Islamville is a commune run by Muslims of the Americas, headquartered at Islamberg in New York. Islamville is also home to an International Quranic Open University, a branch of the Muslims of the Americas. These organizations are led by a radical cleric in Pakistan named Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani.
The Islamville website boasts that it houses “the very first Islamic shrine in America,” Baitun-Noor Holy Khanaqah, “one of the holiest shrines in the world.”[1]
A secret tape made by Gilani in Pakistan in the 1980s instructs viewers to contact his offices in the U.S. for “one of the most advanced training courses in Islamic military warfare.” He mentions South Carolina as one location. The film shows Gilani’s followers receiving paramilitary training.[2]
A 2004 report funded by the Justice Department identifies York County, S.C. as a “training compound” for Muslims of the Americas.[3] A 2006 report for law enforcement on the organization also said that York County, S.C. is home to one of at least seven “covert paramilitary training compounds.”[4]
In 2010, nearby residents told a local newspaper that they had seen armed guards patrolling Islamville and that they sometimes heard gunfire at night.[5] The sound of gunfire coming from Islamville was recorded in November 2009, March 2011 and May 2011. A local resident reported the sounds of explosions on January 26, 2012 and April 6, 2012.[6]
Two neighbors have claimed that a man in full Islamic garb armed with an AK-47 stopped them from stepping on Islamville property when they searched for their dog. They say that four armed men escorted them inside the commune. The Islamville residents also reportedly educate their children in a storage shed.[7]
A female spokeswoman for Islamville received her “degree” from the International Quranic Open University by writing a thesis about how a “Satanist-Zionist conspiracy” framed Muslims in the attacks on the World Trade Center.[8]
In 1996, a member of Muslims of the Americas named Edward Flinton was arrested at Islamville. He had evaded capture for years after taking part in a bomb plot against a Portland hotel in 1983, the bombing of a Hare Krishna temple in Denver in 1984 and the murder of rival Imam Rashad Khalifa in Arizona in 1990.[9]
Frank Nelson, a fugitive who shot a security guard at Long Island college in 1971 wasn’t arrested until September 2005 when he was found living adjacent to Islamville. He converted to Islam and went by the name of “Abdullah Ali.”[10] A registered sex offender also lived in Islamville as of 2007 but moved to Georgia.[11]
[1] “Intro to Holy Islamville,” Islamville website, https://www.holyislamvillesc.org/about/holy-islamville/holy-islamville-introduction.html
[2] The video was originally obtained by PRB Films and clips were shown in the Clarion Project’s documentary, The Third Jihad.
[3] Kane, John and April Wall. “Identifying the Links Between White-Collar Crime and Terrorism,” National White Collar Crime Center, September 2004. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/209520.pdf
[4] “Jamaat ul-Fuqra: Gilani Followers Conducting Paramilitary Training in U.S.,” Regional Organized Crime Information Center (dissemination limited to law enforcement), 2006. https://info.publicintelligence.net/ROCICjamaatulfuqra.pdf
[5] “Neighbors Wary of Muslim Village,” Myrtle Beach Online, April 25, 2010. https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2010/04/25/1440656/neighbors-wary-of-muslim-village.html
[6] Mauro, Ryan. “Holy Islamville: Paramilitary Training in America’s Backyard,” Clarion Project, April 24, 2012.
[7] Mawyer, Martin. “Twilight in America: The Untold Story of Islamic Terrorist Training Camps Inside America.” (Christian Action Network: 2012).
[8] Crowley, Zachary. “Jamaat al-Fuqra Dossier,” Center for Policing Terrorism, March 16, 2005.
[9] “The Incarceration of Edward Flinton,” Politics of CP, April 4, 2006. https://politicsofcp.blogspot.com/2006/04/incarceration-of-edward-flinton.html
[10] “Man Arrested in 1971 Stony Brook Shooting,” 1010Wins.com, reposted on Free Republic, October 5, 2005. https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1497174/posts
[11] “Registered Sex Offender Living at ‘Holy Islamville,’” Politics of CP, May 23, 2007. https://politicsofcp.blogspot.com/2007/05/registered-sex-offender-living-at-holy.html
Ryan Mauro is the ClarionProject.org’s National Security Analyst, a fellow with the Clarion Project and is frequently interviewed on Fox News.