IKHWAN IN AMERICA

An Oral History of the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

in Their Own Words

Thisbookmaybereproduced,distributedandtransmittedforpersonalandnon-commercialuse.

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Ikhwan in AmericaispublishedintheUnitedStatesbytheCenterforSecurityPolicyPress,

adivisionoftheCenterforSecurityPolicy

ISBN-13: 978-1532824937

ISBN-10: 1532824939.

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Contents

Foreword...................................................................................................................1

Preface........................................................................................................................5

SideA...............................................................................................................................19

SideB...............................................................................................................................33

References..............................................................................................................49

1

Foreword

n2013,theCenterforSecurityPolicyPresspublishedAn Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal of the Group in North AmericaasthefirstentryinitsArchivalSeries.Thiscollectionisre-producingMuslimBrotherhooddocumentsthathavebeenacquired

bylawenforcementofficialsandothersourcesintheinterestofprovid-inginsightintothenatureofthisshadowyorganizationanditsmethods.

TheExplanatory Memorandumwaswritten by a leadingmember of theU.S.MuslimBrotherhoodnetwork,MohammedAkramAdlouni, in1991anddiscoveredthroughcircumstancesthatcanonlybedescribedasprovidential.

InAugust2004,IsmailElbarassewasdetainedbyMarylandTransporta-tionAuthorityofficersafterheandhiswifewereobservedattemptingtofilm surreptitiously the structural supports of the Chesapeake BayBridge. Theauthoritiesquicklyestablished thatElbarassewaswantedon a material witness arrest warrant in Chicago for raising funds forHamas.TheFBIobtainedandexecutedasearchwarrantonthecouple’shomeinAnnandale,Virginia.

Thosesearches led to thediscoveryandconfiscationofnumerousdoc-uments, files, audio and video tapes on the Elbarasse property, alongwith an industrial-sizedpallet stacked four feet highwithbanker-styleboxes containing documents.1 These artifactswould turn out to repre-sentthearchivesoftheMuslimBrotherhoodinNorthAmerica.

TheExplanatory Memorandum was among the documents taken in thissearchandprovedtobebothhighlyrevealingandexplosive.ItdescribedthemissionoftheMuslimBrotherhoodas“akindofgrandjihadinelim-inating anddestroying theWesternCivilization fromwithin and ‘sabo-

I

IkhwaninAmerica2

taging’ its miserable house by their hands [i.e., non-Muslims] and thehandsofthebelievers….”2

Inaddition,attachedtotheExplanatory Memorandum wasalistundertheheading “Our Organizations and the Organizations of Our Friends.” ItprovidedthenamesofapparentMuslimBrotherhoodfrontgroupsoper-atingintheUnitedStates.

Thememorandumwouldbesubmittedbyfederalprosecutorsattrialasa key piece of evidence against the Holy Land Foundation, a MuslimBrotherhood-created organizationwhose purposewas to fund Hamas.TheExplanatory Memorandum–whentakentogetherwithahostofotherseized Brotherhood documents, surveillance records and wiretaps –helped secure the successful conviction of five co-conspirators in thelargestterrorismfinancetrialinAmericanhistory.

ThedamningnatureofMohammedAkhram’s1991reportpreparedfortheBrotherhood’s leadership–and thehelp itprovidesnon-experts inunderstanding the threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood’s “grandjihad” – has prompted a concerted effort by Islamic supremacists andtheirallieson thepolitical left to try todeny itsauthenticityor signifi-cance. Often thishasbeenattemptedby taking theExplanatory Memo-randumoutofthecontextofthenumerousother,supportingdocumentsthat are also in official hands, and by downplaying or simply ignoringcorroboratingevidence.3

WhilethereleaseoftheExplanatory MemorandumbecameakindofRo-settaStoneforunderstandingthenatureandcharacteroftheMuslim

BrotherhoodinAmerica,it has never stood alone.ItscharacterizationsoftheBrothers’mission,theirplansforourcountryandtheorganizationalinfrastructure they have been putting into place since the early 1960shavebeenaffirmedbynumerousotherdocuments.

ItisthegoaloftheCenterforSecurityPolicyArchivalSeriestoprovidecontextandadeeperunderstandingof the threatposedby theMuslim

Foreword 3

Brotherhoodbypublishingselectionsfromsuchmaterials,togetherwithanalysisandexplication.

Itisourhopethat,byprovidingtheAmericanpublicwithboththeorigi-naltextofdocumentsthemselvesalongwithexpertevaluationsoftheirideological, historical and/or organizational significance, our country-men and women and their elected representatives will be better in-formedaboutthetruenatureandmagnitudeofthethreatposedtotheUnitedStatesbytheMuslimBrotherhood.

Inthis,thesecondofourArchivalSeries,wefeaturetheFBItranscriptofanaudiotapefoundduringtheElbarassesearch.Thetapefeaturesatalkentitled“IkhwaninAmerica”givenbytheChiefMasul(Guide)oftheU.S.MuslimBrotherhood’sExecutiveOffice,ZeidNoman.

This lecture by a top-level Muslim Brother before a closed BrotherhoodaudienceservesasanauthoritativeoralhistoryoftheMuslimBrotherhoodandtheireffortsintheUnitedStatesin their own words.ThetalktookplaceinMissouriintheearly1980s,yetitforeshadowsissuesmentionedintheExplanatory Memorandum almost a decade later – including references totheBrotherhood’s efforts to engage in “settlement,”which theMemoran-dumwilllatercometodefineasa“Civilization-al-jihadist”process.

Also like theMemorandum,“Ikhwan inAmerica”namesnames, includ-ingsomeofthemostimportantandinfluentialMuslimorganizationsinthe United States. It irrefutably confirms the founding of the MuslimStudents Association (MSA) and the Islamic Society of North America(ISNA) as Muslim Brotherhood entities and highlights the importancesuchfrontorganizationsplayintheBrotherhood’sstealthyandsubver-sivecivilizationjihadistactivities.

We hope that this newest editionwill enhance the understanding of thenatureandthreatposedbytheMuslimBrotherhoodtotheUnitedStates,our national security, and way of life. We encourage every American toread this volume as a further affirmation – by the Muslim Brotherhood

IkhwaninAmerica4

itself–of themenace itsoperatives, frontgroupsandmosquesrepresentto ourConstitution and the republic it established and the freedoms itguarantees.

FrankJ.Gaffney,Jr.PresidentandCEO

CenterforSecurityPolicy

26March,2016

5

Preface

he document included in this volume is known as “Ikhwan inAmerica” or, during the Holy Land Foundation trial, as Govern-mentExhibit“ElbarasseSearch-2.”ThedocumentisanFBItran-

scriptof anaudiotape found in IsmailElbarasse’shome. It is theaudiorecordingofa lecturegivenbyZeidAl-Noman, identifiedintherecord-ingitself4astheGeneralMasuloftheExecutiveOfficeoftheU.S.MuslimBrotherhood.

NomanhimselfdiscussesintheaudiotapetheimportanceoftheExecu-tiveOfficeposition:

My brother, the Executive Office is the Group’s ExecutiveLeadership. The Executive Office is divided into offices.Through these offices, the affairs of the Group are run.AmongthemistheOrganizationOffice...,theOrganizationOf-ficewhichoverseesthe...er,overtheregionsandtheUsrasofthe Group. And among them is the Education Office whichoversees the preparation of cultural programs for theIkhwansortheeducational[programs] fortheIkhwansandalso prepares the training programs for the Ikhwans in thedifferent fields and various specializations among which isthe Political Office which submits political analysis to theIkhwansandalsotheSistersOfficewhichrunsandpromotestheactivityoftheSistersDivision,Amongthemis,ofcourse,the Secretariat General which is theMovement’s Secretary.Thesearetheexecutiveofficeswhichareavailablenow…

As for thedutiesof theExecutiveOffice, itexecutesand fol-lowsup on theworks of theGroup and its different bodiesaccordingtothegeneralpolicyandtheresolutions....,andthe

T

IkhwaninAmerica6

resolutions issuedby theShuraCouncil. Ithas to followupandguidetheactivitiesofthegeneralworkorganizationandto make sure they run according to the Group’s plan withwhatachievesitsgoals. ItsubmitsaperiodicalreporttotheShuraCouncilaboutitsworkandtheactivityof…,theactivityofthedomesticbodiesandthegeneralorganizations.

Al-Noman’sownpositionasChiefMasuloftheExecutiveOfficeexplainshislevelofaccessandknowledgeabouttheinnerworkingsoftheBroth-erhood in theUnitedStates andhelpsus to identify the significanceofMohammedAkram,theExecutiveOfficeSecretaryandauthoroftheEx-planatory Memorandum, as a significant leader, contrary to claims bythosewhohaveattemptedtodismisstheimportanceofthedocumentbyclaimingAkramwasamere“secretary.”

TheFBI transcript leaves thedatewhen the lecturewas recordeduni-dentified,althoughfromcontextcluesgivenbyAl-Nomanhimselfwecanconcludethatthelecturewasprobablygivensometimearoundtheearlypartof1982,becauseNomandescribesanexecutiveofficeplanthat“willbeimplementedbeginningMay‘82…”suggestingithadnotyetbeenimple-mented. The latest date referenced in the document is 1985, representing thelastyearofthemostrecentfive-yearplan,whichwaspreparedin1981.5

ThetimingissignificantbecauseitrepresentsawindowintotheviewoftheU.S.MuslimBrotherhood leadershipprior to the1987 “LongTermPlan”referencedbyMohammadAkramasthebasis for theExplanatory Memorandum. The views expressed byAl-Noman are clearly consistentwith the thoughtsexpressed in theMemorandum,which indicates thatfarfrombeinganoutlyingdocumentnotreflectiveoftheBrotherhood’sgoalsandoperations,theExplanatory Memorandumisinlinewithobjec-tivesexpressedatleastasearlyas1982,andbyatleasttwomembersofthe seven member Executive Office.6 In the document, Al-Noman dis-cussesthenatureandhistoryoftheMuslimBrotherhood(usingtheAr-abicnamefor theBrothers, Ikhwan) in theUnitedStates. HebeginsbydiscussingtheearlydifficultiesfacedbytheBrothersintheearly‘60s,as

Preface 7

thosewhocameto theUnitedStates,primarilyasstudents,weremoreconnectedwiththeIkhwanorganizationspresentintheirhomecountry,andwith the expectationof returninghome, rather thanwith a unitedU.S.-basedBrotherhoodorganization.

GiventheroleofstudentsintheMuslimBrotherhoodatthistime,it’snosurprisethat the firstMuslimBrotherhoodorganizationfounded intheU.S.wastheMuslimStudents’Association(MSA),foundedattheUniver-sityofChamplain,Illinois,in1962.7Al-NomandiscussestheMSAingreatdetail, includinghowearlyMSAconferenceswerealsoconsidered jointIkhwanconferences,andmembershipintheMSAwasarequirementforinvolvementwiththeMuslimBrotherhoodinAmerica.

Other documents discovered during the Elbarasse search confirm theMuslimStudents’Association’sroleasaMuslimBrotherhood-controlledorganization, includingtheExplanatory Memorandum [ElbarasseSearch-3],andThe“HistoricalOutlook”document[ElbarasseSearch-1].

