An Explanatory Memorandum On the General Strategic Goal for the Group In North America
Encyclopedia
An Explanatory Memorandum On the General Strategic Goal for the Group In North America is a document seized by the government that was used in the 2008 United States
v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
case. The verdict found the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
guilty of laundering money to known Palestinian
terrorist organization Hamas
. According to critics of Islamism such as the Jewish group ADL
, some observers have suggested that this document "identifies a conspiracy by the Muslim Brotherhood
to convert the United States to an Islamic nation." The document also lists a number of Islamic organizations that are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood to working together to achieve the goals.
The memorandum was written in 1991 by Mohamed Akram, a senior Hamas leader in the U.S., a member of the Board of Directors for the Muslim Brotherhood in North America
(also known as the Ikhwan) and one of many unindicted coconspirators in the HLF trial. Strategic goals number 6 was: "supporting the establishment of the global Islamic State wherever it is". The Memorandum explains "settlement process" as a "grand jihad" eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated…." Author Robert Spencer has characterized this process as “stealth jihad.”
Though so far the Muslim Brotherhood has not repudiated the memorandum or responded to critics, some press has responded to the use of the memorandum to justify a call for a ban on "sharia
". The memorandum was cited by the September 2010 Center for Security Policy (CSP) report, "Shariah: The Threat to America" and endorsed by several members of Congress. This report was characterized by IPS as "the latest development in a summer filled with intensifying attacks on Islam in the United States" which charges that many "apparently-lawful U.S. Muslims are waging a 'stealth jihad' to impose sharia on the U.S. through peaceful means" and furthermore claims that "virtually all major Muslim-American organisations are affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood", a Sunni fundamentalist organisation. The report suggested sharia is "the preeminent totalitarian threat of our time". It called for a "draconian" ban on Muslims who "espouse or support" sharia from full participation in government and the armed forces, prosecuting and banning immigration to the U.S. by those who adhere to sharia.
Zuhdi Jasser
was narrator in the documentary The Third Jihad
about the threat of radical Islamism to the West. The premise of the film presents the argument that there are two types of jihad being waged against the United States, these being violent jihad and cultural jihad. The argument for cultural jihad is that Islamic groups are using the laws and rights they are given to work against society and overthrow it, based in large part on this memorandum.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
The Holy Land Foundation was the largest Islamic charity in the United States. Headquartered in Richardson, Texas, it was originally known as Occupied Land Fund....
case. The verdict found the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
The Holy Land Foundation was the largest Islamic charity in the United States. Headquartered in Richardson, Texas, it was originally known as Occupied Land Fund....
guilty of laundering money to known Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
terrorist organization Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
. According to critics of Islamism such as the Jewish group ADL
ADL
Adl is an Arabic word meaning justice.The abbreviation ADL may refer to:*Activities of daily living, a term used in medicine and nursing, especially in the care of the elderly...
, some observers have suggested that this document "identifies a conspiracy by the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
to convert the United States to an Islamic nation." The document also lists a number of Islamic organizations that are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood to working together to achieve the goals.
The memorandum was written in 1991 by Mohamed Akram, a senior Hamas leader in the U.S., a member of the Board of Directors for the Muslim Brotherhood in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
(also known as the Ikhwan) and one of many unindicted coconspirators in the HLF trial. Strategic goals number 6 was: "supporting the establishment of the global Islamic State wherever it is". The Memorandum explains "settlement process" as a "grand jihad" eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated…." Author Robert Spencer has characterized this process as “stealth jihad.”
Though so far the Muslim Brotherhood has not repudiated the memorandum or responded to critics, some press has responded to the use of the memorandum to justify a call for a ban on "sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
". The memorandum was cited by the September 2010 Center for Security Policy (CSP) report, "Shariah: The Threat to America" and endorsed by several members of Congress. This report was characterized by IPS as "the latest development in a summer filled with intensifying attacks on Islam in the United States" which charges that many "apparently-lawful U.S. Muslims are waging a 'stealth jihad' to impose sharia on the U.S. through peaceful means" and furthermore claims that "virtually all major Muslim-American organisations are affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood", a Sunni fundamentalist organisation. The report suggested sharia is "the preeminent totalitarian threat of our time". It called for a "draconian" ban on Muslims who "espouse or support" sharia from full participation in government and the armed forces, prosecuting and banning immigration to the U.S. by those who adhere to sharia.
Zuhdi Jasser
Zuhdi Jasser
Zuhdi Jasser, also known as M. Zuhdi Jasser, and Mohamed Zuhdi Jasser, is a medical doctor specializing internal medicine and nuclear cardiology in Phoenix, AZ. Jasser is a former Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy where he served as staff internist in the Office of the Attending...
was narrator in the documentary The Third Jihad
The Third Jihad
The Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision For America is a documentary film made by Wayne Kopping on the subject of radical Islam in present day United States.- Production :...
about the threat of radical Islamism to the West. The premise of the film presents the argument that there are two types of jihad being waged against the United States, these being violent jihad and cultural jihad. The argument for cultural jihad is that Islamic groups are using the laws and rights they are given to work against society and overthrow it, based in large part on this memorandum.