The imam of the Cambridge, Massachusetts mosque attended by Boston Marathon bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sits on the board of directors of the Boston chapter of an organization founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the parent organization of the terrorist group Hamas.
Dr. Sheikh Basyouny Nehela, the imam of the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) in Cambridge, which the Tsarnaevs attended, sits on the board of directors of the Boston chapter of the Muslim American Society, which also runs the ISB’s affiliated “Cultural Center.”
The Muslim American Society was founded in 1993 after secret regional meetings of underground Muslim Brotherhood members across the United States. The U.S. Muslim Brotherhood reportedly “operated under the name Muslim American Society.”
Muslim American Society leaders were instructed to state, if asked about the group’s views on terrorism, that the Society was anti-terrorism but that jihad was one of a Muslim’s “divine legal rights” for both self-defense and for the spreading of Islam.
In 2011, Dr. Sheikh Basyouny Nehela was also listed as the leader of an educational and spiritual program sponsored by the Muslim American Society’s Youth Chicago organization, which included a trip to Mecca and Medina and was described as “a chance to revive the spirit of unity and understanding, and to return home invigorated and full of passion to serve Allah.”
Dennis Hale, president of Citizens for Peace and Tolerance, alleged in 2008 that Hossam Al Jabri, then-president of the Muslim American Society’s Boston chapter, donated money to the nonprofit group the Holy Land Foundation, which was shut down by the U.S. government for providing more than $2 million to Hamas.
Former ISB board chairman Osama Kandil, meanwhile, co-founded the Muslim Arab Youth Association with Osama bin Laden’s nephew and others. The group held a conference at which a Hamas military leader called for the extermination of the Jews and at which more than $200,000 was raised for Hamas.
The Muslim American Society of Boston runs the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC), an expansion of the ISB, which opened in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 2009.
Democratic Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick and Democratic Boston mayor Tom Menino both appeared at inaugural events for the ISBCC when it opened.
The ISBCC’s “Inaugural Breakfast with Governor Deval Patrick” was held June 26, 2009 from 8:45 AM to 10:15 AM across the street from the ISBCC.
The ISBCCs “Ribbon Cutting Ceremony with Mayor Menino” was held at 11:30 AM on June 26, 2009 at the ISBCC. Democratic Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison also delivered a keynote speech at the ISBCC’s Grand Inaugural Dinner on June 27, 2009.
ISBCC imam Suhaib Webb justified the concept of jihad in January 2012, but specified that the correct execution of jihad does not involve killing innocent people in public places.
“A Muslim is allowed to fight if their human rights are violated. That’s basically the definition of jihad. That you’re given permission to defend yourself if your life, your liberty, or your pursuit of justice are threatened. Now, I don’t really see how that differs from anything that you find in any other society. Does jihad mean that somebody can walk into a mall in America and just kill innocent people? No…I would say definitely this concept is misunderstood,” Webb said.
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