Then,Al-NomanexplainshowatremendousseachangebeganintheU.S.Brotherhood,asaneworganizationandarenewedeffortbeganto for-mulateafunctionalMuslimBrotherhoodstructureintheUnitedStates:

So,theMovementthen-currentsituationexplodedduringthecamp of ‘77 and a new leadership came on board in ‘78whoseworkwasbitterasitwastryingtopurgetheGroup’sbody from regional restrictions and gatherings or from theorganizationalpocketsandtieditspartstogetherbut,duringthistimeperiod,itwasanon-harmoniousleadershipandgo-ingbackandforthwasevidentinitspositions.Despitethat,itmanagedtoplacethe Ikhwans in frontof thetruepictureof their reality and to shake them deeply from the inside.Therefore, the conferences of’77, ‘78 and ‘79 used to endwithtearsandpainbut,tosaythetruth,wereveryimportantforwhat happened after that. This timeperiodwas charac-terized by change; a change in Ikhwans who wanted to

IkhwaninAmerica8

changethestatusquoandotherswhowanttomaintainthestatus quo.One of the thingswhichwere enacted is the at-tendanceof theSistersonly to theMovement’sconferences,only theadherentSistersandnot thewivesof the Ikhwans.Also,forthefirsttime…er,actualaccountabilityofthelead-ershipwasenactedeven though thisaccountabilitywasun-fairattimes.Inthepast,leadershipwasseenasagroupofin-fallible Ikhwans. Therefore, holding them accountable wasrare or simple. Despite that, organizational pockets contin-ued to constitute the biggest danger for the unity of theGroup. But, this timeperiod came to an end and theGroupbecamemoreacceptingof change, stabilityandmoving for-ward.Theelectionsof‘79camealongandtheShuraCouncilcamein‘80and‘81andtheroadinfrontofitwaspavedandworkbegan tounify theGroup’sranks,codificationofworkandpushingtheMovement’sforward.8

Noman’s invocation of the year 1977 is significant because it corre-sponds to the foundingof the IslamicSocietyofNorthAmerica (ISNA).FoundedoutoftheMSA,ISNArepresentedthefirstattemptatorganiz-ingtheMuslimBrotherhoodoutsideofthestudentcontext,anddirectlyfocusingeffortsandattentiononactivitiesintheUnitedStates.

This significance is confirmed in other MB-associated works of history as well. In Hisham AlTalib’s“TrainingGuideforIslamicWorkers,”AlTalib,thedirectoroftheMSA’sTrainingDepartment,discussesthefoundingofISNA,saying:

AstheMSAreacheditsmid-teens, itbeganpreparingforanexpanded role in the service of Islam. It called a historicmeeting of a cross-section of Islamic workers in Plainfield,Indiana,inearly1397/1977.Thismeetingsetupataskforcetorecommendaneworganizationalstructuretorespondtothe increasing challenges and responsibilities emerging inthegrowingNorthAmericanMuslimcommunities.The task

Preface 9

forceconcludedanewenvironmentwouldbebestservedbyestablishing a broader umbrella organization called the Is-lamicSocietyofNorthAmerica.Thiswasaccomplisheddur-ingRabi’alAwwal1403/January1983.9

Al Talib has a number of connections to known Muslim Brotherhoodgroups, including the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)andthesuspectedAlQaeda/HamasfinancegroupAlTaqwaBank.10

Elbarasse Search-1, “Historical Outlook” also confirms the central im-portance played by ISNA, defining it as the “nucleus of the IslamicMovement.”11

Anotherimportanteventtakingplacein1977weremajorchangesmadebytheIslamicCircleofNorthAmerica(ICNA),thefrontorganizationforJamaat-e-Islami (JeI) in theUnited States.Beginning in1977 “ICNAes-tablishedforumsforDawahworkatthelocal,regionalandnationallev-el.”Alsoin1977,ShamimA.Siddiqui,aJeImemberfromPakistanbeforeimmigratingtotheUnitedStates,founded“TheForumforIslamicWork.”Siddiqui would go on to be the chairman of ICNA’s Dawah committeeand the authorof “MethodologyofDawah,” a seminalpieceof Islamistliterature regarding operations in North America, and which providesdetailsforaphasedsetof“milestones”bywhichJeIcouldimplementitsDawahinNorthAmerica.12

Thecreationof ISNAandICNA’sreorganizationwouldsetthestageforthe eventual merger of the “Islamic Circle” with the Muslim Brother-hood,asmentionedinAkram’sExplanatory Memorandum.

Having discussed how theMuslim Brotherswere able to coalesce andfocus themselves on activities in North America, Al-Noman discusseswhatthoseplanswere:

Themaingoalswhichwereapprovedbytheexecutiveofficewerefive....,whichwereputtogetherbytheexecutiveofficeandwhichwere then approved by the Shura Councilwere,

IkhwaninAmerica10

firstof all: Strengthening the internal structure; second,ad-ministrativediscipline; third, recruitment and settlement ofthe Dawa’a; four, energizing the organizations’ work; five,energizingpoliticalworkfronts.Also,itadoptedeightofthesecondary goals on top of which were: finance and invest-ment; second, foreign relations; third, revivingwomen’s ac-tivity; four, political awareness to members of the Group;five, securing the Group; six, special activity; seven, media;eight,takingadvantageofhumanpotentials.

Mostnotableamongthesearethereferenceto“recruitmentandsettle-mentoftheDaw’a.”

Dawa,meaningpreachingorproselytizing,isanIslamicreligiousobliga-tiontospreadthewordofIslamandinvitenon-believersintoit. ItalsobearsimportanceintheperformanceofJihad,sinceDawacanbeviewedasobligatorybeforeJihadmaycommence.13TheconceptofDawabearssubstantialimportancetotheMuslimBrotherhood,followingthemeth-odologyimpartedbymajorIkhwanideologueSayyidQutb,whonoted:

Thismovement uses themethods of preaching andpersua-sion for reforming ideas and beliefs, and it uses physicalpowerandJihadforabolishingtheorganizationsandauthor-itiesoftheJahilisystemwhichpreventspeoplefromreform-ingtheir ideasandbeliefs,but forcesthemtoobeytheirer-roneouswaysandmakethemservehuman lords insteadoftheAlmightyLord.14

Al-NomanmakesclearheisreferringtotheMuslimBrotherhood’sviewofDawaasameanstoestablishitselfanditsauthority,notakindofgen-eralproselytizing.Heexplains:

By “settlement of the Dawa’a”, the Muslim BrotherhoodDawa’aismeant.ItisnotmeanttospreadIslamasspreadofIslamisageneralthinganditisindeedagoalforeachMus-limingeneralterms.

Preface 11

For readerswhohave examined indetail theExplanatory Memorandumdocument, thediscussionof “settlement”will be familiar as a “Civiliza-tion-jihadist”process.

AsAl-NomancontinueshisdiscussionofthesettlementofDawa,hedis-cusses how the Brothers from the MSAs began to acquire off-campuspropertiesforuseas“IslamicCenters”inordertoreachoutthebroaderMuslimcommunity,andconductdawa:

Thiswas also anotherhealthymove for settling theDawa’aas the presence of an Islamic centermeans the presence ofresidents,meanstheexistenceofcontactsbetweenstudentsand the residents, means recruitment of the and winningthemto theranksof theDawa’a,means formingpermanentfoundationsinthesecities.Then,whatwehavenoworwhatwefeelnowisthatthereabiggerandbiggeracceptancethanthe Ikhwans’ base for this change and we ask God the Al-mightytohelpussothatwecanfinishthismissionwhichisthe settlement of Dawa’a and that, by that, wewould havepermanentfoundationsinAmericawhichcanbenefitIslamicworkgenerallyspeakingandmayGodrewardyouallgood.

Again,thissameviewappearsintheMemorandum,asAkramdescribesthecentralityoftheIslamicCentersbysaying:

In briefwe say:wewould like for the Islamic center to be-come“TheHouseofDawa’”and“thegeneralcenter”indeedsfirstbeforename.Asmuchasweownanddirectthesecen-tersatthecontinent level,wecansaywearemarchingsuc-cessfullytowardsthesettlementofDawa’inthiscountry.15

Additionalgoals, listedamongsecondarygoalsbutstillworthyofmen-tion, includeAl-Noman’sreferenceto“securingtheGroup”and“specialactivity.” While these terms may appear vague, their meaning is ad-

IkhwaninAmerica12

dressedwithinthecontentofthetapeitself,asNomananswersaques-tionfromoneoftheunidentifiedbrothersintheaudience:

Um (Unidentified Male): By “Securing the Group”, do youmeanmilitarysecuring?And, if it is that,wouldyouexplaintousalittlebitthemeanstoachieveit.

Ze: No.Militaryworkislistedunder“Specialwork”.“Specialwork” means military work. “Securing the Group” is theGroups’ security, the Group’s security against outside dan-gers.For instance, tomonitor thesuspiciousmovementsonthe...., which exist on the American front such as Zionism,Masonry....etc.Monitoring the suspiciousmovements or thesides, the government bodies such as theCIA, FBl...etc, sothatwe findout if theyaremonitoringus,arewenotbeingmonitored,howcanwegetridofthem.That’swhatismeantby“SecuringtheGroup”.

This is an interesting and revealing statement byAlNomanbecause itindicates that the Muslim Brotherhood, even in the United States in1982,hadnotabandoneditsdevotiontopotentiallyviolentmeans(mili-tarywork)norhaditgivenuptrainingitsmembersforpotentialviolentconflictagainstitsopponents.Thisiscontrarytomuchoftheanalysisofthe Obama Administration, which has described the Brotherhood haspossessinga“decades-longcommitmenttononviolence.”16

Theterm“specialactivity”or“specialwork”isreminiscentoftheorigi-nalMuslimBrotherhood terroristwing, createdby the founderHassanAl-BannaandknownwithintheBrotherhoodasthe“specialsection”ortooutsidersasthe“secretapparatus.”RichardP.Mitchell,authorof“TheSocietyoftheMuslimBrothers,”describestheSecretApparatusthusly:

Inspired inthe first instanceasan ideabytheconceptof ji-had, formalized intoanorganizationunder thepressuresofnationalistagitation,thesecretapparatuswasalmostimme-

Preface 13

diatelyrationalizedasaninstrumentforthedefenceofIslamand theSociety. In1943 itbegan toplay thepartof thede-fender of themovement against the police and the govern-mentsofEgypt.”17

In addition to carrying out terror attacks, the SecretApparatus helpedprepare Muslim Brotherhood’s “battalions” for Jihad in the PalestineMandatebeginningin1947.18WhileNomandoesn’treferencethebattal-ions in theaudiotape, theyarementioned in theExplanatory Memoran-dum,whereAkramdescribestheimportanceofusingIslamicCentersto“SupplyourBattalions”.19

NomanconfirmsthattheBrotherhoodintheUnitedStateswasalsopre-paringforviolenceinresponsetoaquestionraisedonthetape:

If the asking brother is from Jordan, for instance, hewouldknow that it is not possible tohavemilitary training in Jor-dan, for instance, while here in America, there is weaponstraininginmanyoftheIkhwans’camps.

NomangoesontodescribeasituationinOklahoma,wherehestatesthatweapons traininghadbecome impossibleafter local campingareasbe-ganrequesting identification inorder torentcampgroundswithshoot-ingfacilities.

