Imam Killed in FBI Shootout Sat on Board of Muslim Lobby Group MANA

Luqman Ameen Abdullah, the head of Detroit’s Masjid al-Haqq, was killed during an FBI raid on October 28 as he engaged federal agents in a gun battle. Prosecutors call Abdullah “a highly placed leader of a nationwide radical fundamentalist Sunni group.” Several other men were arrested on “charges including conspiracy, receipt of stolen goods, and firearms offenses.”

Abdullah’s death is a stunning embarrassment for the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), an organization that presents itself as a mainstream advocate for “indigenous Muslims,” primarily African-American converts. Abdullah is listed as a member of MANA’s majlis ash-shura, or governing board — at least until the MANA webmaster deletes him.

Islamist Watch highlighted MANA in a 2008 article on music legend Kenny Gamble, who serves on the same MANA body and has been accused of working to construct a “black Muslim enclave” in Philadelphia using real estate essentially given to him by the city. MANA’s founder — and up to now its most infamous member — is Siraj Wahhaj, who appeared on a list of “unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators” in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the plot to destroy various New York City targets. According to the IW piece, “Wahhaj has promoted polygamy, excused stoning, refused to condemn Osama bin Laden, and predicted that the United States will fall unless it ‘accepts the Islamic agenda.’” MANA’s leadership includes many other Islamists, such as Ihsan Bagby and Johari Abdul-Malik.

Interestingly, the Detroit News story on the raid features two links back to MANA:

His black Muslim group calls itself “Ummah,” or the brotherhood, and wants to establish a separate state within the United States governed by Shari’a law, Interim U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg and Andrew Arena, FBI special agent in charge in Detroit, said in a joint statement.

“He regularly preaches anti-government and anti-law enforcement rhetoric,” an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit. “Abdullah and his followers have trained regularly in the use of firearms, and continue to train in martial arts and sword fighting.”

The Ummah is headed nationally by Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, who is serving a state sentence for the murder of two police officers in Georgia.

First, Jamil al-Amin was a driving force behind MANA and continues to be embraced by the group. Second, the Ummah collective that promotes the creation of an Islamic state atop America’s carcass has aims similar to those of the As-Sabiqun movement, founded by radical D.C. cleric Abdul Alim Musa, who sat on MANA’s board as recently as last year; like Abdullah, Musa is known for his “anti-law enforcement rhetoric.”

Another day, another key figure in an American Muslim organization exposed as an extremist. How will MANA attempt to explain this one? Conspiracy theories?

David J. Rusin investigates and combats nonviolent radical Islam in the United States and other Western countries for Islamist Watch. His research has highlighted the dangers posed by Islamist-leaning individuals with government security clearances, debunked the myth that American Muslims are more likely than other minorities to suffer hate crimes, and tracked the progress of Philadelphia’s “black Muslim enclave.” He has been the curator of Islamist Watch’s extensive news archive for more than half a decade and previously served as the project’s director. Prior to joining the Forum, Mr. Rusin worked as an astrophysicist. He also spent two years as the Philadelphia editor at PJ Media
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