At Tulsa mosque, criticizing Islamic terrorists can be hazardous to your health
Submitted by admin on Sat, 2007-06-23 13:16. U.S. News
"By reason of the published statements of the Defendants, alleging that Jamal Miftah is "a traitor... anti Muslim... anti Islamic" Jamal Miftah’s life has been put in danger in the sense that he has been labeled apostate from the Muslim Religion by the Defendants and vulnerable to the death penalty in Muslim countries and/or vigilante justice in his adopted homeland."
23 June 2007: Jamal MIFTAH, a Muslim who attended the Islamic Society of Tulsa, Oklahoma is now considered “public enemy number one” in the Tulsa Muslim community. His crime? He openly condemned the terrorist actions of Osama bin Laden and other Islamic terrorists in a letter to the editor (reprinted below) that was published in the Tulsa World daily newspaper on 29 October 2006. In his op-ed piece, MIFTAH urged Muslims to stop killing in the name of Islam, called bin Laden and other top Islamic terrorist cowards and stated that “some mosques and Islamic institutions in the U.S. and around the world have become tools in their hands and are used for collecting funds for their criminal acts.”
What happened to Mr. MIFTAH following the publication of his letter is the focus of a lawsuit he filed against the Islamic Society of Tulsa and several other related defendants. (A transcription of the lawsuit is published in its entirety below). According to Mr. MIFTAH, on or about 18 November 2006, he attended prayers at the mosque as he had normally done in the past. Following the prayers, Mr. MIFTAH alleges that the Iman of the Mosque and a defendant named in the lawsuit, Ahmad KABBANI, confronted him in an aggressive manner – forcing him to retreat against a wall inside the mosque and told him that he “should be ashamed” of the letter he wrote, claiming that it was “anti-Islamic.”
At the same time and while being nearly pinned against the wall, mosque members and named defendants Houssam ELSOUESSSI, Abdullah ROE and Nooruddin DOE also confronted Mr. Miftah, screaming and shouting allegations that Mr. MIFTAH is “anti Muslim” and a “traitor” to Islam. ROE also removed his shoe, waived and swung it at Mr. MIFTAH’S face, shouting that he was “anti Muslim” and a “traitor.” Mr. MIFTAH was ultimately assisted by another member of the mosque who observed these activities and accompanied him outside, away from his aggressors.
In addition to the assault and defamation charges, the lawsuit enjoins additional defendants - specifically the ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA (ISNA), and the NORTH AMERICAN ISLAMIC TRUST (NAIT). The Islamic Society of Tulsa, Oklahoma, happens to be funded, in part, by the NORTH AMERICAN ISLAMIC TRUST (NAIT) and further affiliated with the ISNA.
Additionally, the Northeast Intelligence Network is investigating ties between one of the co-defendants in this case- Mujeeb CHEEMA, a director of the Islamic Society of Tulsa, OK to Faisal CHEEMA the roommate of Joel Henry HINRICHS III. We will be providing updates as they are developed.
Also, it is important to note that in December 2003, the chairman and ranking Democrat of the Senate Finance Committee, Senators Charles Grassley and Max Baucus, respectively, listed ISNA as one of 25 American Muslim organizations that "finance terrorism and perpetuate violence."
According to the sound research of Mr. Frank Gaffney, Jr., the founder and president of the Center for Security Policy and the author of War Footing: 10 Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World, The Islamic Society of North America is a front for the promotion of Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi political, doctrinal and theological infrastructure in the United States and Canada. Established by the Saudi-funded Muslim Students Association, ISNA has for years sought to marginalize leaders of the Muslim faith who do not support the Wahhabists’ strain of Islamofascism, and, through sponsorship of propaganda and mosques, is pursuing a strategic goal of eventually dominating Islam in America.
ISNA provides indoctrination materials to about 1,100 of an estimated 2,500 mosques on the North American continent. Through its affiliate, the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) – a Saudi government-backed organization created to fund Islamist enterprises in North America – it reportedly holds the mortgages of between 50 and 79 percent of those mosques. Through this device, ISNA exerts ideological as well as theological influence over what is preached and taught in these institutions and their schools.
Letter to the Editor that was published in The Tulsa World on 29 October 2006:
Message of Islam is not jihad, fatwahs
Mr. Jamal Miftah, Plaintiff
By Jamal Miftah
I moved to the United States in March 2003, with my four kids and wife from Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. There was a call by a local jihadi organization to fight the coalition forces in Afghanistan. One of my dearest friends, Mirza Kohistani, fell prey to that call and joined the group, despite my advice and that of his wife to him.
All the leaders of that organization returned safely after the fall of the Taliban empire, but they left behind the body of my friend and hundreds of other innocent people like him.
I am obliged to respond to Ayman al-Zawahri's recent video message, portraying himself as champion of Islam and others as liars.