As with Noman’s concerns regarding showing identification, his state-mentsregardingthenecessityof“securingthegroup”fromsurveillancebytheFBIandCIAarealsoreflectiveofthenatureoftheMuslimBroth-erhood’s behavior. Noman’s statement takes place at least five yearspriortotheMuslimBrotherhood’sfoundingofHamas,and15yearspri-ortoHamas’designationasaterroristorganizationbytheUnitedStates,yetclearlytheBrotherhoodwasawarethattheywereengagedinsedi-tiousandpotentiallycriminalactivitiesthatwouldlikelyraisetheatten-tionsoflawenforcementandintelligence.

IkhwaninAmerica14

WehavereasontobelievethattheMuslimBrotherhoodwasinfacttak-ing serious steps to conductmilitary training and to engage in intelli-gence and counterintelligence activities, thanks to the 1995 search byfederal law enforcement officials of the home of convicted (and sincedeported) Muslim Brotherhood member and Palestinian Islamic Jihadorganizer Sami al-Arian.20 Additionally, Al-Arian was himself a co-founderofISNA.21

The search uncovered a document thatwas described by law enforce-mentasthecharterfora“hostileintelligenceorganization.”22The“Char-ter”wasdatedJune1981,andwhilewecannotbesurethatAl-Nomanwasawareofit,hemayhavebeenastheChartercallsforthenewintel-ligenceorgantoanswer to theGeneralChief (Masul),executivebureau(presumablymeaning the same thing as the Executive Office) and theShura Council, possibly referring to positions which Noman in factheld.23

While obviously concerning, the Brotherhood’s willingness to train itsmembersinviolenceandpreparefor“militarywork”isasecondarygoal.Oneof theprimarygoals, theenergizingof “politicalwork fronts,”pro-vides a wider window into the way the Brotherhood operates in theUnitedStates.

Nomanexplainsinresponsetoaquestionthattheuseoffrontsiscriticalto the Brotherhood’s operations in the United States. According to theChief Masul, the Muslim Brotherhood front organizations representmorethanthepersonalenergiesoftheirparticipantswithoutwiderco-ordination.Rather,Nomanindicatesthateachfrontthathasbeencreat-edwasdonesodeliberatelyandwithgreatconsideration.

Nomanexplains:

By God, fronts are onemethod...., onemethod for groupingand are onemethod to communicate the Ikhwan’s thought.TheyareonemethodtocommunicatetheIkhwan’spointof

Preface 15

view. A front is not formed until after a study and after anexhaustivestudy.Imean,thelastfrontformedbytheGroupistheIslamicAssociationforPalestine.So,Ikhwans,thisdidnotcomeoutovernightor itwasnot liketheIkhwanswhoare in chargewent to sleep, dreamed about it andmet thenextday anddecided todo it.Not at all, byGod.Thiswentthroughlengthy meetings and took long discussions. Manyspecialized auxiliary committees were formed which wereexamining this work, they were examining this work fromdifferentangles, from theangleof thebenefitof suchwork,fromtheangleof,forinstance,thehumanresourceswehave,from an angle of how this front would benefit us in com-municatingthebrothers’pointofview.

NotethereferencetotheIslamicAssociationforPalestine(IAP),oneofthe organizations of the Palestine Committee of the Muslim Brother-hood. IAP is described in theU.S. Government’s Trial Brief in theHolyLandFoundationTrialasa“mediaandpropagandaorganization.”24IAPreceivedalmost$757,864fromHamasleaderMousaAbuMarzookfrom1985-1992.25 Ismail Elbarasse, in whose home the documents werefound,wasalsoamemberof the IslamicAssociationofPalestine.26 IAPmembersalsoincludedOmarAhmadandNihadAwad,whowouldgoonto found theCouncil onAmerican IslamicRelations (CAIR),whichwasitselflistedasanorganizationofthePalestineCommittee.27

Additionally,Nomanexplainshow through theuseof fronts theBroth-erhood is able to have a larger impact than their membership wouldotherwisedictate:

But, an active and a smart brother can benefit from the ef-forts of the Islamistswho are around him, for instance. Hecan distribute some of these burdens in a waywhich doesnot letplanninggetoutof thehandsof theGroupinthere-gion.Hecanbenefitfromtheresourcesaroundhimbecausewe,Ikhwans,cannotworkwithourresourcesaloneandour

IkhwaninAmerica16

numberislimited.So,leteverybrothercheckthepercentageof the Ikhwans against thenumberof existingMuslims andnot the entireMuslims.But, let’s say, the adherentMuslimswhoattendtheFridayprayers,forinstance.Ifyoucheckthepercentage,youwon’tfindtheIkhwanspercentageinpeoplemorethan1%whichisatinypercentage,ofcourse.Itispos-sible,ofcourse,thatyouthinkthatthis1%cannotcarrytheentire workburden. But, if you manage to direct the re-sourceswhich are available to it andwhen you can benefitfromit,thisburdenwillthenbecomeless.

Theuse of fronts helps to underline howMuslimBrothers, evenwhiletheymay personally represent aminority of theMuslim population inthe United States, are able to exercise oversized influence over areamosques, Islamic Centers, and national and regional Muslim organiza-tionsundertheircontrol.

Takeninitstotality,theAl-Nomanaudiotape“IkhwaninAmerica”isanimportantpieceofhistoricalevidence.IthelpstoshowhowthetheMus-limBrotherhood established itself in theUnited States andhadnot, aslate as 1982,moved away from its original goal of engaging in violentjihad,overthrowingnon-Islamicgovernments,andestablishing itselfasthe dominant Islamic power. “Ikhwan in America” confirms and pro-vides context for much of what we know about the Muslim Brother-hood’s ongoing plan for America, as it is described in the Explanatory Memorandum.

“IkhwaninAmerica”isamustreadforanystudentofthedepthandna-tureofBrotherhoodactivityintheUnitedStates.Wepresentitinitsen-tirety,without edits, and as close as possible to the format inwhich itwassubmittedattrial.

17

19

Side A:

Um:IresorttoGodfromthepeltedDevil.InthenameofGod,theBenef-icent,theMerciful.ThanksbetoGodandprayersandpeacebeuponGod’s messenger, his family and his companions. Brothers, God’speace,mercy andblessings to you. Er...., these specialmeetings inwhichtheIkhwansmeetinorganizationalmeetingsthereisagoodopportunitytomeettheIkhwans, fortheircooperationandanop-portunitytoexchangeadvicewitheachotherand...[UI].Theyareal-so an opportunity for theMuslim Ikhwans tomeet in thisDawa’aandtheyarealsoagoodopportunityforthebrotherstheMasulsofthisDawa’atomeettheirbrothersintheirlocationsandintheirac-tivities. And..., and today in our lecture, we meet with a MasulbrothersothattheIkhwanscanexpresswhatisintheirheartsandsothatyoucanbenefitfromthedirectionsoftheMasulbrotherandthat’sit.

We justwould like to remindyou that..., of course, the title of thelecture is “The Ikhwans in America” but the questionswhichwillfollowthelecturewillnotbelimitedtothesubjectpresentedbythebrotherbutwillincludeanygeneral....,anyquestions...,anyquestionabrotherwantstoposeorpresentaroundtheDawa’a inAmerica.WenowmeetbrotherZeidal-Noman,MasuloftheExecutiveOffice,mayGodrewardhimallgood.

Ze: Thanks be toGod, Lord of theTwoWorlds. Prayers andpeace beuponthemasterofthemessengers,MohamedBinAbdullahandallof his family and companions. My brothers, God’s willing, I willspeak about...er, our history. I will begin with a historical out-look....er,aboutthehistoryoftheMuslimBrotherhoodMovementinnorthAmerica.After that, Iwill goaheadandspeakabout thena-ture theMovement in northAmerica andwhat are the difficultieswhich faceworkoverhere. Iwill then conclude the lecture,God’swilling,...[coughing]...Iwillthenconcludethelecture,God’s

IkhwaninAmerica20

willing, by talking about priorities of work in north America ascompiledbytheExecutiveOffice.TheMovementwasfounded....,theMovementwas founded herewith the founding of the general Is-lamicactivismoritmighthaveprecededitbyalittlebit.Atfirst,itwasagatheringoragroupingforIslamactivistswithoutanorgani-zationalaffiliationwiththeMovement.So,thefirstgenerationoftheMuslim Ikhwans in north America composed of a teamwhich in-cludedhewhowasanIkhwaninhiscountryorhewhowasamem-berofTheWorshipersoftheMercifulGrouporhewhodoesn’thaveadirectionbutwho isactive in Islamicactivism.Thiswasthe firstpointorgroupwhichgaveorplantedtheMuslimBrotherhoodseedinAmerica.

After that, the Movement went through different organizationalformats.Oneofthefirstorganizationalformatstriedhereweretheregionalgatheringsaseachmovementhad....,haditsgatheringwitha leadership and the collection of these leadership formed theGroup’sleadershiporwhatiscalledtheCoordinationCouncil.TheyweremeetingandtheresolutionsofthatCouncilwerenon-bindingforitsmembers.Ofcourse,thereweresomecountries....,thereweresomecountrieswhichdidnothavealargegatheringinnorthAmer-ica,we can call them .... [Ul] countries, individuals of this countrywould associate with the nearest movement to them. So, for in-stance, an Iraqi might have joined Jordan’s Ikhwans and, for in-stance,aLibyanmightassociatewithEgypt’sIkhwansandsoforth.

Followingthisstage,aneworganizationalformatstartedtoevolvewhich is the unifiedMovement. These...., these groups of Ikhwansstartedtogatherunderoneleadership.Duringthisstage,thenameof this gathering was not important but the affiliation with theIkhwan’snamewasanaffiliationdue to thesizeof thoughtof thisMovementand...er,orbooksandwritingsof thisMovementwhichwereavailableinthefield.Thiswasthereasonforwhichthename“TheMuslimBrotherhood”wasadoptedasabasis for thiswork. I

SideA 21

mean, to the point that, at some point, there was an attempt tochange thenameof theMuslimBrotherhoodMovement toThe Is-lamicMovementandmakingitaffiliatedwithadissentinggroupinIraq called the IslamicMovement. All of that, Ikhwans,was at thebeginning of workwhen the Ikhwanswho came to America,mayGodrewardthemallgood,wereseekingmethodsforactivism.Thiswasprobablyinmid60’s...er,oreven....,Imean,mid60’s,longtimeago.AsforrecruitmentintheranksofthisMovement,itsmaincon-ditionwasthatabrother....,wasthatabrothermustbeactiveinthegeneralactivismintheMSA,apersonwhoattendsitsgeneralcon-ferencesorparticipatinginitsexecutivecommittees,whetherlocalorcentral,andthiswastheMovement’sconditioninthe60’s.

Wecanthensumuptheconditionof theMovement inthe60’sbysaying thatcommitment to theMovementwasasentimental com-mitment,agroupingone,andgeneralactivismwasthebasisforthatcommitment.Also,inthebeginningtherewereregionalgatheringswhichturnedintoaunifiedMovementwithoutanintellectualoror-ganizationalscale.Andwesaidthatrecruitmentusedtotakeplaceinthefollowingformat:attendingtheMSAconferencesandchoos-ingactiveArabelementsandapproachingthemtojointheIkhwans.Thiswasfollowedbyvisitstothelocalbranchesand,consequently,choosingactiveelementsover thereandapproaching themto jointheIkhwans.AsfortheIkhwanwhocamefromtheircountries,theymost probably joined the Movement specially if there were largenumbersoftheIkhwanMovementwhoprecededthemtoAmerica.Then, joining theMovementwould be automatic; hewould notifythathehasarrivedand,afterthat,hewouldjoininthenearestop-portunity.

