything remotely similar about a church hymn or bells ringing in a Cathedral.
Again, I am going to skip over Barack Obama’s personal history even though there is much in his background which shaped his views of the United States as he grew up. His family comprised of Marxist ideologies and Islam from his time growing up with relatives and in Indonesia, and continued through to his adulthood. Barack Obama’s family includes his half-brother, cousin, uncle and also his grandmother from the Obama side who reside in Africa yet have close relationships with Obama.
For the past few years I have been trying to find more information about Obama’s grandmother, Sarah, who began the Sarah Obama Benevolent Fund Institute in Kenya, which funnels money into Saudi Arabia. It’s interesting that on the website, called Mama Sarah Obama Foundation, on the Partnership page they mention the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child”. Gee, where have we heard that before?
In 2009, Obama’s uncle, Sayid Obama, his grandmother, Sarah Omar, and cousin, Musa Ismail Obama, made their pilgrimage to Mecca, this, also known as the hajj, which is required of all Muslims to perform at least once in their life. They were welcomed by members of the Saudi royal family and were provided extra security by the Royals while they were in Saudi Arabia.
Obama’s cousin Musa gave an interview on Al Jazeera after the trip, and talked about his own devotion to Islam as well as that of his family. He talked about how it had been a lifelong dream of his grandmother (Sarah) to perform Hajj and about the Sarah Obama Benevolent Fund Institute. According to the website, this organization supposedly about helping orphans and widows as well as offering aid to students by providing scholarships to university. During the interview with Musa however, he revealed that the majority of the funds raised go towards sending students to the Wahabist educational institutions in Saudi Arabia.
He did say that the organization is helping orphans, though not nearly as many as they are helping students who are sent to the Islamic University in Medina, Saudi Arabia. So many are sent, that Musa and Sayid (Obama’s uncle) had to meet with the head of another Wahabist university, Umm Al-Qura University in Mecca, to start sending students there as well because the university in Medina didn’t have enough room for all the students they were sending. Musa has also arranged for students to attend Univeristies in Doha in Qatar.
Not only sending students to learn Wahibism, but with the help of the Saudis, the Obamas are using their influence to work to transform Christian Kenya into an Islamic state bound by Shariah law. According to Musa, the Kenyan project is inspired by Obama’s call for expanding education in the US, but with an emphasis on increasing Islam’s influence in Kenya. “The majority of course is Shariah schools,” Musa said, “because my connection in the institutions is with Shariah schools.”
The schools are teaching the Salafist literal interpretation of the Koran, for instance, the Islamic University in Medina is a government school, which teaches Sharia (Islamic law), Fiqh (deeper knowledge of the law which to give new edicts/fatwas) and Da’wah (Call to Islam through proselytizing and preaching).
Umm Al Qura University teaches Wahibism and Sharia and proudly shows photos of the Director of Umm Al-Qura University, Dr. Bakri bin Ma’touk A’sas, Sayid Obama and Musa Ismail Obama posted on their ‘about us’ page from their website. Both Obamas are praised as being uncle and cousin of “His Excellency” the president of the United States.
More on the education aspect will be discussed in the next and last part of this series and will go into detail just how far and wide Mama Sarah’s ‘charity’ has reached and how it is effecting education in the US.
Obama’s uncle Sayid Obama is involved in the Muslim World League (MWL), which from their website describes the organization as being “engaged in propagating the religion of Islam…strives to persuade people to abide by the commandments…and to keep away from prohibited deeds…and carry out their projects in the sphere of Da’wa, education and culture. The League, which employs all means that are not at variance with the Sharia (Islamic law) to further its aims, is well known for rejecting all acts of violence and promoting dialogue with the people of other cultures.”
It lists its affiliations as observer in consultative status with The United Nations Organization and the ECOSOC, an Organization of the Islamic Conference with attendance at all meetings and conferences, and member of ISESCO and UNICEF.
Sounds benevolent, but consider that Osama bin Laden and al Qaida received material support from the same group, which was founded in 1962 by members of the Saudi government to help globalize Wahibism. Still controlled and funded by the Saudi government, the Mecca-based MWL today has offices in Africa, Europe, Asia and North America. Some of the leadership of the MWL includes, Abdullah Omar Naseef, (Mentioned in part one, because of his ties also to Huma Abedin) who also founded the Rabita Trust, which was a Pakistani organization and supporter of Al Qaida, and who was one of those after 9/11/01 to have assets frozen. Muzammil Siddiqi who was president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and has served, at various times, as chair of the Muslim Students Association’s (MSA) Religious Affairs Committee, both organizations which have many chapters in Universities and Colleges across the US. Mohammed Jamal Khalifa who was a brother in law to Osama Bin Laden and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood ran the Pakistan office of the MWL. He also financed a failed plot in 1995 to simultaneously detonate bombs aboard eleven U.S.-bound airliners in mid-flight.
