Muslim Brotherhood's ‘grand jihad' is growing— just over the US border
The detailed 18-page document, written in 1991, surfaced in 2007 during the Holy Land Foundation trial — the largest terrorism financing case in US history.
More than three decades later, the Brotherhood's strategy is no longer theoretical. It is materializing just north of the US border in Canada.
Advertisement
7 Murad Adailah, head of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, in an interview.
REUTERS
The Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Sunni Islamist movement founded in Egypt in 1928, is committed to establishing a global caliphate governed by sharia, an often extreme set of laws on a range of religious and societal matters that Muslims believe was given to them by God.
Though often cloaked in the language of charity and civil society, the Brotherhood's true objective remains Islamist dominance — something its leaders have repeatedly emphasized.
Indeed, the group's founder Hassan al-Banna once declared, 'It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.'
Advertisement
And while the Brotherhood renounced violence in the 1970s, its ideology is broadly seen as a 'stepping stone' to violent jihad.
Its teachings provided the foundation for jihadist groups like Hamas and al Qaeda and inspired notorious terrorists like Osama bin Laden, Islamic State founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.
7 Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie walks out of a defendant cage to speak before judge during his trial in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 18, 2014.
AP
Advertisement
State actors like Qatar and Turkey strategically lend the Brotherhood substantial support, giving it the resources and legitimacy needed to expand its influence across the West.
In Canada, though, these realities are almost entirely absent from public conversation or debate.
The country's shockingly permissive immigration policies, multiculturalist ethos and general complacency toward national security threats have made it fertile ground for the Brotherhood's insidious ambitions.
7 Sealed entrance to the Muslim Brotherhood's office in Amman.
AFP via Getty Images
Advertisement
Brotherhood-affiliated organizations have proliferated in Canada for decades, the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy warned last month, methodically expanding and spreading radical Islamist ideology without fear of repercussion.
These organizations, often posing as benign religious or charitable entities, have built an extensive infrastructure of mosques, schools and community centers across the country — with the help of significant taxpayer funds.
Senior Brotherhood leadership in Canada has reportedly encouraged followers to take up key government positions to push policies in line with sharia.
This strategy mirrors the Brotherhood's operations in Europe — and there, authorities have begun to take notice.
A recently leaked French government report described the Brotherhood's European activities as a political project designed to gradually transform democratic societies through 'strategic ambiguity.'
7 Senior Brotherhood leadership in Canada has reportedly encouraged followers to take up key government positions to push policies in line with sharia.
REUTERS
The report warned of the Brotherhood's duplicitous nature — charming in public, conniving in private — and of its aspirations, which are fundamentally at odds with democratic pluralism. The British government reached similar conclusions in a 2015 investigative review.
In Canada, these warnings have gone largely unheeded. Politicians fear losing the increasingly important Muslim vote, and dread being labeled 'Islamophobic,' the most feared word in the country.
Advertisement
As a consequence, the country is witnessing troubling symptoms of burgeoning extremism.
7 Muslim Brotherhood supporters protesting in Cairo.
AP
Antisemitic incidents in Canada spiked by a staggering 670% in 2024, and the 83 terrorism-related charges filed between April 2023 and March 2024 represented a 488% jump.
Those figures, along with the increasingly menacing nature of pro-Hamas demonstrations and widespread youth radicalization, all point to the Brotherhood's growing grip on the ideological landscape.
Advertisement
And they pose serious ramifications for US national security.
The porous northern border, combined with Canada's lax immigration vetting procedures, creates an ideal launch pad for extremist cross-border propaganda and recruitment — and even terror operations.
7 Antisemitic incidents in Canada spiked by a staggering 670% in 2024, and the 83 terrorism-related charges filed between April 2023 and March 2024 represented a 488% jump.
dts News Agency Germany/Shutterstock
7 Protestors in Amman, Jordan, waving flags and signs against the US-led Middle East economic conference.
AFP via Getty Images
Advertisement
Last year, for instance, a Pakistani national was arrested as he attempted to enter the United States via Quebec to carry out an ISIS-inspired mass attack on the Jewish community in New York.