MostoftheUsrasthenwereindividualUsras.Imean,sometimesanUsrawouldbemadeupof threepeopleand thedistancebetweentwoof them ismaybe100 or 150miles, Theywouldmeet once amonthoronceeverysixweeks,Afterthatperiod, inthebeginning

IkhwaninAmerica22

ofthe70’sanewerastarted.Wecancallitthestageofcodification.Thepeoplestartedto..., theyputtogetherthefirstbylawsoftheirsandtheystartedafterthatto....And,indoingthisthing,therestart-ed tobeanemphasison the Ikhwan’s formula for thisMovement.Priortothisstage,youngelementscametoAmerica,speciallyGulfelements or Saudi elements which joined the ranks of the Move-mentregularly.Thiswasthe first truetremor for the Ikhwan’sac-tivismhereinAmericaasthesebrothersstartedtodemandclearerIkhwan formulas, clearer commitment and means or ones with aspecific and not a general nature and that there are conditions toaccept one into the ranks of this Dawa’a and to made work se-cret....etc.

This characteristic....er, this current started to come to surface orthis current started to be distinguished in Islamic activismduringtheranksoftheMovementtothepointthatTheShuraCouncilap-pointedtoitabrotherwhorepresentsthisdirectioneventhoughheisnotelectedtothatCouncil.IfweexaminetheGroup’sconferencesin this..., in this timeperiod,wewould find that theywerecharac-terizedwiththefollowing:Firstofall,inthepasttheIkhwans’con-ferencesusedtobeheldinthesametimeastheMSA‘sconferences,atthesametime.Theywouldeitherprecedeitwithonedayorcomea day after them. After that they became separate from theMSA ‘sconferences and they lasted an entire week. Also, the leadershipwouldbeelectedduringtheseconferences.Wenoticethatthereusedto be a family characteristic to these conferences, that a brotherwouldattendandhiswifeandchildrenevenifhiswifeisnotaSister.Also,attendingthis...,thismeetingweresomeofthoseworkingintheIslamicfieldand,particularly,thebrothersintheIlalaqa,theBelovedHalaqa which is the Pakistani brothers’ Movement or the brotherswho were members of the Islamic Group in Pakistan and came toAmerica.Thisperiodcontinueduntil...,untilapproximately theyear‘75andafterthattheeraofdedicationforthegeneralactivismbegan.During this timeperiod, leadersof theGroupwerededicated to the

SideA 23

general activism organizations which were in the formation phasewhichtookalotoftheirtimeandallofthatwasattheexpenseoftheMovementandthespecialdomesticactivism.

Duringthistimeperiod,therewasabigdesiretocometoAmericatostudyandlargedelegationsofyouthcometothecountry,mostofwhomwerecommittedtotheDawa’ainhisnativecountry.Duringthe..., during the same time, the Ikhwans’ foreign connections be-camestrongandthatwasduetothe fundraisingcampaignswhichwere launched by the Ikhwans..., which made it possible for theIkhwans in the leadership to meet leadership from the Orient.Therefore,membershiphereofthebrotherswhoweremembersintheir countrieswas easier,moreeasier.Thosepeople come to theMovementandfoundsomeorganizationalpracticessuchasmeansandprioritieswhichweredifferentfromtheonestheywereaccus-tomed to in their countries. So, they started to inquire, “Where isthe strictness in the conditions? Andwhere are these conditions?Whereisthesecrecy,whereisorganizationalconnectionandwhereare the educational programs?What are goals of the Group here?Whataregoalsof...,thegoalsoftheseprograms?”

Allofthesequestionswereresurfacingonthefieldanew.Therefore,regionalorganizationalpocketsstartedtoformduringthistimepe-riod. Also, rumors and suspicions started to circulate among theranksof theGroupregarding individuals in the leadership.So, theMovement then-currentsituationexplodedduring thecampof ‘77andanewleadershipcameonboardin‘78whoseworkwasbitterasitwastryingtopurgetheGroup’sbodyfromregionalrestrictionsandgatheringsorfromtheorganizationalpocketsandtieditspartstogether but, during this time period, it was a non-harmoniousleadership and going back and forth was evident in its positions.Despite that, itmanaged to place the Ikhwans in front of the truepicture of their reality and to shake them deeply from the inside.Therefore,theconferencesof’77,‘78and‘79usedtoendwithtears

IkhwaninAmerica24

andpainbut, to say the truth,were very important forwhathap-penedafterthat.

Thistimeperiodwascharacterizedbychange;achangeinIkhwanswhowantedtochangethestatusquoandotherswhowanttomain-tainthestatusquo.Oneofthethingswhichwereenactedistheat-tendance of the Sisters only to the Movement’s conferences, onlytheadherentSistersandnotthewivesoftheIkhwans.Also,forthefirst time....er, actual accountability of the leadershipwas enactedeven though this accountability was unfair at times. In the past,leadership was seen as a group of infallible Ikhwans. Therefore,holdingthemaccountablewasrareorsimple.Despitethat,organi-zationalpocketscontinuedtoconstitutethebiggestdanger fortheunity of the Group. But, this time period came to an end and theGroupbecamemoreacceptingofchange,stabilityandmoving for-ward.Theelectionsof ‘79camealongandtheShuraCouncilcamein‘80and‘81andtheroadinfrontofitwaspavedandworkbeganto unify the Group’s ranks, codification of work and pushing theMovement’sforward.Forthefirsttimethen,wehadaGeneralMa-sul who was dedicated to the Group’s affairs alone and also theShura Council started to play its true role which is planning andmonitoringtheexecutiveleadership.

TheexecutiveleadershipwascarryingitstasksthroughaShuraat-mosphereandcontinuouscontacts.Itsmeetingswereheldconsist-entlyonmonthlybasis.Themid-levelleadershipwhichwasrepre-sentedby theMasulsof the regionsand the regions’ councilsplaytheir natural role as well through applying the principle of de-centralization.Workstartedtobeclearerandmoreprogramed.Thecurrent Shura Councilcame on board to finish what its brotherstartedon the spanofpast sevenyears to lead thisGroup tonewhorizons,God’swilling,keepingitseyesonhugegoalsamongwhichis the settlement of this Group andminding some of the regionalexperiencesandtheturnsoftheMuslimBrotherhoodMovementin

SideA 25

northAmerica.ThisisaquicknarrationforthehistoryoftheMus-limBrotherhood innorthAmerica and, as younotice, it is not oldhistory, Imean, theMovementstartedhere inthe60’sandwearenowinthe80’s.ThatmeansthattheMovement’sageisbetween15and20yearsonly.Despiteofthat,theresultoftheexperience....,theexperienceMovementwentthrough,islargeanditmadeitpossibletoshort-cutmanyyearsasaresultofthefusionofdifferentexperi-enceswhichcamefromdifferentbackgrounds.Afterthat,weexam-inewhat...,whatisthenatureofthisMovementafteritgaineditandwhat are the real reasons which made it go through the circum-stancesitwentthrough.Wesaythat, firstofall, theorganizationalbase in north America is an organizational base with a dynamiccharacteristic.

Thisdynamicsisattwolevels:ThefirstoneisatthenorthAmeri-ca’s levelas thevastmajorityof theMuslimBrotherhoodherearestudents.Therefore,we findthemverypronetochange,either forstudyreasonswhichisabouttwoyearsforabrotherandhechang-es his college, or, as far as residence is concerned, the Ikhwanschange their address almost every semester, or, as far asmovingoutsideofAmerica,itiseitheratemporarydepartureandthatusu-allyhappensduringthesummervacationortheChristmasvacation,oradeparturetoworkintheOrientforalimitedtimeperiod,oritisapermanentdeparturewhichiswhenabrotherendshisstudyorwhenan immigrantsdecides that it is time to return tohisnativecountry.Thebasechangesabout70%almosteveryfiveyears.Then,thisdynamicnaturehadanimpactonthecourseofwork.Someofthemwerenativeeffects.Someoftheseeffectsisthatthispreventslong-termplanningduetothelackofthelong-termstabilityofthebase.SomeofitisthedifficultyoffollowingupwiththeIkhwansatthe central level due to their constant changes of either their ad-dressesortheirresidences.Someofthatis,sometimes,thesuddendisappearance of Ikhwans from the region or the city.Most likelythishappenswhenthebrotherdecidestoterminatehisstudiesand

IkhwaninAmerica26

he packs his stuff and leaveswithout notifying those in charge inthefirstplace.

Anothernegativeeffectisthatthischaracteristicpreventssupposedgrowthandmakes theeducationof the individuals intermittentattimes.Asforthepositiveeffects,theyare:First,theexchangeofide-asbetweentheregionsbecausewhentheIkhwansmovefromoneregion to another they carry the experiences of this region to theotherregion.Thiswasoneofthepositivethingsofthedynamicsofthebase.Also,thefactthatitallowednewbloodtobepresentasfarasplanningandexecutionareconsideredalongtheyears.Also,thelackofformationofpermanentisolatedpocketsbecauseanyorgan-izational pocket might take some time..., a certain period of timeand,afterthat,thispocketwilldisbandeitherbecausetheIkhwanshavedepartedthecountryormovedtootherplaces.Therefore,anorganizationalpocketwillnotlast.

And theother characteristicof thisMovement is that thebasehaslowdensity.By“lowdensity”Imeanthatthereisnolargenumberof Ikhwans at one city. This, of course, has positive and negativeeffects.AmongitsnegativeeffectsontheMovementisthedifficultyor forming educational or organizational levels. When a brothermoves from one region or from one city to another, hemight notfind in the city he transferred to the educational level he was in.Also, the other negative effect is the difficulty of contacts andmeetings. So, themethod of contacts depended onwas either themailorthetelephone.Oneoftheflawsofthatisthataccountabilityand guidance are scarce. Among the positive effects for the..., forthe..., the relative low density of the base is exerting the entireIkhwanenergydue to the lackofpressure and restrictionsplacedon the brother. Finding out a brother’s genuineness, the workingbrotherfromtheonewhopretendstobeabrother.Whenyouplacea brother in a position of responsibility in a...., in an atmospherewhichhaslessaccountability,thegoodnatureoragoodbrothercan

SideA 27

produce even if there is no continuous direction or continuousaccountabilityofhis...,ofhisactions.

Also,therewasanotherpositive....,anotherpositivewhichistrain-ing a brother on how to deal with non-brothers and planting thefirstseedforthat.WhenabrotherexistedinalargeIkhwansgath-ering, his dealing will be with Ikhwans only. When a brother isaloneorwithasmallIkhwans’gathering,hisdealingwillbe...,spe-ciallywithnon-Ikhwans,hewill learnhowtodirectwork throughthem.Hewill....,hewill learnhowtodealwiththem, thedealing...,dealingwithanon-Ikhwanbrother,asyouknow, isdifferent fromdealing with a brother. Also, there was a characteristic.., anothercharacteristic for thatMovement,which is thedifference in tastes.Regardless of whether a brother is resident or temporary here,therearetwokindsofIkhwanswhocometoAmerica:Thefirstonefoundout about the call of the Ikhwans in northAmerica andbe-cameregularinitsranksoverhere.Thosebrothers,eveniftheyareresidents, are themost Ikhwanswho rush to defend and sacrificeforthesakeoftheMovement.Eveniftheyaretemporary,theywillbe,God’swilling,newexperiencesandnewbloodinthemovementsoftheircountries.