Obama’s half-brother Malik, who has not only direct terrorist ties, but he was also given tax-exempt status by Lois Lerner (the same woman who pleaded the 5th about IRS abuse against Conservative organizations applying for 501(c) status). This was illegally granted retroactively. Malik’s charity, “Barack H. Obama Foundation” was given almost unprecedented attention and was given the status in less than a month. According to Walid Shoebat, Obama’s brother was using the charities to fund for personal gain, philandering, polygamy and the promotion of Wahhabism.
Not only is he Under Investigation in Egypt for Oversight of Muslim Brotherhood Investments, Malik works for the government of North Sudan directly under Sirwar Dhahab, who answers to Omar al-Bashir, who is the Sudanese President and who is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Malik Obama is the Executive Secretary of the Islamic Da’wa Organization (IDO) which was created by the Sudanese government- which was designated by the US as a terrorist organization in 1993.
Al-Bashir is an accused war criminal and charged with crimes against humanity in Darfur by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Bashir is doing even more evil, the latest, using a silent, more deadly assault on Christians and others by dropping bombs using parachutes so no one can hear them falling.
Al-Bashir is also tied to the terrorist group al shabab, the same who perpetrated the brutal terrorist attack at the Nairobi mall in Kenya late last year.
When I was working a few years ago on trying to find connections between Wahibist Schools in Saudi Arabia and the US, I came across many articles that were written in Arabic. Since I only know a little French and Spanish, I had to translate these by using online translating sites. One such article I found was written in 2011 from the Gulf Issues Centre for Strategic Studies. This was about 2 years before I realized that Walid Shoebat was working on the same dots, although from a different angle. My research had led me to many of the same sites Shoebat mentions in his articles, which I found out when I asked Scoop, from The Right Scoop if he knew of anyone who could translate a video from Arabic to English. The video was the interview mentioned and linked to earlier of Musa Obama and Al Jazeera. It was Scoop who turned me on to Walid Shoebat.
While my notes aren’t as coherent as Shoebat’s because he knows how to speak fluent Arabic, I’d like to use my own for this part, but will link to Shoebat’s article for a better picture. The Gulf Institute article described Wahabist Schools as “Salafi schools, which imbibed radical ideas” and are “the spring of Wahhabism”
The article as translated is a detailed account, but hard to understand. It does go on to give examples of students of Salafist schools, and at least one name has jumped out at me especially since I have been writing extensively this past year about the proxy war in Syria. Please forgive the loose translation, but it describes, “Muhammad Surur Zine El Abidine (originally Palestinian) enrolled in school after his separation from the Salafi Movement Muslim Brotherhood in Syria after the events of the Hama in the early 1980s. Studied at the University of Imam Mohammad Bin Saud, crisp Salafi thought in Saudi Arabia, and then traveled to Afghanistan For Jihad in the 1980s and then moved to Britain and lived in the city of Birmingham and publishes a magazine…which opposed the Saudi government for a period of time before returning to traditional Salafi line Its humanism sectarian sour notes, turning to Jordan in 2004…”
Now before brushing this off as unrelated, a story which I touched on last year about how rebels were coming from all over the world into Syria, mostly to fight with the rebels (those our government is arming), who include Al Qaida, al Nusra Front and others. One of the countries where fighters are coming from is Britain. From a recent article from Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, British Foreign Secretary William Hague recently said, “Syria is now the number one destination for jihadists anywhere in the world today. This includes a number of individuals connected with the United Kingdom and other European countries...”
About halfway through the article a Syrian journalist based in London, is quoted as saying Muhammad Surur Zine El Abidine he has become an important figure in the flow of Qatari money to Syria and alleged, “Surur has established himself as one of the key conduits for Qatari money to the anti-Assad rebels.”
Later the Gulf Institute goes into detail the relationship between Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, three countries allied with the United States in the Islamic world. Again, badly translated, but you can get the point, “As for the other states such as Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine, Iran, Yemen, Afghanistan, experts they put for each of the State not only one sign with linked to international terrorism, the controversy is fundamental point precision in the continuing flow of fighters from central Saudi Arabia to join the ranks of the Al Qaeda, and the escalating tone of inflammatory rhetoric to Salafist sheikhs hardliners…Both (Saudi and the US) are playing politics various forms…The Salafi religious extremism at home is one of the game cards, however, until the Saud with the Americans, Who are well aware of the fact that they want their allies in Riyadh.”
This is important because it shows a long time involvement between the US and the Saudis, which I will go a little deeper in the next and last part of this series.
