FAC News - Friday, February 15, 2002 9:23 AM

Shaykh’s Kabbani’s revenge on ISNA

Shaykh Mohammad Hisham Kabbani shocked Malaysians two days ago when he alleged that a certain ex-Malaysian Minister had given extremist Islamic groups in the United States 38 million Ringgit.

This is not the first time he has sent shock waves through the Muslim community in the US by calling US Islamic groups “extremists”.

His first “revelation” was made on 7 January 1999 when Kabbani, the Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA), alleged that funds collected by Muslim groups for humanitarian aid were being used “to buy weapons to fight in the name of Islam”; that “extremism has been spread to 80 percent of the Muslims in the U.S.”; and that “there are more than 2,000 mosques in the U.S...and 80 percent of them are being run by extremist ideologies.”

On 26 February 1999, eight leading US Islamic organisations issued a joint press statement denouncing Kabbani’s remarks. Amongst the eight were the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), American Muslim Political Coordination Council (AMPCC), American Muslim Alliance (AMA), American Muslim Council (AMC), Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the Muslim Students Association of USA and Canada.

Since then, Kabbani has not been invited to any ISNA convention while the US Muslims in turn have been boycotting his ISCA conventions.

In 2000, Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad too was uninvited to the ISNA Convention in Chicago thereby placing him in the same league as Kabbani. Mahathir was outraged at this humiliation and sent the Malaysian Ambassador to the US - Malaysian Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin’s brother-in-law – running to negotiate a withdrawal of the “uninvitation”.

The Ambassador invited the entire ISNA Committee to Malaysia, fully-paid by the Malaysian government, to meet Mahathir face-to-face. The ISNA Committee, however, rejected the offer and indicated they would meet Mahathir only after Anwar Ibrahim has been released, unconditionally, from prison.

Mahathir went to Chicago anyway whether ISNA wanted him to attend its conference or not citing “he can still do other work” as the excuse. In Chicago, a demonstration awaited him when he went to meet about 240 Malaysian students from all over the US to explain the Anwar issue.

Since then, Mahathir has had an axe to grind with ISNA and what better way to get back at ISNA than to use its mortal enemy, Kabbani, to run down its credibility. This way, Mahathir can kill two birds with one stone – ISNA and Anwar Ibrahim.

The problem with this, though, is that ISNA and the seven Islamic organisations represent nearly all the Muslims as well as the mosques in the US, Canada and Mexico. Kabbani’s ISCA represents just himself and has been totally ostracized by the US Muslims even to the extent of accusing him of being a Zionist agent and funded by them.

As they say, those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. While Kabbani has “exposed” his adversaries in the US as being funded by a former Malaysian Minister, he too has been exposed for what he really is.

Is it coincidental that Kabbani’s Malaysian connection is the Sultan of Perak’s family as well as the family of UMNO Youth Leader Hishamuddin Tun Hussein? Other leading Malaysian businessmen, known cronies of Mahathir and UMNO, are also linked to him and, it seems, Daim too has recently joined his "prayer group".

Is the hand of UMNO at play here?

Kabbani had better reveal who this ex-Malaysian Minister is because, in the last revelation he made on 7 January 1999, he refused to reveal which US Islamic groups he meant when he accused them of being extremists.

Dispute Between U.S. Muslim Groups Goes Public