Asforthethirdkind,theyoriginallycameasIkhwansandtheybe-came regular Ikhwans here. I mean, we call them “ImportedIkhwans”andthosepeoplearestatues.Someofthemcametostudyonly.Therefore,workingamongtheranksoftheGroupcomesinthesecond,thethirdorthefourthplaceforthem.SomeofthemcametostudybutknowthatthislifeisfortheGroupsothathecouldreapitsfruitsintheafterlife,God’swilling,andheplacesworkingintheranksof theGroup in the first place. Someof themcame to studybutseethatworkingfortheGroupcomesintwoaspects:Thefirstone,workingamongmembersofhishomelandandafterthatcomesgeneralworkintheranksoftheGroup.Someofthemcametostudywithapriorjudg[e]mentabouttheGroupoverhereregardlessofit

IkhwaninAmerica28

being right orwrong. Based on that, hemakes a judg[e]ment andmoves according to that. Some of them crone for work and theyplace theirwork first before the Group. Some of them came forworkandknowthatthislifeisafarmfortheafterlifeandhesacri-ficeswhathehasforthesakeof...,forthesakeofthisDawa’a.ThesearethemostimportantkindsofimportedIkhwanswhocomeoverhere.Ofcourse,everyoneofthesekindshasitscontribution,hasitsnegative aspects and its positive aspects. Some of them were....,wereacauseforthedelayofhinderingtheworkoftheGroupandits forwardmoving. Some of themwere a cause for the Group tomoveforward.God’swilling,everyoneworkswithanintentionforwhichweaskAlmightyGodtorewardhimfor.

These are the three characteristics which describe the IkhwanMovementinnorthAmerica.Inreality,ithasuniquecharacteristics.I mean, except in America and Europe, we do not find unifiedmovementswhichworkinthatway,tobeabletoortrytomeltallof the Ikhwans’ experiences in a one pot, try to group all theIkhwans under....er, under one umbrella. This experience had andstill has many positive aspects for our Ikhwans, particularlyIkhwansoftheOrientbecauseitdeepenedtheidea....,oftheGroup’sunity.Here inAmericawe find thepractical application for this....,forthisideawhichistheGroup’sunityinonemovement.Also,thepositiveandnegativeaspectsof thisworkreflecthereandwecanachievethroughthem...,wecanpushthesepositiveaspectsforwardandfindsolutionsforthesenegativeaspectsandmovethroughthenegativeaspects,God’swilling,andturnthemintopositiveaspectstobenefitwork.AsforplanningandtheprocessofplanningfortheGroup, it alsowent throughhistoricalphases.Someof them is thelack of clear plansneither for theGroupor for general activism. Imean, themost important resolution the Groupmight have takenwaswhowasgoingtobeamemberoftheMSA‘sexecutivecommit-tee. This was the most important resolution the Group couldhavetakenduringthisphase.

SideA 29

Then,thefirstIkhwans’planwasthefive-yearplantheIkhwansputtogether lasting from ‘75-’80. Its primary focuswas generalworkand dedication to the general work organizations. After that thefive-year plan for ‘81-’85 and its focuswas self-structure and set-tlementof theDawa’a.Allof theseareplansare..., Imean, theonewhichputthemtogetherwastheShuraCouncil.Intheyears‘80and‘81,westartedtoworkonanewkindofplanswhichisplanningatthe regions’ level. Therefore, planning became..., planning becameprominentattheregions’levelasasystemforworkandasasystemforaccountability.As forthisyear, thanksbetoGod, theexecutiveoffice has put together an annual work program on whose basis,God’swilling,theregionortheregionswillbuildtheirplansforthecurrentyear.Theplanof theexecutiveofficewillbe implementedbeginningMay‘82and,ofcourse,endsinApril‘83.

Whentheexecutiveofficethoughtaboutputtingthisplantogether,it really came in different stages such as gathering a group ofIkhwans who have experience and specialization in planning ormanagementandtheyputtogetherthefirstfoundationorstoneforthisplan.Itwasthenpresentedtotheexecutiveofficeafterthatanditcompareditwiththehumanpotentialinplaceandwiththeabili-tiesoftheIkhwansinplaceanditchosefromthebaseswhichwereputtogetherbythefirstcommitteeagroupofgoalswhichtheexec-utiveofficeconsideredmaingoalswhichmustbeimplementeddur-ing....,duringthisyear,anditmadeasecondgroupofgoalssecond-arygoalswhichitwilltrytoimplementthisyeariftimepermitsandthenhopedthatthesesecondarygoalswillgraduallymovefromthecategoryofsecondarygoalstothemaingoalscategoryandgettheirfull shareof implementation.After that, thesemaingoalsweredi-vided...,someofwhichwewillseeinalittlebit,becausetheyhadageneral nature. Theywere divided into periodical goalswhichwewilltrytoimplementthisyear,God’swilling.

IkhwaninAmerica30

Themaingoalswhichwereapprovedby theexecutiveofficewerefive...., whichwere put togetherby the executive office andwhichwere then approved by the Shura Council were, first of all:Strengthening the internal structure; second, administrative disci-pline; third, recruitment and settlement of theDawa’a; four, ener-gizingtheorganizations’work;five,energizingpoliticalworkfronts.Also,itadoptedeightofthesecondarygoalsontopofwhichwere:finance and investment; second, foreign relations; third, revivingwomen’s activity; four, political awareness to members of theGroup; five, securing theGroup; six, special activity; seven,media;eight,takingadvantageofhumanpotentials.Thisis...,thesearctheGroup’s main and the secondary goals for the next year of work,God’s willing. Of course, along with these goals, we also had twothingsinfrontofus:ThefirstthingistherealityoftheMovement,andthesecondthingiswhattheMovementshouldbe.

TherealityoftheMovementisthatitisastudents’Movement.WhattheMovementshouldbeistobecomeaMovementfortheresidentsbecause,Ikhwans,oneofthethingswhichwesufferfromisthatitispossible that all the Ikhwans inone citymight leave it or that thefundamentalpeople theMovement relieson in this citymightcol-lectivelyleaveand,thus,leavingasortofavacuumbehindthem;avacuuminworkandalsoavacuuminplanning.Thatmeansthatthefive-yearplanswillnotbeeffectiveinthisregionduetotheabsenceoftheIkhwanelementfromit.Therefore,wehadtotaketwosimul-taneousmovesandwithtwoharmoniouswings:Thefirstoneistherealityorourattempttoimplementtheneedsoftherealitywhichiswhatthestudents’movementneedsandthatwealsoworkhardtosettletheDawa’a.By“settlementoftheDawa’a”,theMuslimBroth-erhoodDawa’aismeant.ItisnotmeanttospreadIslamasspreadoflslarn is ageneral thingand it is indeedagoal foreachMuslim ingeneralterms.

SideA 31

The second thing is the settlement of theDawa’a and findingper-manentfundamentalsinthecitieswhereIkhwansnowliveinorderto...er, in order for them to be themeeting points for the comingbrothers.Thisway,workatanycities isnotgoing tobedisturbeddue to thecollectiveabsenceofagroupof the Ikhwans. In reality,the issue of settling the Dawa’a in the past was not favored by agroup of the Ikhwanwho used to be here six or seven years ago,specially the students among them.Theybelieved that the idea ofsettlingtheDawa’ainnorthAmericaisawasteoftimeandthis,ofcourse,wasduetotheirstudents’viewofwork.Now,thanksbetoGod,we find that thisphenomenonstarted tochange.Thischangecame in stages..., we can..., it came in forms which we can feelthrough the reality of generalwork. The first changewasmovingtheIkhwansfromworkingatthebranchesoftheMSAandthe[ArabYouthMuslim]Associationasbrancheswhoseactivities arebasedonuniversitieswheretheygoauniversitytoholdtheiractivity, towhat iscalledat that time“TheMuslimHouse”.TheMuslimHousewas based on them purchasing a house near the university withIkhwanslivinginapartofitandtherestofitbecomesamosqueanditwouldalsobeanucleusfortheactivity.

ThiswasthefirstmovetheIkhwansdid.Afterthat,theothermovecamewherethisMuslimHousewasnotagoalbyitselforitwasnolongerable to satisfyworkas they started tomove to somewhereelsewhich are the Islamic centers.Wenotice thatduring thepasttwoor threeyears thatmanyof thestudents’gatheringstarted toestablish Islamic centers. Thiswas also another healthymove forsettlingtheDawa’aasthepresenceofanIslamiccentermeansthepresenceofresidents,meanstheexistenceofcontactsbetweenstu-dents and the residents, means recruitment of the and winningthemtotheranksoftheDawa’a,meansformingpermanentfounda-tionsinthesecities.Then,whatwehavenoworwhatwefeelnowisthat there a bigger and bigger acceptance than the Ikhwans’ baseforthischangeandweaskGodtheAlmightytohelpussothatwe

IkhwaninAmerica32

can finish thismissionwhich is thesettlementofDawa’aandthat,by that,wewould have permanent foundations in Americawhichcan benefit Islamicwork generally speaking andmayGod rewardyouallgood.

Um:Ifpossible,letthebrotherscollectthequestionsfromtheaudience...Ifpossible, canyourepeat tous themaingoalsand thesecondarygoalswhichwerewrittenby theExecutiveOffice andwhichwereapprovedbytheShuraCouncil.

Ze: Themaingoalsarefive.Theyare:Strengtheningtheinternalstruc-ture, administrative discipline, recruitment and settlement of theDawa’a,energizingtheorganizations’work,energizingthepoliticalworkfronts.Asforthesecondarygoals,theyareeight:first,financ-ingandinvestment;second,foreignrelations;third,revivingwom-en’s activity; four, political awareness to members of the Group;five, securing the Group; six, special activity; seven, media; eight,benefittingfromhumanpotentials.

Um:Thereisaquestion:WhatisthedegreeofconnectionbetweentheIkhwan.GroupinAmericawiththemotherGroupinEgypt?

[End of Side A]

33

Side B:

Ze: ... the dangers of these pockets aremany; some of that is the factthattheyhinderwork,someof it is thattheydestabilizetheranksbecause the ranks thenwouldhedisconnected.Thanksbe toGod,wecancurrentlysaythatthereareno longerorganizationalpock-ets in the ranks of the Group. Thanks be to God, Lord of the TwoWorlds,wewereabletoabsorbthesepocketsduringthispasttime.Organizationalpocketsmostlikelyformduetoawrongideaadopt-edbysomeof the Ikhwansregardingmeansofworkoverhereortheycouldbeduetoregionalgatherings.So,theycouldcomeduetoanyoftheseforms.

Um:Er...,whatistherelationshipoftheIslamicGroupinLibyawiththeIkhwanGroup?AretheyundertheleadershipoftheIkhwanGrouporaretheyaseparategroup?

