The Congressional Muslim Staffers Association (CMSA) has announced that it hosted the 1st Muslim Student Association Day ever to be held on Capitol hill. According to the announcement, students from over 15 DC-region colleges were scheduled to attend. According to a Hudson Institute report, the Muslim Student Association was the earliest known public front organization of what would later become the US Muslim Brotherhood and many USMB leaders were active in the early days of MSA. The MSA is now a “constituent organization” of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), itself a major part of the USMB. Previous posts have discussed important individuals close to the USMB who have emerged from an MSA background such as Mazen Asbahi who then candidate Obama appointed as his campaign Muslim outreach advisor. Asbahi was a former MSA leader who resigned his position after less than two weeks on the job when the GMBDW detailed his ties to the USMB. The Investigative Project has compiled a report on the history and extremism of the MSA.
The Congressional Muslim Staffers Association (CMSA) web site describes itself as follows:
The Congressional Muslim Staffers Association(CMSA) is a chartered organization within the United States House of Representatives, established in 2006. CMSA is a non-dues paying membership association open to any Congressional employee who defines his- or herself as “Muslim”, regardless of their race, gender, school of thought, personal level of “religiosity”, and country of origin. Members can be employees of any office, committee, or department within the House of Representatives, Senate, Library of Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Congressional Research Service, and the Capitol Hill Police Department. Any Muslim Congressional employee is considered a CMSA member regardless of their level of participation or the degree that they publicly identify themselves as “Muslim”.
Previous posts have described various activities involving joint activities of the CMSA and U.S. Muslim Brotherhood organizations including meeting with a Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) youth group, a June 2009 CMSA “social” attended by three U.S.Brotherhood organizations, and promoting the January Capitol Jummah (Friday prayer) led by Muslim American Society (MAS) President Esam Omeish.
It should also be noted that, despite a disclaimer, the CMSA web site links primarily to organizations associated with the U.S. Brotherhood.