A new bill in Congress seeks to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization — but it would mean little to continental security if Canada doesn't follow suit.
North America urgently needs a coordinated response.
The United States must press Canada to blacklist Brotherhood front groups masquerading as religious and charitable organizations, and to scrutinize its activists' and ideologues' activities.
Advertisement
Further, US authorities should pay closer attention to a wide range of cross-border activities that could have Brotherhood connections — including academic exchange programs, live speaking events and asset transfers.
The Canadian fentanyl threat that President Donald Trump decries pales in comparison to the Muslim Brotherhood's aspirations of a North American Islamic caliphate.
Trump must get Canada to prevent its Islamist threat from metastasizing further — or risk the United States becoming collateral damage in the Brotherhood's 'grand jihad.'
Casey Babb is an adviser with Secure Canada and director of the Promised Land Project at Ottawa's Macdonald-Laurier Institute, where Joe Adam George is a national-security analyst.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
2 hours ago
- UPI
Fatal DR Congo church attack linked to Islamic State-backed rebels
A Lendu militiaman arrives to the U.N. disarmament post of Yambi in Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo to give up his weapon in 2005. Bunia is 75 miles east of Komada, where Islamic State-backed rebels attacked a church in Momanda. File Pohot by Riccy Gares/EPA July 27 (UPI) -- Islamic-backed rebels killed at least 43 people in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, including raiding a Catholic Church, early Sunday, a United Nations-backed radio station reported. The Allied Democratic Forces emerged in Uganda in the 1990s against the marginalization of Muslims but rebels have gone across the border into DR Congo. About 20 people were stabbed to death during the church's night vigil in the town of Komanda, Radio Okapi reported. Other bodies were found in burned-out houses and businesses near the church. One man's charred body was found in a truck set on fire. The DRC Army confirmed the incident but reported 10 deaths. An alarm sounded at 2 a.m. Sunday of smoke from burning houses. The attackers had already left the scene when military authorities arrived. All activities in the city were suspended. The attack was about 7.5 miles from the center of Komanda. Security forces, including the DR Congo Armed Forces, Ugandan military and local police, are searching for the attackers. The area had been relatively peaceful with residents returning to the city. Komanda is in DR Congo's Ituri province, which is mineral rich. The United States is seeking to get access to those critical minerals, which are used to manufacture high-tech devices and weapons. On June 27, DR Congo and Rwanda signed a peace agreement in Washington, D.C., after 30 years of conflict between the two nations. Then on July 19, DR Congo and M23 rebels backed by Rwanda signed a declaration of peace after nearly four years of fighting. The rebels were not involved in the agreement in Washington but the declaration must follow the Washington Accord brokered by the United States. Around 7 million people have been displaced in Congo, which has a population of 106 million. Rwanda also borders Uganda to the south.