Ze: TheIslamicGroup....,theIslamicGroup/Libyaisafront...,apoliticalactionfront.Itisapoliticalactionfront.Er...,whoisthebrotherwhoasked the question? I just want to know if he means the Groupwhich issuesAl-Muslimmagazine.Yes?Yes. So,mybrother, it is afront...,itisapoliticalfrontwhichwassetupbytheLibyanbrothersinorder tobeable tomove through it and issueAl-Muslimmaga-zine.Yes,thisfrontisoverseenbybrothersfromtheIkhwans.Theyare,Imean,they’refromLibyaandtheirnativecountrywasLibya.Theyareassociatedwith theGroupand they’reaffiliatedwith theGroup.And theGroupdirects the path of this group and this..., orthis frontthroughthepresenceoftheadherentLibyanbrothers intheMovementandwhoworkinthisfront.

Um:Don’tyouseethattheMovement’smethodsandprogramsinAmer-icashouldbedifferentfromthemethodsandprogramsintheArabcountriesorfromtheArabcountriesduetothechangeoftheplaceand the available sources, the type of individuals and the maximbenefitfromthemeansavailableinAmerica?Forinstance,thecul-

IkhwaninAmerica34

tural programs are very weak. Recruitment methods are limitedandarebeingrestricted.

Ze: ByGod,mybrother,wereallyseethat...,thatthemethods...,wereal-ly see that ourmethods andmeans are different from the Orient.WedidnottakeorborrowamethodorameansfromtheOrientun-lessitwascompatiblewiththerealityoftheIslamicMovementoverhere.Ourmethodsarealwaysdrivenfromthenatureoftheorgani-zational base..., from the nature of the...er, from the nature of thecountrywhichisAmericaandalsofromthenatureofthebasefromwhichwemove, the peoplewemove between aremostly highly-educatedyouth.Theyarecollegeyouthandtheyarealsoyouthwhoareaware.Theyaremoreawarethantheyouthwhoareofthesamestage or age in theOrient. The reason..., the reasonof this aware-ness andmaturity is their presence in America, not because theyare inAmerica, Imean,Americahasnothing todowith itbut,be-cause of their presence in America, they have nomother towashtheirclothesorafatherwhogivesthemtheirallowanceattheendof themonth.Theyhavetodependonthemselves inbalancinghishouseholdbudget, for instance, purchase their own stuff, cook forthemselvesiftheyaresingle,towashtheirclothesiftheyaresingle,allofthesethings.Also,theyhavetodealandinteractwithsocietydirectly. All of that, Ikhwans, without....er, I mean, without familyprotection. Imean the family is not...,without the family cover orarmorwhich used to protect him in his country. All of these willbringaboutmoreawarenessandmaturity.

This is the base which we move through. Therefore, our recruit-mentmethods are different. Er..., in reality, I don’t knowwhy thebrother says that...er, that our recruitment is weak while we areconsidered...., even considered in the viewofmanyof theOrient’smovementstobeanopenmovementandthatweareamovementwhich is lax inconditionsdespite the fact thatwedon’t think thatwearelaxintheconditionsbut,thisistheirview....,theirviewofus.

SideB 35

Er....,we are experiencing a surge in recruitment. Letme take ad-vantageofthisopportunityandtellyouwhatare...,orhowtheindi-viduals are recruited so that the Ikhwans are up to speed.Duringoneof itsmeeting,anUsranominatesagroupof theIkhwansoragroup ofMuslim youthwho are present to become regular in theworkor tobecomeregularat theranksof theGroup.ThroughtheNaquib,anUsrasubmitsthesenamestotheMasuloftheregionortheMasulofthedistrict.Afterthat,theMasuloftheregioncontacts... , he takes these names and contacts the coordinators of thesecountries...,of thatcountry.Meaning thatabrotherwho iscomingfrom Jordan, we would contact the Jordan’scoordinators. We in-quireabouthimandseeifthereisanyobjectiontobringinghimonboard.After that, he is towait twoweeks. If the coordinatordoesnotrelyduringthistimeperiod,thenthematterisdiscussedduringthemeetingof theregion’scouncil. Imean, thematter isuptotheregion itself as theyare theoneswhowilldecide.After that, a re-gionistodecideifthebrotheristobecomeregular...., thisbrothertobecomeregularattheGroup’sranksornotaccordingtotherea-sonsandaccordingtowhat itsees. Ibelievethat, thisway,weby-passed a lot of the central issues and bypassedmany of the stepswhichwereinplaceatsomepointinordertospeeduptheassimila-tionoftheIkhwans.

WhatanUsrashoulddobefore that is...., thereare...., ourmethodsareclearandknownasthereisanindividualcontactandafterthatcomethe open Usras or the open Halaqas and then, when thebrotherhascompletedtheopenHalaqas,hecanthenbecomeregu-lar...., if the Usra sees that, he can become regular at the GeneralMovement.Thatifheisanewbrother.Ofcourse, ifheisaregularbrotherinhiscountry,ofcourse,hewouldbecomingwithaletterorrecommendationthroughthecoordinator.Hecanbecomeregu-larmaybeinaperiodofthreemonthsatthemost,hewouldbecomeregularattheUsras.Yes,somespecialcasesmighthappenwherebytheIkhwansare lateforareasonoranother.But,generallyspeak-

IkhwaninAmerica36

ing, the matter does not take more than three months and thebrotherwhojustcameortheimportedbrotherwillbecomeregular,he will become regular at the Movement. Er..., of course, we saidthat because the base fromwhichwemove is a mature base, wemightattimesjumpthroughsomeofthesecircles.Wemight,forin-stance,jumpthroughtheopenUsraandtheGroupisaskedtomakeabrotherregularrightaftertheindividualcontact, forinstance.Ofcourse, a region then has the right to consider this..., to considersuchjumpsandwhethertheyareproperornot.

Asfortheeducationalprograms,inrealitytheprogramwhichisinyourhands...., thisprogram is the first section...., this is aprogramfor the open Usras. And the second section is the beginners’ pro-gram.WearestillputtingprogramstogetherandtheEducationOf-fice,mayGodrewardthemallgood,arenowworkingontheWork-ers’programsandtheNaquibs’programs.God’swilling,theywillbein your hands during the summer’smonths if Godmakes it easy.Then...,yes,animportedbrotherinparticular,theonewhohasbeenintheDawa’afor long,mightfindtheseprogramsarebelow....,be-lowhislevelbecausehemighthavetakenthemtenyearsago.But,wetellhim,“Brother,justtobereminded.Itisgoodtobereminded.Theseareverygood things tore-examinebecause theyare funda-mentals of the Dawa’a during this time period”. God’swilling, themomenttheWorkers’andtheNaquibs’programsarrive,thiscrisiswillberesolved.

Um: Thereisagroupofquestionsalmostallofwhichareaboutonesub-jectwhichisaremarkthatsomeofthemovementshavenotjoinedtheMovementhereinAmericasuchastheSaudis,justtociteoneoftheirexamples.So,...Imean.

Ze: Inreality,itistheonlymovement,theSaudis.Theyhavenotjoined.Onlytheimportedbrothersamongthemarenotregulars.Imean,itmeansthatthere isahomeproduct. Ireality,ourworkamongtheSaudisisgoodintheareaswheretheycongregatesuchas...,suchas

SideB 37

southern California and such as...., different regions where theycongregate.Ourworkamongthemisgood.AsfortheSaudibroth-erswho came originally as Ikhwans, they had a different point ofviewwhereby they did not want to become regular at theMove-menthere.Wedonotagreewiththemonthatbutwealsorespectthedecision theymadeandweaskAlmightyGod thatwemeetatthe end. Ifwe..., if all of uswork to pleaseAlmightyGod first andforemost, we will meet. And, if anyone among us is working forsomethingwithin him or out of desire, wewill notmeet.We askAlmightyGodtomakebothofustoworktopleaseGodand,God’swilling,wewillmeetsooninaunifiedMovement.

Um:What is your opinion regarding the formation of one ormultiplefrontsfortheGroupwithouthavingthebasewhichrepresentstheIkhwans,meaningdistributing the efforts of thebrotherswhoaretheGroupwithoutabaseinordertostayaheadoftheevents.

Ze: ByGod,frontsareonemethod....,onemethodforgroupingandareone method to communicate the Ikhwan’s thought. They are onemethod tocommunicate the Ikhwan’spointofview.A front isnotformeduntilafterastudyandafteranexhaustivestudy.Imean,thelastfrontformedbytheGroupistheIslamicAssociationforPales-tine.So,Ikhwans,thisdidnotcomeoutovernightoritwasnotliketheIkhwanswhoareinchargewenttosleep,dreamedaboutitandmetthenextdayanddecidedtodoit.Notatall,byGod.Thiswentthroughlengthymeetingsandtooklongdiscussions.Manyspecial-izedauxiliarycommitteeswereformedwhichwereexaminingthiswork, they were examining this work from different angles, fromtheangleofthebenefitofsuchwork,fromtheangleof,forinstance,thehumanresourceswehave,fromanangleofhowthisfrontwouldbenefitusincommunicatingthebrothers’pointofview.Then,gen-erally speaking, we don’t work out of vacuum if that is what ismeant.As for distributing thebrothers’ efforts, yes, in someof theregionswherefewIkhwansexist, therewillreallybeaheavypres-

IkhwaninAmerica38

sureonthembecause,inadditiontothat,theyhavetobemembersoftheMSA, The[MuslimArabYouth]Associationand,ifthey’rePal-estinians for instance, theywill have tobemembers in the IslamicAssociation for Palestine. Yes, it is correct, this would place addi-tionalburdensorweightonthebrother.But,anactiveandasmartbrothercanbenefitfromtheeffortsoftheIslamistswhoarearoundhim,forinstance.HecandistributesomeoftheseburdensinawaywhichdoesnotletplanninggetoutofthehandsoftheGroupintheregion.He can benefit from the resources aroundhimbecausewe, Ikhwans,cannotworkwithourresourcesaloneandournumber islimited.

So, let every brother check the percentage of the Ikhwans againstthe number of existing Muslims and not the entire Muslims. But,let’s say, theadherentMuslimswhoattend theFridayprayers, forinstance. If you check the percentage, youwon’t find the Ikhwanspercentage inpeoplemore than1%which is a tinypercentage,ofcourse.Itispossible,ofcourse,thatyouthinkthatthis1%cannotcarry the entireworkburden. But, if youmanage to direct the re-sourceswhicharcavailabletoitandwhenyoucanbenefitfromit,thisburdenwillthenbecomeless.

Um:InordertosettletheDawa’a,isthereplanningbyyoubyaskingthatthebrotherswhohaveexperiencetoremainhere?

Ze: Mybrother,oneofthestagegoalswhichweresetregardingtheset-tlementof theDawa’a isencouraging thebrotherswhocannot re-turntotheircountries ... , theycannotreturntotheircountriesforeither political, economic or whatever reasons to settle here inAmerica. We encourage this phenomenon in this stage, that theIkhwanswhocannot return to their countriesweencourage themtostay.Wecanprovidehimwithall theavailablemeansoradviceonhowtoremaininthis...,inthiscountryandtoworkasoneofthegoalsofsettlingtheDawa’aor,excuseme,asoneofthemethodsofsettlingtheDawa’a.

SideB 39

Um:By“SecuringtheGroup”,doyoumeanmilitarysecuring?And,ifitisthat,wouldyouexplaintousalittlebitthemeanstoachieveit.

Ze: No.Mili[t]ary work is listed under “Special work”. “Special work”meansmilitarywork.“Securing theGroup” is theGroups’ security,theGroup’ssecurityagainstoutsidedangers.Forinstance,tomoni-torthesuspiciousmovementsonthe....,whichexistontheAmericanfront such as Zionism, Masonry....etc. Monitoring the suspiciousmovements or the sides, the government bodies such as theCIA, FBl...etc, so that we find out if they are monitoring us, are wenotbeing monitored, how can we get rid of them. That’s what ismeantby“SecuringtheGroup”.

