Tag: Yasir Qadhi

Memphis Imam Raises Money For Islamic Charity U.S. Congressman Says Has Ties to Muslim Brotherhood

Chris Alto

Last week, Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced an amendment to the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Act blocking any U.S. funding to Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW). Between 2015 and 2016, IRW received $370,000 in federal funding. DeSantis explained to the Free Beacon that: U.S. tax dollars cannot go to groups involved in funding terrorism. Any group tied to Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood should be ineligible for funding.  It is a slap in the face of the American taxpayer to allow such groups to receive federal funding. Founded in 1984, IRW is headquartered in the UK but operates as a franchiser of sixteen charity affiliates comprising the largest Islamic charity in the West with revenues in the hundreds of millions. Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA), reputed to be one of the largest affiliate funders of IRW, is also inter-connected to IRW through leadership. For example, IRUSA’s former CEO, Abed Ayoub also served on the governance committee of the IRW. Between 2012 and 2016, Memphis Imam Yasir Qadhi has been helping IRUSA raise money speaking at a dozen fundraising events. More recently, he undertook an eight-date tour in the UK to raise money for the parent organization IRW. Britain’s Charity Commission which…

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Memphis Sheik Joins Islamist Linda Sarsour and CAIR Founder to Oppose Supreme Court Decision on Travel Ban

Chris Alto

Memphis Sheik Yasir Qadhi joined Islamist activist Linda Sarsour and fellow activist and Hamas supporter Nihad Awad to collectively state their opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding key parts of President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) while attending the Islamic Society of North America’s (ISNA) 54th annual convention in Chicago earlier this month. Their opposition to the ban was captured in this tweet: Government shouldn't be in the business of defining "bona fide relationships" & excluding grandparents, etc. Unacceptable. #NoMuslimBanEver pic.twitter.com/qrndrFwe7x — MPower Change (@MPower_Change) June 29, 2017 The temporary travel ban from Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Iran and Yemen remain in effect except for those refugees “who have a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States” although they must still satisfy all security vetting. The EO’s limit of 50,000 refugee admissions for the current fiscal year was also upheld by the court. Iraq was dropped from the revised travel ban after it agreed to accept Iraqi deportees from the U.S. Sheik Qadhi is the resident scholar at the Memphis Islamic Center, Dean of Academic Affairs of AlMaghrib Institute and an “expert” with the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America (AMJA). Linda Sarsour recently gained notoriety…

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Islamic Society of North America, Unindicted Co-Conspirator in Terror Financing , Holding Conferences in Tennessee

Chris Alto

On April 9, 2016, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) hosted a “Striving for Justice” conference in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis cleric Yasir Qadhi, resident scholar at the Memphis Islamic Center, Dean of Academic Affairs of AlMaghrib Institute and an “expert” with the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America (AMJA), along with Linda Sarsour, director of the Arab American Association of New York, were featured speakers. ISNA is a named unindicted co-conspirator in the federal 2008 Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial, the largest successful terrorism financing prosecution in the U.S. which resulted in five officials of the HLF being convicted for illegally funneling millions of dollars to HAMAS, a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization. In 2009, ISNA went to court asking to have their HLF unindicted co-conspirator status removed. However, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals federal judge Solis ruled that ISNA’s unindicted co-conspirator would stand since the government had “ample evidence” tying ISNA to HAMAS: [t]he Government has produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR, ISNA and NAIT with HLF [Holy Land Foundation], the Islamic Association for Palestine (“IAP”), and with Hamas At the time, Obama’s political Department of Justice appointees blocked prosecutions of the HLF unindicted co-conspirators including ISNA.…

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Nashville-Murfreesboro-Franklin Metro Area One of Top 20 Places in U.S. Where Women and Girls at Risk for Female Genital Mutilation

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

Tennessee outlawed female genital mutilation (FGM) in 1996, but 2013 data collated in a Population Reference Bureau (PRB) report, shows that the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin Metropolitan Statistical Area is ranked 20th in the country for the potential risk of FGM being performed on women and girls. Tennessee is number 18 in overall state rankings for risk to women and girls from FGM. The Population Reference Bureau is a non-profit supported financially by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Girl Scouts of the USA, and the United States Agency for International Development and several other foundations. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) includes the terms FGM, female circumcision and female genital excision, under the broader heading of “female genital cutting:” “Female genital cutting refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of female genitalia or other injury to female genital organs for any cultural, religious or otherwise nontherapeutic reasons. This practice is common in many refugee populations, particularly those from East Africa (i.e. Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan), although the practice is pervasive throughout the world. This controversial practice is considered a human rights violation by many, and it is illegal in the United States in people under 18 years of age.”  [pdf-embedder url=”https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/us-fgmc-all-metros-table.pdf”]   Minneapolis, Minnesota,…

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