My message to Ayman al-Zawahri and Muslims of the world: "Islam" means submission and is derived from a word meaning "peace." Islam, Christianity and Judaism have the same origin, the Prophet Abraham. The prophet of Islam has said that God has no mercy on someone who does not have mercy for others.
I ask that al-Zawahri look at his deeds and those of his master, Osama bin Laden, and other so-called Islamic jihadists.
Because of lack of knowledge of Islam, Muslim youth are misguided into believing by the so-called champions of the cause of Islam that the current spate of killings and barbarism, which has no equal in the recent civilized history, is jihad in the name of Islam. They are incited, in the name of Islam, to commit heinous crimes not pardonable by any religion and strictly forbidden in Islam.
Cowards like al-Zawahri and bin Laden are inciting the ignorant and innocent youths to commit suicide bombings to kill innocent civilians including children, women and the elderly, while they hide in spider holes and caves. They never send their own sons and daughters, born out of half a dozen of their wives, to get killed in the name of Islam. They are themselves hypo crites, cowards, thugs and liars. For 12 years they misappropriated aid received from the U.S. and the West to fight Russia. Now they are ensuring smooth flow of petro dollars from Arab countries in the name of jihad against the West.
Even mosques and Islamic institutions in the U.S. and around the world have become tools in their hands and are used for collecting funds for their criminal acts. Half of the funds collected go into the pockets of their local agents and the rest are sent to these thugs.
They are the reason for branding the peaceful religion of Islam as terrorism. The result, therefore, is in the form of Danish cartoons and remarks/reference by the Pope.
I appeal to the Muslim youth in particular and Muslims of the world in general to rise up and start jihad against the killers of humanity and help the civilized world to bring these culprits to justice and prove that Islam is not a religion of hatred and aggression.
I appeal to the Muslim clerics around the world that, rather than issuing empty fatwas condemning suicide bombing, they should issue a fatwa for the death of such scoundrels and barbarians who have taken more than 4,267 lives of innocent people in the name of Islam and have carried out more than 24 terrorist attacks on civilian installations throughout the world. This does not include the chilling number of deaths because of such activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is well over 250,000.
I appeal to al-Zawahri and his band of thugs to hand themselves over to justice and stop spreading evil and killing innocent humans around the world in the name of Islam. Their time is limited and Muslims of the world will soon rise against them to apprehend them and bring them to justice.
JAMAL MIFTAH, Plaintiff, CASE NO.
ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF TULSA, an Oklahoma non profit corporation, ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA, an Indiana non profit corporation, NORTH AMERICAN ISLAMIC TRUST, an Indiana non profit corporation, FAROOQ ALI, JAVED JALIWALA, SHERYL SIDDIQUI SANDRA RANA, TARIQ MASOOD, MUHAMMAD ASHWAIT, HOUSSAM ELSOUIESSI a/k/a ABU WALEED, MUJEEB CHEEMA and AHMAD KABBANI, individually and as Directors and Officers of the ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF TULSA and ABDULLAH ROE and NOORUDDIN DOE, Individually. Defendants.
ORIGINAL PETITION
COMES NOW, Jamal Miftah, Plaintiff, by and through his Attorney of Record, B. Kent Felty and would allege and prove the following:
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
1. Jamal Miftah is a legal permanent resident of the United States of America, the State of Oklahoma, the County of Tulsa.
2. Defendant the Islamic Society of Tulsa (hereinafter IST) is an Oklahoma Corporation with its principal place of business in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Islamic Society of North America (hereinafter ISNA) and the North American Islamic Trust (hereinafter NAIT) are Indiana corporations doing substantial and continuous business and holding property in Tulsa County, Oklahoma.
3. Defendants Farooq Ali, Javed Jaliwala, Sheryl Siddiqui, Sandra Rana, Tariq Masood, Muhammad Ashwait, Houssam Elsoueissi a/k/a Abu Waleed, Mujeeb Cheema and Ahmad Kabbani are residents of Tulsa County, Oklahoma and serve as Directors and Officers of the IST.
4. Defendants Abdullah Roe and Nooruddin Doe are believed to be members of the Tulsa Mosque and residents of Tulsa County, Oklahoma.
5. All of the events that form the basis of Jamal Miftah’s claims occurred in Tulsa County, Oklahoma.
COUNT ONE – ASSAULT
6. On or about October 29, 2006 Jamal Miftah wrote an “op-ed” piece published in the Tulsa World calling on Muslim clerics and youth to forsake and stand against terrorists whose “heinous crimes (are) not pardonable by any religion and strictly forbidden in Islam…”
7. In the aforementioned op-ed piece Jamal Miftah also alleged that some mosques in the United States and around the world are being used to collect money for terrorists.
