Author: Ryan Mauro

The Buffalo Police Department learned about a newly-established MOA website in 2002.[i] A search of that website shows that its section about Kashmir twice linked to the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front in 200; once directly and once as a recommended news source. It was the only militant group in Pakistan that MOA directed its readers towards. The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front is not designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department. [i] The discovery was mentioned in a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation into MOA in 2003-2004.

Fuqra/MOA is believed to have collaborated with the El-Rukn black Muslim gang based in Chicago and to have recruited from its ranks. Lawrence Martines, the former chief of the Nevada department of homeland security, writes: “As the JAF grew in numbers, it is believed that they established a working relationship with the El Rukn, a large and violent Chicago black Muslim gang. The El Rukn in 1987, according to intelligence sources, were alleged to have received $2.5 million from Libya, the money transaction taking place in Nicaragua, to act as a fighting force on call to serve the Libyan…

A former senior U.S. law enforcement official directly involved in investigating Fuqra told Ryan Mauro that Sheikh Gilani is linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET). LET has been designated by the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 2001. It is linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed, Al-Qaeda and the Indian Mujahideen.  It is primarily focused on Kashmir and targets India.[i] [i] “Country Reports on Terrorism 2015.” (2015). U.S. State Department Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism. http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2015/257523.htm

Kashmir Freedom Front An official MOA letter to President Bush dated March 18, 1990 declared that all able-bodied Muslims are required to participate in a jihad against India over its actions in Kashmir. The letter called on Muslims to support an organization named the Kashmir Freedom Front. A second letter was sent to President Bush two months later. It reiterated that jihad against India was mandatory, comparing India’s alleged crimes in Kashmir to those committed by Nazi Germany. It stated that the MOA endorses “all efforts” to intervene in Kashmir and that Sheikh Gilani had met with the Kashmir Freedom…

Sheikh Gilani is said to be close to the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed, Maulana Masood Azhar.[i] Azhar used to lead Harakat ul-Ansar. He was released by India after terrorists hijacked an airliner in 1999 and demanded his release. JEM primarily targets India but members have been accused of attacking Christians in Pakistan and having involvement in plots to assassinate Pakistani President Musharaff. JEM has been listed by the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 2001. The group is linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. [i] Wilson, John. (2007). The General and Jihad. Pentagon Press.

Flag of NIMA Sheikh Gilani’s texts say that he met with Hezb-i-Islami and the Islamic Revolution of Afghanistan in 1979 to try to unify their ranks against the Soviet Union. Gilani said he offered his services to any Islamic group taking part in the jihad. The group disbanded in the 1990s and most members joined the Taliban.[i] [i] Harakat Muqatila-e-Islami Afghanistan. Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium. http://www.trackingterrorism.org/group/harakat-muqatila-e-islami-afghanistan-hmia

Hezb-i-Islami Sheikh Gilani’s texts say that he met with Hezb-i-Islami and the Islamic Revolution of Afghanistan in 1979 to try to unify their ranks against the Soviet Union. Gilani said he offered his services to any Islamic group taking part in the jihad. Gilani’s recruits reportedly fought in Afghanistan as members of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb-i-Islami. Two dozen African-American recruits were seen amongst the mujahideen in Afghanistan in 1985.[i] Reported Fuqra/MOA member Rodney Hampton-El was injured fighting in Afghanistan as a member of Hezb-i-Islami. He was later convicted for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a foiled…

Sankore Institute – Jawala Scouts Jamaat ul-Fuqra / Muslims of America (MOA) members have had relationships with a radical African Sufi organization known as the Sankore Institute (SIIASI) and its affiliated with an Islamic youth group named Jawala Scouts. Sankore is led by an Islamist cleric from Sudan. The Pennsylvania-based organization is also home to the Light of the Age Mosque that it officially set up in 2004. It is also known as Masjid Nur ‘az-Zamaan.[1] The FBI raided its offices in 2007. Although members of the two organizations have been friendly since the 1980s, 2015 SIIASI research paper directly criticized…

By: Ryan Mauro Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and beheaded on video by Al-Qaeda-linked kidnappers in Karachi, Pakistan in 2002. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and then third-in-command of Al-Qaeda, credibly claims to have been the one to execute him. Pearl had made contact with the inner circle of Sheikh Gilani, the secretive leader of Jamaat ul-Fuqra/Muslims of the Americas (JUF or MOA), in hopes of interviewing him due to evidence linking him to Richard Reid, an Al-Qaeda operative who attempted to blow up an American airliner using a bomb hidden in his shoe.…

Fuqra/MOA and Sheikh Gilani have a history of links to the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas, its Palestinian wing, was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997 by the U.S. State Department. The Brotherhood is not listed as a terrorist group, despite being the parent group of Hamas, but there is a bipartisan movement in Congress to designate it. Relationships with Brotherhood Affiliates MOA was linked to the “Blind Sheikh” Omar Abdel-Rahman, the leader of Egyptian Gama’a Islamiyya, an affiliate of the Brotherhood.[1] MOA was also linked to a Brotherhood affiliate name the Al-Kifah Refugee Center, the American branch of…