New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
Muslim Brotherhood's ‘grand jihad' is growing— just over the US border
In a chilling internal memo, the Muslim Brotherhood laid out its long-term strategy to conquer North America through what it called a 'civilization-jihadist process' aimed at 'sabotaging' and 'eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within.' The detailed 18-page document, written in 1991, surfaced in 2007 during the Holy Land Foundation trial — the largest terrorism financing case in US history. More than three decades later, the Brotherhood's strategy is no longer theoretical. It is materializing just north of the US border in Canada. Advertisement 7 Murad Adailah, head of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, in an interview. REUTERS The Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Sunni Islamist movement founded in Egypt in 1928, is committed to establishing a global caliphate governed by sharia, an often extreme set of laws on a range of religious and societal matters that Muslims believe was given to them by God. Though often cloaked in the language of charity and civil society, the Brotherhood's true objective remains Islamist dominance — something its leaders have repeatedly emphasized. Indeed, the group's founder Hassan al-Banna once declared, 'It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.' Advertisement And while the Brotherhood renounced violence in the 1970s, its ideology is broadly seen as a 'stepping stone' to violent jihad. Its teachings provided the foundation for jihadist groups like Hamas and al Qaeda and inspired notorious terrorists like Osama bin Laden, Islamic State founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. 7 Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie walks out of a defendant cage to speak before judge during his trial in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 18, 2014. AP Advertisement State actors like Qatar and Turkey strategically lend the Brotherhood substantial support, giving it the resources and legitimacy needed to expand its influence across the West. In Canada, though, these realities are almost entirely absent from public conversation or debate. The country's shockingly permissive immigration policies, multiculturalist ethos and general complacency toward national security threats have made it fertile ground for the Brotherhood's insidious ambitions. 7 Sealed entrance to the Muslim Brotherhood's office in Amman. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement Brotherhood-affiliated organizations have proliferated in Canada for decades, the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy warned last month, methodically expanding and spreading radical Islamist ideology without fear of repercussion. These organizations, often posing as benign religious or charitable entities, have built an extensive infrastructure of mosques, schools and community centers across the country — with the help of significant taxpayer funds. Senior Brotherhood leadership in Canada has reportedly encouraged followers to take up key government positions to push policies in line with sharia. This strategy mirrors the Brotherhood's operations in Europe — and there, authorities have begun to take notice. A recently leaked French government report described the Brotherhood's European activities as a political project designed to gradually transform democratic societies through 'strategic ambiguity.' 7 Senior Brotherhood leadership in Canada has reportedly encouraged followers to take up key government positions to push policies in line with sharia. REUTERS The report warned of the Brotherhood's duplicitous nature — charming in public, conniving in private — and of its aspirations, which are fundamentally at odds with democratic pluralism. The British government reached similar conclusions in a 2015 investigative review. In Canada, these warnings have gone largely unheeded. Politicians fear losing the increasingly important Muslim vote, and dread being labeled 'Islamophobic,' the most feared word in the country. Advertisement As a consequence, the country is witnessing troubling symptoms of burgeoning extremism. 7 Muslim Brotherhood supporters protesting in Cairo. AP Antisemitic incidents in Canada spiked by a staggering 670% in 2024, and the 83 terrorism-related charges filed between April 2023 and March 2024 represented a 488% jump. Those figures, along with the increasingly menacing nature of pro-Hamas demonstrations and widespread youth radicalization, all point to the Brotherhood's growing grip on the ideological landscape. Advertisement And they pose serious ramifications for US national security. The porous northern border, combined with Canada's lax immigration vetting procedures, creates an ideal launch pad for extremist cross-border propaganda and recruitment — and even terror operations. 7 Antisemitic incidents in Canada spiked by a staggering 670% in 2024, and the 83 terrorism-related charges filed between April 2023 and March 2024 represented a 488% jump. dts News Agency Germany/Shutterstock 7 Protestors in Amman, Jordan, waving flags and signs against the US-led Middle East economic conference. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement Last year, for instance, a Pakistani national was arrested as he attempted to enter the United States via Quebec to carry out an ISIS-inspired mass attack on the Jewish community in New York. A new bill in Congress seeks to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization — but it would mean little to continental security if Canada doesn't follow suit. North America urgently needs a coordinated response. The United States must press Canada to blacklist Brotherhood front groups masquerading as religious and charitable organizations, and to scrutinize its activists' and ideologues' activities. Advertisement Further, US authorities should pay closer attention to a wide range of cross-border activities that could have Brotherhood connections — including academic exchange programs, live speaking events and asset transfers. The Canadian fentanyl threat that President Donald Trump decries pales in comparison to the Muslim Brotherhood's aspirations of a North American Islamic caliphate. Trump must get Canada to prevent its Islamist threat from metastasizing further — or risk the United States becoming collateral damage in the Brotherhood's 'grand jihad.' Casey Babb is an adviser with Secure Canada and director of the Promised Land Project at Ottawa's Macdonald-Laurier Institute, where Joe Adam George is a national-security analyst.
