Islamic Center of Tucson

At least a dozen terror-linked individuals have been tied to the Islamic Center of Tucson (ICT). The mosque and the state of Arizona are mentioned 59 times in the 9/11 Commission Report.[1] The mosque is considered to be “basically the first cell of al Qaeda in the United States.”[2]

The mosque also has significant links to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. The ICT’s bylaws state that the North American Islamic Trust is the “trustee and beneficiary” of its property. The bylaws also mandate relationships with multiple groups that have Muslim Brotherhood origins.

The Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim Students Association and the Muslim Arab Youth Association (a now-defunct U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity) are allowed to have offices on the premises. The bylaws also require that the ICT work with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the American Muslim Council that was led by Abdurrahman Alamoudi, an admitted secret U.S. Muslim Brotherhood member that is now in prison on terrorism-related charges.[3]

During the mid-1980s, the ICT was the U.S. headquarters of Mektab Al-Khidmat (MAK), which later became Al-Qaeda. The ICT president from 1984 to 1985, Wael Hamza Julaidan, was a founder of MAK and Al-Qaeda, along with Osama Bin Laden. In 2002, the U.S. government labeled Julaidan a Specially Designated Global Terrorist because he led an Al-Qaeda front called the Rabita Trust.[4]

Another ICT member, Wadih el-Hage, became a personal secretary for Bin Laden. 9/11 hijacker Hani Hanjour attended the mosque when he was in the area.

[ad] The ICT’s imam from 2000 to 2003, Omar Shahin, is also linked to Al-Qaeda and Hamas. He raised money for the Al-Qaeda front called the Global Relief Foundation and the Hamas front called the Holy Land Foundation. He said he raised $7,000 for the Holy Land Foundation in November 2001 alone before it was closed down.[5] Shahin was also a representative for Kind Hearts, another “charity” that was shut down for financing Hamas. He also says that ICT hosted Islamic Association for Palestine conferences, a pro-Hamas creation of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.[6]

On October 4, 2002, Shahin said in a sermon, “ Prophet Mohammed peace be upon him said: ‘You will keep on fighting with the Jews until the fight reaches the east of Jordan river then the stones and trees will say: Oh Muslim, oh (servant) slaves of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him…’ ”[7]

Shahin defended the mosque’s involvement with Bin Laden in the 1980s, saying “Osama bin Laden was made in America. Our government was sponsoring and supporting him. We are following our government.”[8] He also believes in 9/11 conspiracy theories, saying, “I think the [9/11] investigation is not headed in the right direction. They are focusing on the Arabs, the Muslims. And all the evidence shows that the Muslims are not involved in this terrorist act.”[9] He suggested that the FBI and CIA staged the attacks.[10]

In 2006, Shahin was one of six imams that were removed from a flight for suspicious behavior. The imams then sued U.S. Airways for discrimination.[11]