Um:There is aquestionwhichwewill ask..., Imean,wewill ask themindividuallyasnoneofthemrelatetotheother.TheresourcesandfreedomswhichareavailableinnorthAmericaarebiggerthanwhatisavailable in the Islamicworld.Despite that,organizationalworkmethodshavenotchanged.

Ze: By God, I believe that the methods are different. If the askingbrother is from Iraq, hewould know that it is impossible to havesuchagatheringinIraqandthisisoneofthemethods.Iftheaskingbrother is from Jordan, for instance, hewould know that it is notpossibletohavemilitarytraininginJordan,forinstance,whileherein America, there is weapons training in many of the Ikhwans’camps. Er...., if the brother is from Libya, hewould know that theIslamicMovement has not been able to form due to the pressurewhich is on the..., on the people, but it succeeded in growing inAmerica. Our methods, Ikhwans, then are different then eventhough we might use the same concepts. I mean, we resort tosecrecy but the secrecy at our end might take a position that isdifferentfromwhatisintheOrient,forinstance.Secrecyovertheremightbeabsolute.ItmightbeabsoluteevenamongtheranksoftheGroup.Forinstance,untilnow,mostofthemovementsdonotknowwhoistheGeneralMasulofthemovementwhenheisamongtheir

IkhwaninAmerica40

ranksandneitherdotheyknowwhoaremembersoftheexecutiveoffice or who is the Masul of the Organization Office, who is theMasulof theFinancialOffice and so forth.Overhere, thebrothersknow who are the Group’s General Masul. Most of the Ikhwansknow who is the Masul of the Organization Office. Most of theNaquibsknowwhoarethemembersoftheExecutiveOfficeandsoon.Thismeans that there isachange in themeans.Andsoon,wecan now..., speak about the fronts, for instance. For instance, thebrothersinEgyptdon’thavefrontsinthesamebroadwaywehavein America and the fronts are one of themeans and so on. Then,Ikhwans,ourmeansarereallydifferent.Theymightcarrythesamenamebutthecontentisdifferent.

Um:There is a two-fold question:Why therewas a difference in...., orwhydidtheIkhwansdisagreeduringtheirconferences in the60’sandalso,whyarewomenallowedtoattendtheconferences?

Ze: Ofcourse,duringthattime,thisisregardingwhywerethewivesoftheIkhwansinthe60’soreventhebeginningofthe70’stoattendthe Ikhwans’ conferences? This is the input of the leadership. Imean, I don’twant to saywhy andneither do Iwant to speak ontheirbehalf.Thiswastheinputoftheleadershipthen.AndIreallybelievethat this inputwasproper. Imean,HadIbeenat thesametime in the samesituation, Iwouldhavegiven the same inputbe-causetheissuewasanaissueofgrouping,theissuewasanissueofgrouping. And the social aspect of the grouping issue is very im-portant.Wenowaskwhydoesthishappeninthepresenttime?Yes,during our conferences, the adherent Sisters attend. Andwe haveawing calledTheMuslimSistersandwehaveaMasul for them inthe Executive Office. My brothers, work cannot be done...., theIkhwanswork cannot be successful unless thewomen’s part of itgoes sideby side.Mybrother, if youaremarriedandyourwife isnotamongoftheSisters,youshouldbethefirstonetounderstandthis point. Youwould feel that there is a deficiency, there is a re-

SideB 41

strictiononyourworkandyourmoving.JustbecausesheisaSistermean she will be informed of every big and small issue in theMovement? No. Because she is a Sister she can understand yourfeeling,shecanmakeavailabletoyoutheatmosphereforwork.But,if she is not a Sister, you can try to come to the campand [she islike], “How is it that you’re going to leaveme and go over there”....etc. And she starts asking you, “How about the boy?What if hegetssickandhow isgoing tocome to takehimto thedoctor”andgetyoumanyexcuses.Why?Becauseshedoesnotunderstandthenatureofyourworkandthenatureofyourmovement.But,ifsheisaSister, ifshe...,andbyGodwehavefoundtheseexamplesamongtheSisters,thatshehadjustgavebirth,justdeliveredtwoorthreedaysagoandherhusband leavesherandattend Ikhwancamps. Ifhetellsher,“Iwillstaytotakecareofyou”,shewouldtellhim,“No”.Shedoesnotaccept.

There is a difference, Ikhwans, between a brother who finds thisatmosphereatworkandabrotherwhofindstheotheratmosphere.AsforthereasonsfortheproblemswhichhappenedintheIkhwanscamps,itwasbecausefortheinclinationfarchangeormovingfroma gathering to a formation and a selection, froma gatheringof Is-lamists,kindpeopleandstuff,Ok,letitbegoodandOk,let’sgo,let’sgo, let’sgo,comeoverandlet’sgettogether, froma lake-allmove-ment toapreciseandamovement.This, Ikhwans,are thereasonswhichmade the conferences of the end of the 70’s have a specialcharacteristic, the ones which always ended with tears and pain.But,thanksbetoAlmightyGod,theiroutcome....er,theiroutcomeisthiscampandthoseIkhwans.

Um: OneofthebrothersisaskingaboutwhatismeantwiththeExecu-tiveOffice.But,IjustwantedtoexplaintothebrotherthatbrotherMunzir is not...., is not the director of the Executive Office as hementionedbutheistheMasuloftheOrganizationOffice.

IkhwaninAmerica42

Ze: My brother, the Executive Office is the Group’s Executive Leader-ship.TheExecutiveOfficeisdividedintooffices.Throughtheseof-fices,theaffairsoftheGrouparerun.AmongthemistheOrganiza-tion Office..., the Organization Office which oversees the...er, overtheregionsandtheUsrasoftheGroup.AndamongthemistheEdu-cationOfficewhich oversees the preparation of cultural programsfortheIkhwansortheeducational[programs]fortheIkhwansandalsopreparesthetrainingprogramsfortheIkhwansinthedifferentfieldsandvariousspecializationsamongwhichisthePoliticalOfficewhichsubmitspoliticalanalysistotheIkhwansandalsotheSistersOfficewhichrunsandpromotestheactivityoftheSistersDivision,Among them is, of course, the Secretariat General which is theMovement’s Secretary. These are the executive offices which aceavailablenow.TheyaretheGroup’sExecutiveLeadership.

Ok, as for the Organizational Skeleton....er, the Group’s Organiza-tional Skeletonbegins first of all from thehighest..., it is thehigh-est..., the highest organization in the Group is the OrganizationalConference. The Organizational Conference is a conference...., is astemmingfromtheIkhwansbases;everyUsraelectsoneortwoac-cording to itsnumber.Thisbrotherrepresents theUsra in theOr-ganizational Conferencewhich is the highest body in the Ikhwan.After that, the ShuraCouncil comes then theExecutiveOffice.TheShuraCouncil....,whatdidthebrotherask....?Er....,thisishowitis.

The Shura Council, of course, has many duties among whichare....,justletmeseethe....,itisbetterthatIreadthemfromtheby-lawswhichisbetterthanrecitingthemfrommemory.Yes.Duties....,DutiesandresponsibilitiesoftheShuraCouncil:Ithasthedutiesofplanning, charting the general policies and the programs whichachievethegoalsoftheGroupwhicharespecifiedinthecourse,itsresolutionsarebindingtotheGroupandonlytheGeneralOrganiza-tional Conference can modify them or annul them which has theright tomodify or annul resolutionsof theExecutiveOffice. It fol-

SideB 43

lows up on the implementation of the Group’s policies and pro-grams, it directs them and it directs the Executive Office and itforms dedicated committees...., branching committees to assist inthat. It oversees that anddirects them inwhat ensures the imple-mentation of the policies. It elects the Group’s GeneralMasul andtheExecutiveOffice and it has..., it has the right to guide,hold ac-countable and...[UI] and theGeneralMasul is to be elected amongtheelectedmembersoftheCouncilonly.ThesearethedutiesoftheExecutiveOffice....er,theShuraCouncil.

AsforthedutiesoftheExecutiveOffice,itexecutesandfollowsupontheworksoftheGroupanditsdifferentbodiesaccordingtothegeneralpolicyandtheresolutions....,andtheresolutions issuedbytheShuraCouncil.IthastofollowupandguidetheactivitiesofthegeneralworkorganizationandtomakesuretheyrunaccordingtotheGroup’splanwithwhatachievesitsgoals.Itsubmitsaperiodi-calreporttotheShuraCouncilaboutitsworkandtheactivityof....,the activity of the domestic bodies and the general organizations.TheOfficedistributesitsdutiestoitsmembersaccordingtothein-ternalbylaws.TheSistersaretohaveaspecialofficewhichisaffili-atedwiththeGroup’sbodiesandaspecialbylawsapprovedbytheShura Council determine the method of its formation and its re-sponsibilities.Itthentalksaboutthequorumandittalksabouttheoffice’s termwhichendswith theendof theShuraCouncil’s term.This the....As for thespecializedoffice, Ibelieve itwill take long ifwewantedtoexplainthedutyofeachoffice.

Um:You mentioned that there is a weapons training at the Ikhwans’campsbutIdidnotseethatatallinthemid-southernregioncamps.So,wouldyouexplaintousthereasons.

Ze: ByGod,thefirstthingisthatyouthankGodandpraisehimbecauseyoufoundacamptomeetin.Youknowthat,forinstance,Oklahomahasbecomeablockedareaforyou.Youcannotmeetinitinthefirstplace,right?Then,thenature....What’![Unintelligibletalkfromthe

IkhwaninAmerica44

audience]Yes, I’msorry. I thought...,Ok.Mybrothers,accordingtowhatwelearned...,towhatIlearnedinOklahomathey startedto bestrict about lettingMuslims use the camps. Theywould ask them,forinstance,tosubmittheirnameandtheywouldaskyoutobringan ID or something to prove your name. I learned that theyweregoingon apicnic recently, a trip, and thepolice cameasking eachperson to give..., to present a,...er, to showhis ID or even his visa. TheseharassmentsexisttheninthestateofOklahoma,forinstance.And theseareamong the reasonswhichmadeourbrothers in thereason to have their camp here in Missouri. Right, my brother?Then, thecircumstanceswhicharegiongoes throughare theoneswhichdetermine. In someof the regionswhen they go to a camp,theytaketwothings,theywouldrequestacampwhichhasarange, ashootingrange andonewhichhasarangetoshoot,onewhichhasarangewhichtheyuseforshooting.Youwouldfindthatinsomeofthe camps. They would get an advance permit for that. I mean, Idon’t know the possibility of having these camps here and alsowhether the pressure which exists in Oklahoma...., and whetherthey will have a weapons training in the other regions...., theseharassments might continue, I mean, become contagious to theotherregions.

Um: Do you see that the latest events in Syria had an impact on theGroup’s policy in America and in particularly the political aspect.Between brackets, “To explain, showing flexibility in dealingwithnon-Muslimmovements”.

