Jihadist Saudi Cleric on U.S. No Fly List: MAS-ICNA Conference Organizers “Frustrated”

Photo of page 8 from MAS-ICNA 14th Annual Convention program book showing Saudi Sheikh Ayed Al-Qarni slated to speak with Tariq Ramadan on Saturday, 26 December 2015.

While Americans are celebrating the Christmas holiday with their families, United States Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) members—Muslim American Society (MAS) and Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)—are hosting the 14^th Annual MAS-ICNA Convention from 25-28 December 2015 at the McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. Perhaps hoping for a bit of a slip stream from Christmas, the USCMO chose for this year’s theme “Muhammad: Peace Be Upon Him, Mercy to Mankind.”

The Muslim Brotherhood political action group suffered a setback, though, when Saudi cleric Sheikh Ayed al-Qarni was denied entry into the United States and prevented from boarding his U.S. connecting flight from Istanbul, Turkey. In an email issued by MAS-Chicago on 24 December 2015, the convention organizers expressed “dismay and frustration” that one of their key speakers would be a no-show, but did not elaborate about why Sheikh al-Qarni finds himself on a U.S. No Fly list.

Screenshot of 24 December 2015 E-Mail from MAS-Chicago

It is likely, though, that both Sheikh Al-Qarni and the USCMO know full well why his name is on a U.S. No Fly list.

On 21 December 2015, during a press conference that followed an emergency national summit of Muslim Brotherhood leadership in the wake of the San Bernardino jihadist massacre, the USCMO announced that one of its campaign goals was to “enhance national security” in the United States. Yet, even as the USCMO advances under the banner of a “Star Spangled Shariah”, its leadership was planning for Sheikh Al-Qarni to address the Muslim Brotherhood faithful gathered in Chicago from around the world, despite a public record showing that he urges violent jihad and admits to praying daily for America’s destruction.

Previously, in December 2012 at the 11^th Annual MAS-ICNA convention in Chicago, then-future USCMO founding member Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR, the U.S. branch of HAMAS) came to the defense of al-Qarni by protesting his exclusion from entering the U.S. In an interview with an Arabic language news outlet, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad stated, “We defend all Muslims who are subject to arbitrary measures, and by this logic, we will act but not formally plead, unless we obtain authorization from him.”

The Muslim Brotherhood described Al-Qarni in 2012 as a “renowned Muslim scholar and inspirational speaker. Known for his logical discourse and balanced views, he promotes understanding and collaboration between all people, regardless of their faith, background, or language.” The laudatory tone here belies the reality of a Saudi cleric with a long history of inciting jihad against the U.S, Israel, Christians, and Jews.

According to Congressional testimony from Steven Emerson and Jonathan Levin before the United States Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, entitled “Terrorism Financing: Origination, Organization, and Prevention: Saudi Arabia, Terrorist Financing and the War on Terror”, the U.S. government learned in 2003,

“There is growing evidence of Wahhabi activities in Iraq. Last month’s issue of The Future of Islam, a monthly [WAMY publication]…carried a cover interview with Saudi cleric Ayed al-Qarni. Al-Qarni, an adviser to Prince Abdel-Aziz bin Fahd, youngest son of Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd, stated that he prays for the destruction of America several times a day. He also urged Saudi subjects to go and fight in Iraq or contribute money.”

Further, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) flagged a 2005 sermon, in which al-Qarni described jihad against American forces in Fallujah as

“a source of pride, downing their planes, destroying equipment, slaughtering them, taking them hostage, and proclaiming ‘Allah Akhbar’ from the mosques, and the worshippers and the preacher cursing them in their prayers…throats must be slit and skulls shattered…”

Although USCMO members since 2014 have gathered in solidarity at anti-American and antisemitic demonstrations in Chicago and elsewhere across the U.S., Al-Qarni previously mocked Muslims for their failure to take action in “harming the Jews.” Invoking his hatred for Israel’s targeted killing of HAMAS leaders Ahmed Yassin and Abdel-Aziz Rantisi, Al-Qarni has prayed that Allah

“will destroy the Jews and their helpers from among the Christians and the Communists, and that He will turn them into the Muslims’ spoils. I praise the Jihad, the sacrifice, and the resistance against the occupiers in Iraq. We curse them all of them every night and pray that Allah will annihilate them, tear them apart, and grant us victory over them…”

As the Muslim Brotherhood’s USCMO launches its 2016 U.S. election cycle campaign, is “One America” really its theme or are directives from Al-Qarni such as this: “Throats must be slit and skulls must be shattered…This is the path to victory, to shahada, and to sacrifice”? Which is it?

It remains to be seen if MAS and/or CAIR under the auspices of USCMO leadership will once again protest Al-Qarni’s continued ban from entering the U.S. with complaints to the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State. On the one hand, feigned ignorance about the legitimate reasons for his ban serves the Brotherhood’s contrived image of benign Muslim advocacy—but on the other, Al-Qarni’s open incitement to jihad violence is a matter of public record. His invitation to speak at this year’s MAS-ICNA conference must therefore expose yet again the brazen hypocrisy of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood, which poses under the patriotic imagery of a “Star Spangled Shariah” while in fact remaining steadfast in its “civilizational jihad” to “destroy the Western civilization from within…”

While it might have been educational to hear what Al-Qarni would have told the Muslim Brotherhood faithful gathered in Chicago this weekend, the MAS-ICNA invitation itself to an openly jihadist Islamic supremacist speaks volumes about the unity of purpose among al-Qa’eda (a Muslim Brotherhood off-shoot), the Islamic State (an al-Qa’eda affiliate), and the Muslim Brotherhood itself, which has been called the “granddaddy of them all.” If USCMO Secretary General Oussama Jammal and his leadership believe Al-Qarni, who has been described as influential among Al-Qa’eda followers, has an important message to disseminate to the Muslim Brotherhood following in North America, thousands of whom will be in attendance at the 2015 MAS-ICNA Conference, this should serve as a clear indicator and warning of the reality of the Global Jihad Movement we face. It is not just the violent jihad groups that threaten our choice to live free of jihad and shariah, but also all who support the ideology of Islamic supremacism.

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