Boston Globe
5 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Faith leaders hope bill will stop the loss of thousands of clergy from abroad serving US communities
Faith leaders say even a narrow fix will be enough to prevent damaging losses to congregations and to start planning for the future again. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Unless there is a change to current practice, our community is slowly being strangled,' said the Rev. Aaron Wessman, vicar general and director of formation for the Glenmary Home Missioners, a small Catholic order ministering in rural America. Advertisement 'I will weep with joy if this legislation passes,' he said. 'It means the world for our members who are living in the middle of uncertainty and for the people they'll be able to help.' Two thirds of Glenmary's priests and brothers under 50 years old are foreign-born — mostly from Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, and Uganda — and they are affected by the current immigration snag, Wessman added. So are thousands of others who serve the variety of faiths present in the United States, from Islam to Hinduism to evangelical Christianity, providing both pastoral care and social services. Advertisement No exact numbers exist, but it is estimated that there are thousands of religious workers who are now backlogged in the green card system and/or haven't been able to apply yet. Congregations bring to the United States religious workers under temporary visas called R-1, which allow them to work for up to five years. That used to be enough time for the congregations to petition for green cards under a special category called EB-4, which would allow the clergy to become permanent residents. Congress sets a quota of green cards available per year divided in categories, almost all based on types of employment or family relationships to US citizens. In most categories, the demand exceeds the annual quota. Citizens of countries with especially high demand get put in separate, often longer 'lines' — for several years, the most backlogged category has been that of married Mexican children of US citizens, where only applications filed more than 24 years ago are being processed. Also in a separate line were migrant children with 'Special Immigrant Juvenile Status' — neglected or abused minors — In March 2023, the State Department suddenly started adding the minors to the general green card queue with the clergy. That has created such a bottleneck that in April, only halfway through the current fiscal year, those green cards became unavailable. Advertisement And when they will become available in the new fiscal year starting in October, they are likely to be stuck in the six-year backlog they faced earlier this year — meaning religious workers with a pending application won't get their green cards before their five-year visas expire and they must leave the country. In a report released Thursday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services blamed the EB-4 backlogs on the surge in applications by minors from Central America, and said the agency found widespread fraud in that program. The Senate and House bills would allow the Department of Homeland Security to extend religious workers' visas as long as their green card application is pending. They would also prevent small job changes — such as moving up from associate to senior pastor, or being assigned to another parish in the same diocese — from invalidating the pending application. 'Even as immigration issues are controversial and sometimes they run afoul of partisan politics, we think this fix is narrow enough, and the stakeholder group we have is significant enough, that we're hoping we can get this done,' said Democratic Two of the last three priests there were foreign-born, he said, and earlier this month he was approached by a sister with the Comboni missionaries worried about her expiring visa. Kaine's two Republican cosponsors, Senators 'It adds to their quality of life. And there's no reason they shouldn't have the ability to have this,' Risch said. 'Religious beliefs spread way beyond borders, and it is helpful to have these people who … want to come here and want to associate with Americans of the same faith. And so anything we can do to make that easier, is what we want to do.' Advertisement Republican Representative Mike Carey of Ohio, with Republican and Democratic colleagues, introduced an identical bill in the House. Both bills are still in the respective judiciary committees. 'To be frank, I don't know what objections people could have,' said Lance Conklin, adding that the bill doesn't require more green cards, just a time extension on existing visas. Conklin cochairs the religious workers group of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and often represents evangelical pastors. Faith denominations from Buddhism to Judaism recruit foreign-born clergy who can minister to growing non-English-speaking congregations and often were educated at foreign institutions steeped in a religion's history. For many, it is also a necessity because of clergy shortages. The number of Catholic priests in the United States has declined by more than 40 percent since 1970, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, a research center affiliated with Georgetown University. Some dioceses, however, are experiencing Last summer, the Diocese of Paterson — serving 400,000 Catholics and 107 parishes in three New Jersey counties — and five of its affected priests sued the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Advertisement Expecting some action on the legislative front, the parties agreed to stay the lawsuit, said Raymond Lahoud, the diocese's attorney. But because the bills weren't included in the nearly-900-page 'We just can't wait anymore,' he said.
