French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve called for the “dissolution” of radical mosques following last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. Belgium’s Prime Minister, Charles Michel threatened similar action in his country where the attacks were staged.
Neither President Obama nor other officials in his administration, however, have spoken of shutting down radical mosques in the U.S. But U.S. reticence about taking actions now being implemented by France and Belgium isn’t for a lack of mosques in this country in which hatred for American values and support for jihad terrorism are regularly heard.
There are more than 80 radical mosques in the U.S., according to the Clarion Project, a non-profit group that describes itself as “dedicated to exposing the dangers of Islamist extremism.”
Using Clarion’s definitions, The Daily Caller News Foundation has mapped these radical mosques in an effort to aid readers seeking to understand the extent of radical Islamic voices in this country.
These mosques or their leading clerics have radicalized attendees to become terrorists, supported terrorist organizations, made radical Islamist remarks or hosted others that have, or are financially backed by radical individuals or organizations.
“Islamist extremists have developed a sophisticated network of interconnected organizations across American,” according to Clarion. “The common thread among these organizations is their ideology of political Islam, which aspires to implement sharia governance and to establish a global Islamic caliphate.”
The FBI declined to tell TheDCNF if the nation’s top law enforcement agency has a similar list.
The map includes 83 – or nearly 4 percent – of the 2,106 mosques in the United States as of 2010.
Mosques from Clarion Project’s list were excluded if TheDCNF could not verify their addresses. These include Islamist communes like Islamberg in New York.
Several mosques on the Clarion Project’s list stand out.
- Dar al-Hijrah, located just outside Washington in Falls Chruch, Virginia, for example, was the place of worship for two of the 9/11 hijakers. This mosque’s present Imam, Shaker Elsayed, described Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna’s teachings as “the closest reflection of how Islam should be in this life.” The Brotherhood “seeks to implement Sharia-based governance globally,” according to the Clarion Project.
- Multiple terrorists have come from the Islamic Society of Boston, including the Boston Bombers and al-Qaeda terrorists Aafia Siddiqui, Tarek Mehanna and Ahmad Abousamra.
- The Islamic Center of Tucson was “basically the first cell of al-Qaeda in the United States,” terrorism expert Rita Katz told The Washington Post in 2002. “At least a dozen terror-linked individuals have been tied to the” center, according to the Clarion Project.
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