Ze: Yes,thereisnodoubtthattheGrouphereinAmericawasimpactedatallofitslevelswithSyriaevents.And....,work,Ikhwans....,Imean,what is happening in...., or what happened in Syria...., Syria hasbecomeoneoftheprioritiesofIkhwans’politicalactivisminnorthAmerica. I will speak about that in details I believe in a lectureimmediatelyfollowingthisonewhichwillbeabouttheIkhwansofSyriaand Ibelieve that Iwillgive theopportunity to the lecturing

SideB 45

brothertoreplytothesequestions.Theaskingbrothershouldaskthe other lecturing brother should he not find in the previouslecture what satisfies him or what replies to this question, God’swilling.

Um Er..., there isabrotherwho is inquiringabout the lackofbrothersfromTunisia,AlgeriaandMoroccoandevenYemenandabrotherwho is asking about..., I mean, he wants information about theIkhwansinCanada.

Ze: ThelackofAlgerianorTunisianIkhwansisbecausetheirpresenceinAmericaisscarce.Mybrothers,youknowthatAlgeriaandTuni-sia have a French culture, the countries have a French culture.Therefore, most of its citizens prefer to go to France rather thancometoAmerica.InadditiontothefactthattheIslamicmovementoverthereinthetwocountriesisabuddingmovement.They’restillnew.Despiteofthat,ithasbeendealtablowwhichitdidnotrecov-er fromyet. Itdidnot talkeven though itwashit savagelyand,ofcourse,youknowwhathappenedinTunisia.Thisisoneoftherea-sons which makes the presence of the Tunisian brothers scarceamongus.Ofcourse,thisdoesnotmeanthatyoushouldnotworkamonggoodTunisiancongregation.Youshouldworkamongthem,formUsras,youshould initiate individualcontactswiththem....etc.AsforYemen,Ikhwans,itisapoorcountry.Yemenisapoorcoun-try. ItcannotsendexchangestudentstoAmericaanditcannot...., Imean,asagovernment....,and,asindividuals,theycannotsendtheirsonsattheirexpense.Imean,ifyouhave$100overthere,youcanlive an entire year with it. You would live comfortably and youmight be considered among the rich. Not among the rich but, Imean,thecomfortableones.

Therefore, all of that makes the percentage of educated Yemenissmall.Thisdoesnotmean there isnota largeYemenicommunity.ThereisaverylargeYemenilaborcommunityinAmerica.Itiscen-teredintwospots:thefirstoneiswhattheycalltheSanJoacquim

IkhwaninAmerica46

Valley. It isanagriculturalareainCaliforniaandtheotherplaceisDetroit in the automobile factories. If there to take the Yemeniworkers out o f Detroit, the automobile industry would stop. Ac-cordingtowhatIfoundoutfromtheMasuloftheregionDetroitisunder,thanksbetoGod,wewereableforthetimetorecruitthreeYemeniworkersand,God’swilling,theywillbeapillarforustoen-terintothatgathering.

Um: There are four remaining questions but it seems that time is upeventhoughwewouldhavelikedforyoutoanswerallofthem.Er...,weaskAlmightyGod tobenefit uswithwhatweheardand to in-creaseourknowledge.MayGodrewardyouwell.God’speace,mer-cyandblessingstoyou.

Ze: Ikhwans, you posed questions and I now have questions. I wouldliketoknow-throughraisingofhands-aboutyourreceivingoftheGroup’speriodicals.Firstofall,Iwillstartwithal-Bayan[TheDec-laration]periodical.Itisamagazinewhichispublishedbi-monthly.Howmany brother saw the 4th issue? Let him raise his hand. Al-Bayan’s4thissue.Thereishesitation.Ok.AsfarastheperiodicalsoftheEducationOffice, theDarbal-Dowat[Patho f theCallers],howmanybrotherssawit?Ok.RegardingthepoliticalstatementsentbytheGroupabout theSyriaeventsandabout thenational coalition,howmany brother received it? Read it, of course, and saw it. By God....Mybrother,whyareyou....Whereareyou,mybrother,mayGodkeepyou?

Um:FromColorado.

Ze: Yes.Youdidnotreceivethestatement?WhoisyourNaquib?OrareyoutheNaquib?

Um:....[UI].

Ze: Ok, our brothers, I would like to announce two things: Ourperiodicals,theperiodicalswhichtheGroupsendsinaregularway

SideB 47

are two: The first one is al-Bayan bulletin and the second one isDarbal-Dowat.So,IhopethattheIkhwansasktheirNaquibseverynowandthenabouttheseperiodicalswhethertheyreceivedthem.Also,IasktheNaquibstoasktheMasuloftheregioneverynowandthen whether if they received these periodicals because we don’tthisefforttobeputandthentheydon’treachthebaseswhicharesupposed tobe theoneswhobenefit from them.MayGod rewardyo[u]well.

Unidentifiednoiseforfewsecondsbeforerecordingstops.

References 49

References

1FBISearchWarrant“APalletofDocumentsintheDrivewayof4502WhistlerCourt,Annandale,Virginia,”August23,2004,accessedat:http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/1524.pdf2“AnExplanatoryMemorandumontheGeneralStrategicGoalsfortheGroupInNorthAmerica,”CenterforSecurityPolicyPress,2013.AlsoavailableattheNorthTexasDistrictCourtWebsite,asElbarasseSearch-3,athttp://coop.txnd.uscourts.gov/judges/hlf2/09-25-08/Elbarasse%20Search%203.pdf3Foranexampleofthiseffort,seePatrickPoole,“PulitzerPrizeWinnerHawks‘ProtocolsoftheEldersoftheAnti-IslamMovement’intheNewYorker,”PJMe-dia,May13,2015,https://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/05/13/pulitzer-prize-winners-journalistic-malpractice-over-the-u-s-muslim-brotherhood/andKyleShideler,“MohammedAkramandtheExplanatoryMemorandumStillMatter,”CenterforSecurityPolicy,May18,2015,http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2015/05/18/mohammad-akram-and-explanatory-memo-still-matter/4Al-Nomanisalsoidentified(underthetransliterationZaidNaman)asamem-beroftheU.S.MuslimBrotherhoodExecutiveOffice,inthe1992PhoneDirecto-ryalsosubmittedattheHolyLandFoundationtrial.See:http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/1083.pdf5“ElbarasseSearch-2,”page7,http://coop.txnd.uscourts.gov/judges/hlf2/09-25-08/Elbarasse%20Search%202.pdf6The1987“longtermplan”isalsoreferencedintheOctober25,1991,documententitled“ShuraCouncilReportontheFutureoftheGroupWorkpaper#l,”alsofoundduringtheElbarassesearchandenteredintoevidenceattheHolyLandFoundationTrialas“ElbarasseSearch-1,”whichgivesa“HistoricalOutlook”oftheU.S.MBthatlargelysubstantiatesthestatementsmadebyAl-Noman.http://coop.txnd.uscourts.gov/judges/hlf2/09-25-08/Elbarasse%20Search%201.pdf7NoreenS.Ahmed-Ullah,SamRoeandLaurieCohen,“ARareLookatSecretiveBrotherhoodinAmerica,”ChicagoTribune,September19,2004,http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/chi-0409190261sep19-story.html#page=3TheChicagoTribunearticlegivesthedateas1963,but“El-

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barasseSearch-1”citestheyear1962,andsowewillutilizethedategivenbytheBrothersthemselves.8“ElbarasseSearch-2,”page7,http://coop.txnd.uscourts.gov/judges/hlf2/09-25-08/Elbarasse%20Search%202.pdf9HishamAlTalib,“TrainingGuideforIslamicWorkers,”InternationalInstituteofIslamicThought,1991,pg.6.10KyleShidelerandDavidDaoud,“TheInternationalInstituteofIslamicThought:TheMuslimBrotherhood’sThinkTank,”July28,2014,CenterforSe-curityPolicyPress,http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/IIIT-Backgrounder-final-07-28-14-1.pdf.Seealso:MichelleMalkin,“WhoIsWhiteHousevisitorHishamAltalib?”MichelleMal-kin.com,October22,2012,http://michellemalkin.com/2012/10/22/reminder-who-is-white-house-visitor-hisham-al-talib/22.AlTaqwaBankwasdelistedasaSpeciallyDesignatedentityinFebruary2015,https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20150226.aspx11“ElbarasseSearch-1,”http://coop.txnd.uscourts.gov/judges/hlf2/09-25-08/Elbarasse%20Search%201.pdf12ShamimA.Siddiqui,“MethodologyofDawah,”ForumforIslamicWork,1989.FormoreonSiddiquiandhisrole,see:StephenCoughlin,“CatastrophicFailure:BlindfoldingAmericaintheFaceofJihad,”CenterforSecurityPolicyPress,2015,pg.190.13SeetheworkofShafi’iIslamiclaw,Reliance of the Traveller,approvedbyMus-limBrotherhood-linkedgroupstheFiqhCouncilofNorthAmericaandtheIn-ternationalInstituteofIslamicThought.ReliancenotesDawaasapreconditiontoJihad,inBook0Justice,o.9.8.14SayyidQutb,“Milestones:SpecialEdition,”Ed.A.B.Mehri,MaktabahBooksellersandPublishers,Birmingham,2006.15“AnExplanatoryMemorandumontheGeneralStrategicGoalsfortheGroupInNorthAmerica,”CenterforSecurityPolicyPress,2013.AlsoavailableattheNorthTexasDistrictCourtWebsite,asElbarasseSearch-3,athttp://coop.txnd.uscourts.gov/judges/hlf2/09-25-08/Elbarasse%20Search%203.pdf

References 51

16https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/response-we-people-petition-muslim-brotherhood17Mitchell,RichardP.TheSocietyoftheMuslimBrothers,London:OxfordUP,1969.Pg.30-32.18Ibid.Pg.56.19“ElbarasseSearch-3,”http://coop.txnd.uscourts.gov/judges/hlf2/09-25-08/Elbarasse%20Search%203.pdf20Reuters,“Ex-FloridaUniversityProfessorDeportedovertiestoPalestinianIslamicJihad,”February7,2015,http://www.jpost.com/International/Ex-Florida-University-professor-deported-over-ties-to-Palestinian-Islamic-Jihad-39026521StevenEmerson,“NewDisclosuresTightenISNA-MuslimBrotherhoodBonds,”July22,2008,http://www.investigativeproject.org/730/new-disclosures-tighten-isna-muslim-brotherhood-bonds22DavidKane,“AffidavitinSupportofApplicationforSearchWarrant(October2003:IntheMatterofSearchesof555GroveStreetandHerndon,VAandRelat-edLocations”U.S.DistrictCourt(EasternDistrictofVA),availableat:https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/891.pdf23“CharterofTheCenterforStudiesIntelligenceandInformation,”June1981,http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/533.pdf24“BriefoftheUnitedStates,”No.09-10560INTHEUNITEDSTATESCOURTOFAPPEALSFORTHEFIFTHCIRCUITUNITEDSTATESOFAMERICA,Plaintiff-Appellee,v.HOLYLANDFOUNDATIONFORRELIEFANDDEVELOPMENT,et.al.,Appellants,http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/1474.pdf25“MarzookPaymentstoIAP,”http://coop.txnd.uscourts.gov/judges/hlf2/09-29-08/Marzook%20IAP.pdf26“PhillyMeetingSummary,”http://coop.txnd.uscourts.gov/judges/hlf2/09-29-08/Philly%20Meeting%20Summary.pdf27“ElbarasseSearch-19,”http://coop.txnd.uscourts.gov/judges/hlf2/09-29-08/Elbarasse%20Search%2019.pdf