Back to Walid Shoebat’s article covering the Musa’s (Obama’s cousin) connection, his article quotes Musa as saying, “I studied Arabic and Sharia at the Islamic university in Medina in Saudi Arabia,” and during the interview with Al Jazeera, “In the month of Muharram we visited the dean of Umm Al Qura University, me and my uncle Sayid…The nature of the visit was to facilitate scholarship to send students to Umm Al Qura.” -The same schools that have produced some of the biggest terrorists who still fight today.
Now- the power behind Obama- his personal advisor, Valerie Jarrett
Valerie Jarrett was born in Iran, where her father, a renowned physician, ran a children’s hospital. When Valerie was little, her family moved back to the US, to Chicago. Her maternal grandfather was Robert Taylor, a native of Chicago, who was involved with the American Peace Mobilization and the Chicago Civil Liberties Committee, which were communist groups. Frank Marshall Davis, who was known by Stanley Anne Dunham, Obama’s mother, was later a mentor to Obama was involved heavily in the same groups.
Her mother co-founded a Chicago-based graduate school in child development known as the Erikson Institute, named after communist psychoanalyst Erik Erikson. The board of trustees for the school has included Tom Ayers (father of the Marxist Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers) and Bernardine Dohrn, wife of Bill Ayers, who both are anti-Israel activists who have participated in Palestinian flotillas.
Jarrett went to school at Stanford University and Michigan Law School and later married Dr. William Robert Jarrett, son of Communist Chicago Sun-Times reporter Vernon Jarrett and was a leader of the Chicago chapter of American Youth for Democracy—youth wing of the Communist Party USA which again Frank Marshall Davis was also involved.
Valerie Jarrett had been involved in Chicago politics since 1987 and eventually worked for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, whom she served as Deputy Chief of Staff. In 1991 she and her colleague Susan Sher recruited to Chicago’s City Hall Michelle Robinson who was engaged to Barack Obama. Jarrett quickly became a trusted confidante of both the Obamas.
Since that time, she served with Daley, chaired the Chicago Transit Board, was CEO of The Habitat Company, and was a board member of the Chicago Stock Exchange; in 2008 she co-chaired the Obama-Biden Transition Project until being appointed to Senior Advisor and Assistant to Obama in his Administration.
Jarrett is so close to Obama, that in July 2009, Obama told a New York Times reporter “I trust her completely … She is family.” And about Obama, Jarrett said, “We have kind of a mind meld…And chances are, what he wants to do is what I’d want to do.”
It was because of Jarrett that communist Van Jones became Obama’s Green Jobs Czar in March 2009. A White House official told Politico that Jones “did not go through the traditional vetting process; instead, Jarrett interviewed Jones, a signal that she pushed for his appointment.”
A September 2012 article about Jarrett in the New York Times described the reason for her nickname as ‘the Night Stalker” and also described in detail her influence over Obama on many controversial decisions.
In October 2012 it was reported that Jarrett had been leading secret negotiations with representatives of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei to develop normalized relations between the U.S. and Iran.
A few days before the November 2012 presidential election, it was reported by the Insider that Jarrett had told several senior staffers, “After we win this election, it’s our turn. Payback time… Congress won’t be a problem for us this time. No election to worry about after this is over and we have two judges ready to go.”
While one can only guess what kind of ‘dirt’ may be known about a majority of members of both Houses of Congress, the fact is, there must be plenty which would explain why no one has dared to bring impeachment charges against Obama and half his administration.
This past November it was reported again about secret negotiations with Iran, in which Jarrett had been a main player, which would explain why this has been a disaster from the get go, since Jarrett has no experience in foreign policies despite her being born in Iran.
One more important bit about Jarrett; in September 2012, it was reported that Jarrett’s father in law, the Communist Chicago reporter Vernon Jarrett in 1979, wrote a detailed piece about the start of the Muslim purchase of The U.S. Presidency, and the main source for this article? Khalid Mansour who was the same lawyer who allegedly helped arrange for the entrance of Barack Obama into Harvard Law School in 1988. Khalid al-Mansour had an interest in creating a fund to give “financial help to disadvantaged students” Sounds kind of familiar doesn’t it? One has to wonder if this would be the same kind of help provided by Obama’s grandmother, cousin and uncle- to send kids to Wahabist schools.
In the last and final part of this series, we’ll look closer at the influence of Wahibism in American schools, and ways in which politicians from both parties have allowed the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist members into our government’s most sensitive positions, and how many have had direct access to the White House.
For additional information, watch Frank Gaffney’s 10-part series The Muslim Brotherhood in America: http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/the-muslim-brotherhood-in-america/
