MOA- Islamberg, NY

Islamberg is the 70-acre headquarters of Muslims of the Americas, the International Quranic Open University and the United Muslim Christian Forum. These organizations are led by a radical cleric in Pakistan named Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani.

Islamberg originally had a connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. A non-profit named “Ikhwanul Muslimun Inc.” was registered as a church on the property in 1974. The name is Arabic for “Muslim Brotherhood.”

The person who registered it still lives at Islamberg. When he was contacted, he said that the entity has long been inactive and was set up during a time when African-American Muslims were struggling to form their identity.[1] A 1991 U.S. Muslim Brotherhood memo lays out a strategy that includes “training on the use of weapons domestically” and says there are “noticeable activities in this regard.”

In 2001, ATF Special Agent Thomas P. Gallagher testified in court that “Individuals from the organization [Muslims of the Americas] are trained in Hancock, N.Y., and if they pass the training in Hancock, N.Y., are then sent to Pakistan for training in paramilitary and survivalist training by Mr. Gilani.”[2]

In 2009, Clarion Project National Security Analyst Ryan Mauro obtained a Muslims of the Americas tape showing women at Islamberg receiving guerilla warfare training while dressed in military fatigue. The trainees were seen marching in formation, practicing hand-to-hand combat, learning to use knives and swords and firing guns into a lake. Only the first two digits in the on-screen date could be seen, indicating it was made in 2000 or afterwards.[3]

Around early 2010, multiple sources reported the sudden movement of Muslims of the Americas members out of their communes, including Islamberg. A former member said that Gilani had ordered the commune residents to disperse into the surrounding areas.[4]

In January 2010, a law enforcement source told a blogger that many male residents of Islamberg had left the commune to engage in a tax fraud conspiracy with mosque leaders around New York City, specifically in the Bronx and Brooklyn. The report explained:

“[Mosque leaders] are directing mosque members to storefront tax outfits run by Jamaat al-Fuqra. Using information from these mosque attendees, the tax fraud operation will then use that information to file false tax returns (probably without the knowledge of the tax filer) and collect 24 hour rapid returns.

A referral fee is given to the imam and the remainder of the money will then be forwarded overseas to accounts controlled by Gilani. The filer is then on the hook for the fraud if it is discovered.”[5]

In 2012, a former high-level Muslims of the Americas member that lived at Islamberg for two years described widespread abuse, forced marriages and brainwashing at the commune. He said that almost all of the children are privately schooled and are illiterate. He said that he saw a 50-year old woman tied to a tree and beaten for violating the strict moral code.[6]