Author: Ryan Mauro
California has been home to multiple Fuqra/MOA villages, with at least one remaining outside Los Angeles, according to a deposed MOA leader in 2014. A 2010 video by MOA had a map of states where “Islamic villages” founded by Sheikh Gilani exist. California was listed. Fuqra/MOA is believed to be responsible for an attack on a Hare Krishna temple on August 31, 1979 and an attack on the Islamic Cultural Center of San Diego on January 11, 1991.[1] A counter-terrorism raid in 1991 on a MOA enclave in Texas showed that MOA terror suspects had conducted surveillance of a post…
Arizona Fuqra is believed to be behind a terrorist attack on an Islamic Cultural Center in Tempe on September 1, 1982[1] and the murder of a controversial liberal Muslim cleric in Tucson, Imam Rashid Khalifa, on January 31, 1990 by stabbing him 29 times. 1990 Murder of Imam Rashid Khalifa Plans for the assassination were found when authorities raided a storage locker rented by Fuqra members in Colorado Springs in 1989. Seven members of Fuqra were involved.[2] One suspect, Glen Cusford Francis, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, wasn’t arrested until 1990 in Calgary, Canada. He conducted surveillance for about…
A MOA video released in 2010 showed a map of states where it had “Islamic villages” at that time. Alabama was listed. A 2004 report funded by the Justice Department identifies Marion as having a “training compound” for MOA.[1] A 2006 report for law enforcement also said that Marion is home to one of at least seven “covert paramilitary training compounds.”[2] Some MOA members are known to have been born in Marion. Convicted Fuqra/MOA terrorist Edward Flinton said that the group’s New York-based trainer, known by the nickname of “Doorsman,” had “pseudo-military” classes in Alabama. He said the location may…
Sheikh Gilani has emphasized over the years that MOA should assist other Islamist groups fighting the “oppression” from the enemies of Islam, with Kashmir being his biggest passion. He rarely states which groups he has delivered assistance to, but he’s been linked to various groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan including affiliates of Al-Qaeda. Gilani previously supported certain Afghan militant groups in the early 1990s that were fighting for control of the country. In recent years, he has hinted at the possibility of fighting the Pakistani Taliban in order to protect Sufi shrines and communities it has targeted. Very little is…
secret videotape produced by Sheikh Gilani in the 1990s announced that his group had formed an international force for jihad named “Soldiers of Allah” and that it had provided guerilla warfare training to fighters from the Philippines.[1] [1] More information about the “Soldiers of Allah” tape is available in the section of this website about MOA’s guerilla/jihad training.
MOA stated in 2011 that it was directing its efforts away from Pakistan due to government officials’ “mistreatment” of its members and towards other Islamic countries including Indonesia and Malaysia.[i] Internal Fuqra/MOA documents seized by law enforcement in 1992 include notes showing that a member named M. Mubarik stayed at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in October 1991. They also found plans for extensive meetings in the country with the International Islamic University, the Islamic Economic Development Foundation, the Islamic Religious Council (Majilis Agama Islam) and the University of Malaysia. MOA terror suspects were also found to possess a…
South America Fuqra/MOA is known to have an office in Venezuela and a leader based in Senegal. MOA-affiliated sources say that MOA has a “village” in Mexico. MOA said it had a village and Quranic Open University “campus” in South America in a 1994 book. The text talked about its Muslim-American members enforcing Sharia Law in such villages and showed a picture of a man in the South American village sitting in a chair as he was about to be lashed.[i] A 2011 issue of the Fuqra/MOA newspaper states that two “correspondents” are based in an unidentified South American country.…
Fuqra/Muslims of America (MOA) has had a long presence in the Caribbean. MOA currently has an office in Trinidad and has had links to the Jamaat al-Muslimeen group there. It has also been active in Jamaica and possibly other countries. A December 2010 FBI counter-terrorism report said that “the Muslims of the Americas terrorist organization” has a “jamaat” (private commune) in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The documents confirmed that MOA is an alternative name for Jamaat ul-Fuqra and described the group as “armed and dangerous,” urging personnel to “use extreme caution when dealing with confirmed members or individuals…
Fuqra/MOA leader Sheikh Gilani said that one of his Quranic Open Universities had an office in Canada in a secret recruitment tape distributed in the early 1990s. Gilani told viewers to contact his offices to sign up for guerilla warfare training and to join a newly formed international militant force named “Soldiers of Allah” dedicated to waging jihad against oppressors of Muslims. For more information on the “Soldiers of Allah” tape, read the section of this website about guerrilla training. You can also view the tape on the Fuqra Files YouTube channel. Jamaat Al-Fuqra/Muslims of the Americas (MOA) have a…
Sheikh Gilani has emphasized over the years that MOA should assist other Islamist groups fighting the “oppression” from the enemies of Islam, with Kashmir being his biggest passion. He rarely states which groups he has delivered assistance to, but he’s been linked to various groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan including affiliates of Al-Qaeda. Gilani previously supported certain Afghan militant groups in the early 1990s that were fighting for control of the country. In recent years, he has hinted at the possibility of fighting the Pakistani Taliban in order to protect Sufi shrines and communities it has targeted. Very little is…