U.S. media has reported on the controversy involving a Chicago-area imam who last year became the Illinois State Police Department’s first and only Muslim chaplain. According to an ABC report:
The Illinois State Police Department currently has 37 chaplains or volunteer clergy who provide spiritual support for troopers, other employees and their families….Last December at Illinois State Police headquarters, Sheikh Kifah Mustapha became the department’s first and only Muslim chaplain. Mustapha was one of seven ministers who went through chaplain orientation training. At the end of the training that Mustapha paid for himself, he was among those who received their Illinois State Police ID cards, and bulletproof vests they are required to wear on ride-alongs and at crime scenes. “He was admitted to the post. He went through the training and the vetting and the selection process. Everything was hunky dory,” said Ahmed Rehab, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). At the Mosque Foundation of Chicago, where Mustapha is the top religious leader known as an ‘imam’ and one of the best known Islamic leaders in America, his appointment as a state police chaplain was heralded as good news to more than 500,000 metro Chicago Muslims……According to a police statement, “in early January, the ISP became aware that Mr. Mustapha was potentially identified as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee. An immediate review of our background process began.” Emerson, an oft quoted, self-styled national security expert who has testified before Congress, posted public Justice Department documents on his Web site that cite Mustapha as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee, an organization that federal prosecutors say raises money for Hamas and is “committed to the globalization of Islam and violent jihad.” Such membership resulted in Mustapha being named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the holy land foundation case, the “largest terrorism financing prosecution in American history.” …During the deposition in a 2001 civil terrorism suit, Mustapha admitted being the “registered agent for Holy Land Foundation in Illinois…soliciting money” for Holy Land programs until the group was frozen by U.S. Authorities……A state police official says the re-submitted background checks are underway and they don’t know when or whether Sheikh Mustapha or the others will past muster. As for Mustapha himself, despite being a very public figure on radio and TV, he asked CAIR to speak for him until the state police determine whether to allow him as a chaplain.
In addition to being an imam at the Mosque Foundation, also home of the Bridgeview Mosque, Mr. Mustafa serves as the Foundation’s Associate Director. The Foundation’s last know Director was Sheikh Jamial Said identified by a 2004 Chicago newspaper investigation as inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood, educated at a Saudi Arabian University, and noted for his sermons espousing strict Islamic fundamentalist views and critical of America as “a land of disbelievers.” Part of his salary was paid by the government of Saudi Arabia. As much as $1 million a year was raised from mosque members which was then sent to overseas Muslim charities. The mosque donated money to three Islamic charities that have since been identified as involved in financing terrorism—the Holy Land Foundation, Benevolence International, and the Global Relief Foundation. One of the mosque’s eight-member executive committee was Muhammad Salah, a Muslim Brotherhood member who was arrested in Israel in 1993 and has since been identified as a Hamas military commander. Mosque leaders were also leaders of the Quranic Literacy Institute, and the Islamic Association for Palestine, the predecessor of the Council fof American Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Interestingly, Mr. Mustapha’s online resume indicates that in addition to his role as Associate Director of the Mosque Foundation, he is also a teacher at the Universal School, also located in Bridgeview . It should also be noted that both Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) President Ingrid Mattson and ISNA Secretary-General Safaa Zarzour have also been associated with the Universal School which although located next to the mosque denies any connection to it. Despite these denials Bassam Osman is listed on the school website as a director and as a “Representative of NAIT.” A Hudson Institute report identifies Mr. Osman as a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood leader and NAIT (North American Islamic Trust), as a part of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), holding title to many U.S. mosques and Islamic facilities associated with the U.S. Brotherhood. The Tribune reported that the Bridgeview mosque had also been deeded to NAIT in 1981 by Islamic fundamentalists who had taken over the mosque from its former leaders. Dr. Mattson also currently serves as one of the NAIT Trustees.