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| In 1990 he was the principal of the Al-Ghazly Islamic School in ], where ], the man accused of killing ], sent his children until the beginning of 1989. He argued that the killing of Kahane was not in violation of ]. Discussing how some Muslims view the killing, Elsayed said: "It was not a violation, in the sense that Kahane adopted a position against all Arab and Muslims. He put himself in that category." Nosair was subsequently convicted of involvement in the ] and Kahane's assassination.<ref></ref> | In 1990 he was the principal of the Al-Ghazly Islamic School in ], where ], the man accused of killing ], sent his children until the beginning of 1989. He argued that the killing of Kahane was not in violation of ]. Discussing how some Muslims view the killing, Elsayed said: "It was not a violation, in the sense that Kahane adopted a position against all Arab and Muslims. He put himself in that category." Nosair was subsequently convicted of involvement in the ] and Kahane's assassination.<ref></ref> | ||
| Prior to his position at the mosque, Elsayed was for five years the Secretary General of the ] (MAS), a Washington-based national educational, social, and religious organization that promotes community development through the development of the individual and the family, which some accuse of promoting a fundamentalist strain of Islam.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/elsayed_shaker/ |title=(TAM) |publisher=The American Muslim |date=2005-01-10 |accessdate=2009-11-14}}</ref><ref name="washingtontimes2005">{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/jul/05/20050705-102130-1010r/print/ |title=Activist imam puts politics into sermons |publisher=Washington Times |date= |accessdate=2009-11-14}}</ref><ref name="google3684">http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=r4AVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dvADAAAAIBAJ&pg=3684,7348936&dq=shaker-elsayed&hl=en</ref> | Prior to his position at the mosque, Elsayed was for five years the Secretary General of the ] (MAS), a Washington-based national educational, social, and religious organization that promotes community development through the development of the individual and the family, which some accuse of promoting a fundamentalist strain of Islam.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/elsayed_shaker/ |title=(TAM) |publisher=The American Muslim |date=2005-01-10 |accessdate=2009-11-14}}</ref><ref name="washingtontimes2005">{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/jul/05/20050705-102130-1010r/print/ |title=Activist imam puts politics into sermons |publisher=Washington Times |date= |accessdate=2009-11-14}}</ref><ref name="google3684">http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=r4AVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dvADAAAAIBAJ&pg=3684,7348936&dq=shaker-elsayed&hl=en</ref> While he was still at MAS, in 2004 Elsayed was also on the mosque's Executive Committee. | ||
| When federal agents raided a series of homes and offices in March 2002, looking for evidence of ]'s terrorist links and for other terrorist fronts, Elsayed said: "This is becoming a war on Muslim institutions." Al-Arian ultimately made a ] to plead guilty to conspiracy to help a "specially designated terrorist" organization, the ].<ref name="Laughlin-plea">MegLaughlin, , ], April 23, 2006.</ref> | When federal agents raided a series of homes and offices in March 2002, looking for evidence of ]'s terrorist links and for other terrorist fronts, Elsayed said: "This is becoming a war on Muslim institutions." Al-Arian ultimately made a ] to plead guilty to conspiracy to help a "specially designated terrorist" organization, the ].<ref name="Laughlin-plea">MegLaughlin, , ], April 23, 2006.</ref> | ||
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Shaker Elsayed (born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1951) is a dual citizen of Egypt and the US, and has been the Imam of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia, since June 1, 2005.
He has an undergraduate degree in Economics and Independent Islamic Studies, from Cairo, and has done graduate work in Educational Administration and Psychology at the University of Houston in Texas. Elsayed has written his own English translation of the Koran. He is well known in the Muslim community for his political activism.
In 1990 he was the principal of the Al-Ghazly Islamic School in Jersey City, where El Sayyid Nosair, the man accused of killing Rabbi Meir Kahane, sent his children until the beginning of 1989. He argued that the killing of Kahane was not in violation of Islamic law. Discussing how some Muslims view the killing, Elsayed said: "It was not a violation, in the sense that Kahane adopted a position against all Arab and Muslims. He put himself in that category." Nosair was subsequently convicted of involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and Kahane's assassination.
Prior to his position at the mosque, Elsayed was for five years the Secretary General of the Muslim American Society (MAS), a Washington-based national educational, social, and religious organization that promotes community development through the development of the individual and the family, which some accuse of promoting a fundamentalist strain of Islam. While he was still at MAS, in 2004 Elsayed was also on the mosque's Executive Committee.
When federal agents raided a series of homes and offices in March 2002, looking for evidence of Sami Al-Arian's terrorist links and for other terrorist fronts, Elsayed said: "This is becoming a war on Muslim institutions." Al-Arian ultimately made a plea agreement to plead guilty to conspiracy to help a "specially designated terrorist" organization, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
When three defendants who were part of the Virginia Jihad Network were convicted in March 2004 of conspiring to help wage violent jihad in Kashmir and possibly against American troops in Afghanistan, Elsayed said: "It is evident that Muslims should not expect justice. Muslims are besieged after 9/11, for no fault of their own."
In April 2005 Ali Al-Timimi went on trial for treason for, less than a week after the 9/11 attacks, telling a group of Northern Virginia Muslims that it should train for violent jihad abroad and wage war on the US, and for in 2003 celebrating the crash of the space shuttle Columbia. Elsayed said: "He is not accused of anything except talking. It's all about him saying something. If this isn't a First Amendment issue, I don't know what is."
He also has served as an unofficial spokesman in 2005 for the family of Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, who was convicted of plotting to assassinate President Bush. Abu Ali worshipped at Dar al-Hijrah. Elsayed said the case against Abu Ali was based on a confession to Saudi authorities he termed "laughable," and accused the Justice Department of unfairly targeting Abu Ali and other young Muslims for prosecution.
Elsayed's sermons take a political tone. "Islam forbids you to give allegiance to those who kick you off your homeland, and to those who support those who kick you off your homeland," he told worshippers. "We do have license to respond with all force necessary to answer our attackers." M.A. Muqtedar Khan, an expert on Islam and a political scientist at Adrian College in Michigan, said Elsayed is not a typical American imam. "Shaker Elsayed is more like a political figure than a religious figure," said Mr. Khan, who worshipped at Dar al-Hijrah for several years while attending graduate school at Georgetown University. "Dar al-Hijrah is a very Arab-centric mosque, very much centered on Arab politics."
References
- "IslamonLine.net". IslamonLine.net. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ "Activist imam puts politics into sermons". Washington Times. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=r4AVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dvADAAAAIBAJ&pg=3684,7348936&dq=shaker-elsayed&hl=en
- CNN - Defense reaction - Oct. 1, 1995
- "(TAM)". The American Muslim. 2005-01-10. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- MegLaughlin, In his plea deal, what did Sami Al-Arian admit to?, St. Petersberg Times, April 23, 2006.
- Dao, James (2004-03-05). "3 American Muslims Convicted of Helping Wage Jihad - The New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
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