8. On or about November 18, 2006 Jamal Miftah went to the Tulsa Mosque owned and operated by the Defendants IST, ISNA and NAIT to offer his last prayer of the day (Ishaa prayer). Following prayers, the Iman of the Mosque, Ahmad Kabbani, a defendant herein, confronted Jamal Miftah in the Mosque and stated that he “should be ashamed” of the aforementioned op-ed piece, which was “anti-Islamic”.
9. Following the lead of Ahmad Kabbani, Houssam Elsouesssi, a defendant herein, and two other members of the Mosque, Abdullah Roe and Nooruddin Doe, defendants herein, confronted Jamal Miftah.
10. These three defendants screamed and shouted at Jamal Miftah, alleging that he was “anti Muslim” and a “traitor”, in an apparent attempt to incite a riot within the walls of the Mosque.
11. Abdullah Roe took his shoe off, waived said shoe and swung said shoe wildly at Jamal Miftah’s face, calling and shouting that that Jamal Miftah was “anti Muslim” and a “traitor.”
12. Jamal Miftah was put in imminent fear of serious bodily harm as the aforementioned defendants forced him into a wall.
13. Jamal Miftah was at that point rescued by another member of the Mosque and led outside of the Mosque.
COUNT TWO - DEFAMATION
14. Paragraphs one (1) through thirteen (13) are incorporated by reference.
15. The day after the assault noted above, Jamal Miftah received word through a member of the Mosque (not a defendant herein) that a Temporary Restraining Order had been issued against him, sworn to by Houssam Elsouessi, and that the restraining order would be removed if he issued a public apology for the op-ed piece, deemed to be “anti Muslim” and “anti Islamic” by the mosque leadership.
16. On November 20, 2006 the Mosque Leadership, met and issued a direction (fatwa) to members of the Mosque – ordering them to call the Tulsa Police Department in the event Jamal Miftah returned to the Mosque, unless or until Jamal Miftah issued a public apology for his published opinion, which was anti Islamic and anti Muslim.
17. Jamal Miftah responded that the Mosque leadership must rescind its fatwa, alleging he was anti Muslim and anti Islamic and directing his expulsion from the Mosque.
18. On November 24, 2006 a local TV channel published the story of Jamal Miftah’s expulsion from the Mosque. Within that story the Mosque leadership alleged that Miftah was being expelled because he was “loud” and that he would be allowed to return when he apologized, privately, to the Members and Leadership of the Mosque.
19. On November 29, 2006, Sandra Rana, a defendant herein, published a statement where she alleged that Jamal Miftah was physically removed from the Mosque after he threatened violence and cursed during a “discussion” of his published opinion. Rana stated that Jamal Miftah could attend prayers without restriction so long as acted in an “appropriate manner.”
20. On December 1, 2006 the Mosque leadership issued a statement lifting the “ban” on Jamal Miftah “as long as there is no disturbance and that no one at the Mosque should confront him.”
21. By reason of the published statements of the Defendants, alleging that Jamal Miftah is “a traitor… anti Muslim… anti Islamic” Jamal Miftah has been injured in his good name and brought into public disgrace and infamy in the Muslim community.
22. By reason of the published statements of the Defendants, alleging that Jamal Miftah is “a traitor… anti Muslim… anti Islamic” Jamal Miftah’s life has been put in danger in the sense that he has been labeled apostate from the Muslim Religion by the Defendants and vulnerable to the death penalty in Muslim countries and/or vigilante justice in his adopted homeland.
COUNT THREE – INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
23. Paragraphs one (1) through twenty two (22) are incorporated by reference.
24. The acts of Defendants, individually and jointly, are outrageous in that Defendants knew that if they labeled Jamal Miftah a “traitor… anti Muslim and anti Islamic” his life would be forfeit should he be found in a Muslim Country and labeled apostate and that he would live in constant fear and dread of vigilante “justice” from certain Muslims in the United States.
25. The acts of Defendants are the proximate cause of severe emotional distress in that Jamal Miftah is now labeled as apostate, forced along with his wife and four children to attend to prayers in their home, apart from the fellowship of other Muslims, prevented from traveling to any Muslim Country, including his homeland of Pakistan and robbed of his peace of mind and right to speak freely against those he believes have brought his faith into disrepute via attacks on his adopted homeland and other acts of terrorism. WHEREFORE, premises considered, Jamal Miftah prays for justice, at law and in equity, including but not limited to money damages, to compensate him for damage to his good name, emotional damages, and punitive damages to discourage future misconduct. He also prays for reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in bringing this action, pre and post judgment interest, an unequivocal written and published apology from all Defendants, and the public lifting of any fatwas or directions to the Muslim community that may endanger his life and peace.
Respectfully submitted,
______________________________________ B. KENT FELTY, OBA NO. 15702 LAW OFFICES OF B. KENT FELTY ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF
3525 S. UTICA AVE.
TULSA, OKLAHOMA 74105
PH. (918) 808-2267
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