Last year the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), which calls itself America’s most prominent Muslim civil liberties organization, announced its plans to expand its presence with new chapters in four major cities, including Denver. This month, CAIR’s new Colorado chapter held its first annual banquet in Littleton titled ‘Faith Driven, Justice Led'. Speakers at the event included CAIR’s executive director, Nihad Awad; the executive director of CAIR’s Florida chapter, Hassan Shibly; and the star of the evening, former Denver Broncos lineman and convert-to-Islam, Ryan Harris.
In recent years, the former Super Bowl champion has taken a vocal stance against what he sees as a rise in “Islamophobia” and anti-Muslim discrimination following the presidential election. In 2015, he told USAToday that “the only Muslims I know are peaceful, loving people,” and later, the Denver Post, that “it’s getting to a point where we have to remind and reassure people who don’t know Muslims that ISIS is not supported by anyone I know that is Muslim or the majority of Muslims.”
It may be perfectly understandable why somebody like Harris might be quick to take a major Muslim organization like CAIR, which also claims to advocate for tolerance and social justice, at their word. But perhaps Harris might be shocked to discover what many of even the most mainstream Muslim organizations in America truly believe and advocate.
While CAIR may not be a group that supports ISIS, it has been identified as front organization of another global Islamist organization: the Muslim Brotherhood, and by extension, Hamas. In the last decade, federal authorities have documented in three separate court filings. In 2014, the United Arab Emirates designated CAIR as a terrorist organization, citing its ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and its support for Hamas.
Evidence of CAIR’s history of spreading radical and intolerant ideas doesn’t require digging up evidence submitted in a decade-old court case. The activities and open affiliations of CAIR’s own members should be enough to dispel any doubts.
Nihad Awad, the host of the banquet, is a known anti-Semite who on many occasions has publicly expressed his support for Hamas, often justifying its violence against Israelis. Awad has also been very vocal in his beliefs that US foreign policy is dictated by a worldwide conspiracy orchestrated by the Jews:
“Members of Congress compete with each other, whether Democrats or Republicans, to please the Israel lobby, to please Israel. Some of members of Congress are willing to put the interests of Israel ahead of the United States’ interests.”
He continues:
“The pro-Israel lobby has mastered deception, pressure tactics and exploiting the system of giving money to candidates and putting pressure and threatening some candidates with either scandals or what have you.”
In 2009, Shibly wrote on Facebook that homosexuality is ‘a quick way to earn God’s wrath,’ further elaborating in another post that “if God says marriage is solely between a man and a woman, or, if he permits polygamy, then so be it. Who are we to question God? A slave has no authority to question the King in his own kingdom.”
Another post from February 2009 shows a series of photos from Israel and the Palestinian territories set alongside images of Nazis and the Holocaust titled ‘Grandchildren of Holocaust survivors are doing to the Palestinians what the Nazis did to them.’
Not only does Shibly espouse hate and intolerance against Jews and gays, he has also advocates for violence against other Muslims. Shibly is an avid endorser of Khatme Nubuwwa (KN), a global Islamist organization actively dedicated to inciting hatred and violence against Ahmadiyya Muslims – a peaceful minority sect within Islam often targeted by extremists who see them as heretics and apostates.
During a November 2017 KN conference in Springfield, VA, one speaker told the audience that:
[Ahmadiyyas] are ignorant and there is no need for dialogue with them, God has given them two options, one is the holy book and one is the stick [Force] and if one does not accept the holy book, they have to be forced.”
“May Allah reward you guys. You guys are doing very important work... and you shouldn’t be bullied by somebody who’s upset because they have a fringe opinion that is heretical. You are well within your right to do that. You are doing very important work. I am envious of you.”
‘Why Islam?’ Is an outreach project of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) who, like their CAIR counterparts, operate under a carefully cultivated public image giving the impression that they’re a benign organization fighting social injustices. In reality, ICNA has been identified as the US offshoot of the Pakistani Islamist organization, Jamaat-E-Islami (JI). JI is the group responsible for orchestrating the genocide of up to 3 million Bangladeshis during the partition of 1971, and today, it continues to destabilize South Asia with terrorism and extremism.
If Ryan Harris truly wishes to use his platform to deliver a progressive message of peace and tolerance, as he so often claims, then perhaps the first step should be to ensure that he doesn’t associate with radical Islamist groups simply by virtue of the fact that they also outwardly claim to be Muslim advocates of social justice. The individuals with whom Harris has appeared alongside make no secret of their beliefs, ambitions and aspirations. The least that Harris could do is hear them out, take them at their word, and then decide for himself whether the individuals and organizations he associates with truly share his commitment to promoting justice and tolerance, or whether they themselves are the ones promoting intolerance.
