Islamist media has reported on the death of Dr. Jamal Barzinji, one of the founding fathers of the US Muslim Brotherhood. According to the Onislam obituary:
September 26, 2015 A funeral service will take place Sunday after noon prayers at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) in Sterling, Virginia. CAIRO – Dr. Jamal Barzinji, President of the International Institute of Islamic Thought, passed away on Saturday, September 26, as Muslim leaders and organizations offered condolences to the family of the Muslim pioneer.
‘To Allah we belong and to Him we return. The Muslim Ummah lost this morning one of its visionaries, leaders and pioneers, Dr. Jamal Barzinji, President of the International Institute of Islamic Thought, and a dear brother and mentor,’ Dr Jasser Auda wrote on Facebook.
Dr. Jamal al-Barzinji is a founding member, a Trustee and Vice President for Research & Publications of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).
He has over forty years of progressive experience in development and leadership of diverse organizations (business, educational, think-tanks, political and charitable), such as Mar-Jac Poultry, Safa Trust, Amana Mutual Funds, SAAR Foundation, Bank Islam Malaysia, Dean of School of Islamic Revealed Knowledge & Social Sciences of International Islamic University Malaysia and North American Islamic Trust (NAIT).
A funeral service will take place Sunday after noon prayers at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) in Sterling, Virginia.
‘To God we belong and to Him we return,’ Nihad Awad, National Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a statement obtained by OnIslam.net.
‘On behalf of CAIR’s board and staff, I offer sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Dr. al-Barzinji, whose legacy will benefit the American Muslim community for generations to come.’
Dr. al-Barzinji was also a founding member of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS) and the Association of Muslim Scientists & Engineers (AMSE) and he served as advisor and consultant to various educational, charitable and professional organizations.
May Allah the Almighty rest his soul in perfect peace.”
According to a history of the US Muslim Brotherhood (USMB), authored by the GMBDW editor:
Three individuals—Ahmad al-Haj Totonji, Dr. Jamal al-Din Barzinji, and Dr. Hisham Yahya al-Talib—played key roles in the founding and development of MSA. All were born in the Kurdish, northern part of Iraq, and may have met there or possibly later in Britain, where all three received their undergraduate education in engineering An FBI memo has identified Barzinji and al-Talib as members of the Muslim Brotherhood prior to establishing a residence in the U.S.The Washington Post adds that [Barzinji] fled Iraq in 1969 when the Ba’athist regime started executing fellow Islamists. After completion of their studies in Britain, the three came to the United States, ostensibly for graduate study but also to continue organizing Muslim youth activities
The history goes on to explain how Dr. Barzinji subsequently became a founding member of the Saudi World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), said by U.S. government agencies and officials to have helped spread Islamic extremism around the world as well as sponsoring terrorism in places such as Bosnia, Israel, and India. Following his role in founding WAMY, Dr. Barzinji began working for Youssef Nada in Saudi Arabia. Nada, in turn, has described himself as the former “foreign minister” of the Muslim Brotherhood.
All of the other organizations identified in the above obituary where Dr. Barzinji played a key role are also part of the of the US Muslim Brotherhood. For example, another research report on the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), also 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).”
As noted above, Dr. Barzinji was also an official of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) which describes itself as “a private, non-profit, academic, cultural and educational institution, concerned with general issues of Islamic thought and education” and using the slogan “Towards Islamization of Knowledge and Reform of Islamic Thought.” The concept for IIIT was developed at a meeting held in Lugano, Switzerland that was attended by many luminaries of the Global Muslim Brotherhood including Youssef Qaradawi. IIIIT was founded in the U.S. in 1980 by U.S. Muslim Brotherhood leaders including Iraqi-born Jamal Barzinji and Hisham Altalib who wished to promote the Islamization of Knowledge as conceived by Ismail Al-Faruqi and who were also early leaders of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). A1991 internal document of the US Muslim Brotherhood, introduced as evidence in the holy Land Foundation trial, included IIIT in “a list of our organizations and organizations of our friends.” IIIT was associated with the now defunct SAAR Foundation, a network of Islamic organizations located in Northern Virginia that was raided by the Federal government in March 2002 in connection with the financing of terrorism and both organizations had been under investigation at that time by the U.S. Justice Department until at least mid 2007.
In January 2014, the GMBDW reported that elements of the US Muslim Brotherhood had organized a dinner in honor of Dr. Barzinji and the IIIT.
