AlMaghrib Institute
{{Short description|Islamic studies institute}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = AlMaghrib Institute
| formation = {{start date and age|2001}}
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| type = 501(c)3 organization
| tax_id = 27-0091991
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| founder = Muhammad Alshareef
| defunct =
| area_served = United States
| key_people = Yasir Qadhi
| products = Seminars
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| location_city = Houston, Texas
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| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
AlMaghrib Institute is a 501(c)(3) Islamic studies organization founded in Houston, Texas, by Muhammad AlShareef in 2002.{{Cite web |date=2019 |title=Form 990 |url=https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/270091991_201912_990_2021040517878120.pdf |website=Internal Revenue Service}}Asef Bayat, Linda Herrera, Being Young and Muslim: New Cultural Politics in the Global South and North, p 170. {{ISBN|0195369211}}Gary R. Bunt, iMuslims: Rewiring the House of Islam: Rewiring the House of Islam, p 122. {{ISBN|0807887714}}Zareena Grewal, Islam Is a Foreign Country: American Muslims and the Global Crisis of Authority, p 330. {{ISBN|1479800902}} AlMaghrib provides courses on Islam in a six-day, two-weekend intensive seminar and other courses in a shorter, three-day, single-weekend format.
Instructors
Most of AlMaghrib instructors are graduates of the Islamic University of Madinah,Zareena Grewal, Islam Is a Foreign Country: American Muslims and the Global Crisis of Authority, p 331. {{ISBN|1479800902}} which is why AlMaghrib is characterized as Salafi in ideological orientation, despite founder Muhammad AlShareef's commitment not to use labels other than "Islam" and "Muslim".Juliane Hammer, Omid Safi, The Cambridge Companion to American Islam, p 261. {{ISBN|110743386X}}
AlMaghrib's instructors include the following Islamic scholars, who are listed on AlMaghrib's website.{{cite web|url=http://almaghrib.org/instructors|title=Instructors|access-date=2015-07-09|archive-date=2010-12-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101230230755/http://almaghrib.org/instructors|url-status=live}}
Academics
AlMaghrib's founders are working toward establishing an M.A. and Ph.D.-granting Islamic seminary with a permanent campus in the United States, featuring teachers as full-time faculty.Juliane Hammer, Omid Safi, The Cambridge Companion to American Islam, p 262. {{ISBN|110743386X}}
Responses
AlMaghrib has received a significant amount of public scrutiny because recordings by Anwar al-Awlaki, the highest English-speaking cleric in Al-Qaeda, continued to be sold at AlMaghrib events, although AlMaghrib banned these in 2009.Zareena Grewal, Islam Is a Foreign Country: American Muslims and the Global Crisis of Authority, p 331. {{ISBN|1479800902}}
In addition, analysts have studied students of the Institute who were later involved in terrorist actions or plots, and speculated about the teachings of the Institute. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who in December 2009 attempted to detonate plastic explosives on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit, was found to have taken a class at the AlMaghrib Institute in Houston.[http://www.freep.com/article/20091231/NEWS05/912310445/1322/Terror-suspect-was-student-in-Houston "Terror suspect was student in Houston"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106064853/http://www.freep.com/article/20091231/NEWS05/912310445/1322/Terror-suspect-was-student-in-Houston |date=2010-01-06 }}, Detroit Free Press, 31 December 2009 Abdulmutallab claimed that al-Awlaki had also been a student at AlMaghrib.
"It's ironic that he came to us," said instructor Yasir Qadhi of AbdulMutallab.{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/30/terror.suspect.seminar/ |title=Terror suspect attended 2008 Islamic 'knowledge fest' in Houston |publisher=CNN |date=2009-12-30 |accessdate=2022-06-11 |archive-date=2023-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328003151/http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/30/terror.suspect.seminar/ |url-status=live }} Qadhi told CNN, "At some level, we did not convince him of the validity of our views," and "that is cause for regret".
The following former students at the Institute were later implicated in illicit activities: Daniel Maldonado, a convert to Islam, was convicted in 2007 of training in Somalia with a group linked to Al Qaeeda militia. Tarek Mehanna, a pharmacist, was convicted for conspiracy, in a case widely criticized by journalists and civil libertarians.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/apr/16/tarek-mehanna-punished-speaking-truth|title=Tarek Mehanna: Punished for speaking truth to power | Ross Caputi|website=TheGuardian.com|date=16 April 2012|access-date=25 September 2016|archive-date=28 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928022519/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/apr/16/tarek-mehanna-punished-speaking-truth|url-status=live}} Two young American men were held in Pakistan in 2009 for seeking to train with militants.{{Cite news |last=Elliott |first=Andrea |date=2011-03-17 |title=Why Yasir Qadhi Wants to Talk About Jihad |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/magazine/mag-20Salafis-t.html |access-date=2023-01-20 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2016-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308081343/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/magazine/mag-20Salafis-t.html |url-status=live }}
On the other hand, some other American Salafi groups have accused AlMaghrib of being "liberal" and "apolitical." As a result of this external and internal scrutiny, AlMaghrib has attempted to change its image and avoided the public use of any classification as "Salafi". AlMaghrib Vice President, Waleed Basyouni, said "[AlMaghrib] institute's stance against extremism, violence and other related subjects has always been clear ... We unequivocally condemn it in all its forms."{{Cite web |last=Carroll |first=Susan |date=2009-12-29 |title=Islamic school confirms terror suspect studied in Houston |url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/islamic-school-confirms-terror-suspect-studied-in-1727861.php |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=Chron |language=en |archive-date=2023-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324212712/https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Islamic-school-confirms-terror-suspect-studied-in-1727861.php |url-status=live }}
See also
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{Official website}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almaghrib Institute}}