Local Religious Compound Sparks Controversy

A religious compound just outside Charlotte has raised questions among some neighbors. The compound is called Holy Islamville and is populated by families who pledge their allegiance to a controversial leader who some say has links to terrorists.

Neighbors told Eyewitness News stories of weapons and secrecy, and terrorism experts said the compound’s leader is a radical who supports jihad. But the residents of Islamville deny those rumors and even invited Channel 9’s cameras in to see the York County community.

It’s located at the end of a dirt road and populated by people affiliated with a group called Muslims of America.

Ali Rashid wouldn’t say how many people live there now but insists the residents don’t pose a threat to anyone.

“You’ll find that this congregation loves America as much as any American loves America,” Rashid said.

And yet, Rashid and other community members admit they are followers of a controversial figure.

Sheik Mubarak Ali Gilani established Islamville and at least 20 other rural Muslim compounds across the country in the 1980s, while leading a group in Pakistan called Jamaat Ul-Fuqra.

In 2000, the State Department called it a terrorist group and said its United States members have been involved in assassinations and fire bombings.

Steve Emerson, a counter-terrorism expert in Washington, D.C., insists Gilani remains dangerous today.

“I think that any community that has a compound of Muslims of America, which subscribes to the philosophy and ideology -- the radical ideology -- of Sheik Gilani, should be very concerned,” Emerson said.

Some members of the surrounding community in York already are. One neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified for this story, said she has seen Islamville residents with M-16 and AK-47 rifles in the wooded area where her property meets the compound.

“It frightens the dickens out of me,” she said.

Neighbors aren’t the only ones critical of Islamville. A video produced by the controversial Christian Action Network shows Sheik Gilani saying: “On behalf of Muslims of America, I present before you a documentary film in helping in training of oppressed Muslims.”

The video, which is from the 1990s, goes on to show weapons training, guerilla warfare tactics, hand-to-hand combat, and the use of explosives.

But Ali Rashid insists none of that is going on in York County.

“We don’t have any training camps, and we’re not shooting any guns,” he said. “I’m telling you Sheik Gilani is not involved in terrorism.”

Rashid allowed Eyewitness News reporter Jim Bradley to explore the compound, including its shrine, without an escort. He found nothing that indicated it is a terrorist training camp.

Law enforcement officials haven’t found anything incriminating, either. York County Sheriff Bruce Bryant admits he’s leery of Sheik Gilani’s teachings, but he said his deputies haven’t found any evidence of danger.

“Is this a terrorist training ground? We do not believe it is,” Bryant said.

In the weeks since a suspected terrorist tried to blow up a plane in Detroit on Christmas Day, Bryant said he’s encountered new frustrations from residents who want him to take action against Islamville. He said he’s received dozens of phone calls and e-mails about the compound.

“Are we going to take some tanks out there and level it? Is that what the people want?” he said. “You know, give me a break.”

And so, the people of Islamville continue living on what they consider holy ground, following a leader many others consider an unholy terror.

Many of the members have moved off the compound and now live and work in nearby neighborhoods.

Eyewitness News contacted the FBI and asked if it considers Muslims of America a potential threat, but officials had no comment.

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