Local media has reported that the police chief of a Chicago suburb has asserted that he was told by the FBI that there is no investigative link between the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) and the US Muslim Brotherhood.” According to the Chicago Tribune report:
A recent campaign flier sent to Oak Brook residents and businesses by village president candidate Natalie Cappetta, has resulted in a public safety message to the village from Police Chief James Kruger and some harsh words from the executive director of North American Islamic Trust.
The flier disputes earlier claims by Kruger that North American Islamic Trust, 721 Enterprise Drive, has no ties with Islamic extremist groups. In addition, the flier disputes the group’s tax exempt status and zoning of the property on which its offices are located.
‘They said they’re a church,’ said Fred Cappetta, Natalie’s father, an attorney who vetted the flier before it was sent out. ‘If they are a church, the zoning doesn’t allow for them to be where they’re at.’
Oak Brook Village Manager Rick Ginex said the IRS and DuPage County granted any tax-exempt status for North American Islamic Trust.
The flyer from Oak Brook For Natalie Cappetta states that village officials are concealing the truth and should ‘enforce our zoning codes, protect our community from all threats, foreign and domestic, and ensure all entities in our community pay their fair share of property taxes.’
Mujeeb Cheema, executive director of North American Islamic Trust, called the assertions in the campaign flier ‘a smear campaign.’
‘It’s nothing but a desperate attempt by a candidate in an attempt to instill fear in the community,’ he said.
Cheema confirmed, as Cappetta claims in the flier, that worship services do take place at North American Islamic Trust.
‘We provide five daily prayers on a limited basis,’ Cheema said. ‘Not 100 percent of the building is exempt from taxes; a small part is rented out, and the county never ruled on the mandate of the IRS.’
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The article goes on to cite a public safety message from the Village of Oak Brook Police Chief and although the link provided is inoperative, the message is still available on the Oak Brook Facebook page. In that statement, Chief Kruger claims that he was told by the FBI that “there is no investigative link between NAIT and the US Muslim Brotherhood.” This statement would appear to be contradicted on its face by a document released in 2007 by the US federal prosecution in the Holy Land Terrorism financing case naming NAIT as one of the entities that is part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. In addition, in 2009 a federal judge ruled that there was “ample evidence” to associate NAIT with Hamas.
GMBDW research also indicates that there are many solid investigative links between NAIT and the US Muslim Brotherhood. The North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) describes itself as:
…a waqf, the historical Islamic equivalent of an American trust or endowment, serving Muslims in the United States and their institutions. NAIT facilitates the realization of American Muslims’ desire for a virtuous and happy life in a Shari’ah-compliant way.
A research report on the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) authored by the GMBDW editor describes the origins of NAIT and the role that it played in the early development of the US Muslim Brotherhood:
The North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) was established on May 23, 1973 and later became known as an affiliate of ISNA. According to the incorporation documents, the purpose of NAIT was to “serve the best interests of Islam and the Muslim Student’s Association of the United States and Canada” by establishing a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation to hold “investment property.” …: An Islamic scholar writes: “With its ability to raise funds, especially from overseas, MSA began establishing business and professional organizations useful in establishing off-campus institutions. The North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) became instrumental in establishing masajid, student houses, Islamic centers, full-time schools, and literature publishing (under the American Trust Publications, International Graphics Press, and Islamic Book Service). Its members created the American Muslim Scientists and Engineers (AMSE), the American Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS), and the Islamic Medical Association (IMA).”
Local media has reported that former FBI special agent Robert Stauffer headed an investigation in the 1980s of Muslim Brotherhood finances and discovered that the Islamic Society of North America had received “Millions and millions of dollars” through NAIT which, he says, “served as a financial holding company for Muslim Brotherhood-related groups.” The money, he says, was wired into the United States from Islamic countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Egypt, Malaysia and Libya. The ISNA research report goes to describe how NAIT today has become the custodian of a large number of U.S. mosques and Islamic centers:
The NAIT website states that it “holds the title of approximately 300 properties” a figure consistent with a LEXIS/NEXIS search showing 332 properties in the real-estate related database and with a report by the Council on American Islamic Relations which says that NAIT owns about 27 percent of the estimated 1200 mosques in the United States. In a hearing before the United States Senate, witness testimony shows that NAIT holds the deeds to between 50% and 79% of American mosques.
The ISNA research report also describes examples of how NAIT played a role in the ideological takeover of two U.S. mosques, driving out moderate leaders and replacing them with those close to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. Finally, another report on the history of the US Muslim Brotherhood authored by the GMBDW editor identifies Bassam Othman as both an early leader in the US Muslim Brotherhood as well as an officer of NAIT. The current NAIT website identifies Dr. Bassam Osman as a current NAIT Trustee and we believe this to be the same individual. In addition, current NAIT trustee Muzammil H. Siddiqi has also been a long-time leader in the US Muslim Brotherhood. The presence of these two individuals on the current NAIT board demonstrates an unbroken continuity from the early history of NAIT until the present time.