Islamberg is one of 19 communities reportedly founded by the Muslims of the Americas Inc., a tax-exempt organization formed by Pakistani cleric Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani. Gilani, an organizer with strong terrorist ties known as Jamaat Al-Fuqra, or “community of the impoverished.”
The Manhattan’s Institute Center for Policing Terrorism reported in 2002 that “Gilani preaches a Wahhabist, anti-western worldview that ordains violence as the only means of purifying Islam.” Others have drawn direct connections between Al-Fuqra and Al-Qaeda.
There has been evidence purportedly linking Al-Fuqra to D.C. Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad, and the London shoe bomber Richard Reid.
Brutally beheaded journalist Daniel Pearl was allegedly on his way to interview Gilani, when he was abducted in Pakistan. Video in English shows Gilani calling for Sharia against the U.S. government. Gilani has denied any connection with either Pearl's death or with Jamaat Al-Fuqra.
The book The Day of Islam, the Annihilation of America and the Western World asserts that these radical communities “were set up to serve as havens where young Muslims — primarily inner-city black men who became [Muslim] converts in prison — could begin a new life.”
Citizens of Islamberg and other Fuqra communities are required to sign an oath saying, “I shall always hear and obey and whenever given the command, I shall readily fight for Allah's sake.”
Occupants that have left Islamberg and other such communities have recalled activities ranging from Muslim services defaming the government, to courses on bomb making and military tactics.
Members of these communities have been charged in many states on weapons charges and other felonies. In 2001, a resident of the Red House, Va. community was charged in the murder of a sheriff's deputy.
Americans should demand to know what is going on in these rural communities, and keep on the lookout for a homegrown terrorist training camp being founded in their own county.