Two Florida Imams Arrested, Charged With Aiding Pakistani Taliban

by Sheila Musaji

The New York Times reports that “The F.B.I. on Saturday arrested three Pakistani-Americans, including father and son imams from South Florida mosques, charging them with providing financing and other material support to the Pakistani Taliban.  Three people living in Pakistan were also charged in the indictment ...”

The NYT also reported that “The Muslim Communities Association of South Florida announced that that Hafiz Khan had been suspended indefinitely from his mosque.    “Our organizations, together through the Coalition of South Florida Muslim Organizations, has been working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Miami F.B.I. office,” the association said in a statement released Saturday afternoon, “and appreciate the efforts of law enforcement to root out potential sources and supporters of terrorism.”    “We stand together with the U.S. attorney, Wilfredo Ferrer, and the men and women of the F.B.I., and have been and will be cooperating with law enforcement to our fullest ability,” it added.

The Los Angeles Times adds that they are being held without bail until Monday when they will appear in court and respond to the charges.

Reuters reports that “Officials said the arrests and charges followed a three-year investigation into suspicious financial transactions and were based on recorded conversations and a trail of money moving from U.S. bank accounts to Pakistan.”

There are already hundreds of news stories about this incident.  However, they are primarily repeating the same facts.  What is known at this point is that:

-  A total of six people are charged, and of those, 5 of those charged are related to each other. 
-  There may be further individuals arrested.
-  Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan is an imam at Masjid Miami also known as Flagler Masjid
-  Izhar Khan, is an imam at the Jamaat Al-Mu’mineen Mosque in Margate, Florida and was arrested in L.A.
-  Irfan Khan, another son was also arrested
- They are accused of raising and sending $45,000 to $50,000 to aid the Pakistani Taliban
- The three people arrested are U.S. citizens of Pakistani origin

The Muslim Communities Association of South Florida has a website, but does not have a press release posted on that site ( http://www.miamimuslim.org/mca_code/site/ ).  I could find no website for the Coalition of South Florida Muslim Organizations or for Masjid Miami.  I did find a site for Jamaat Al-Mu’mineen, but there was also no statement posted there http://www.mjam.org/

There is a bio posted on the Jamaat Al-Mu’mineen site which says “Imam Izhar-ul-Haq Khan graduated in Islamic Studies and Hifz-e-Quran from Darul-Uloom Al-Madania in Buffalo, New York, the largest and oldest Darul-Uloom in the North East. He is a qualified Mufti and has extensive experience in Islamic teachings.    Currently he serves in the dual capacity of educator and Imam. He is the principal of MJAM Sunday Madrassah and also leads the daily prayers and Friday congregation. In addition, he conducts weekly Hadith and Fiqh classes and is always available to the entire Jamaat for individual counseling. He has a great passion for promoting Islamic culture among the youth and young adult.  The Darul-Uloom Al-Madania also has a website http://www.madania.org/

At this point, I cannot find any press releases from any of the national American Muslim organizations.  As more information comes in, this will be updated.

If these individuals are found guilty of the charges, then they should receive the maximum sentence.  In fact, if they are found guilty, they should be sent to Pakistan to serve out their sentence there.  However, it is important to remember that they are innocent until proven guilty.

SEE ALSO:

Members of Miami Mosque react to arrests http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730804576324071441122848.html