March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012
18 |COMMUNITY NEWS entrapment
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Akili as “Shareef” in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. Subsequently, “Shareef” would insinuate himself into conversations after the dawn prayers among some of the worshippers at a local mosque and offered Al-Akili rides home and to the mosque. Al-Akili reports that, before long, he became suspicious of “Shareef” who with increasing frequency turned the conversation to fighting, and boasted that “he knew people that were ‘real’ and ‘had a lot of resources’ at [their] disposal,” all the while assuring Al-Akili that he could trust him if he shared similar views. Soon, “Shareef” tried to get Al-Akili to procure a gun for him, claiming that he needed it for personal protection. When Al-Akili, who, having served time on drug charges a decade ago cannot possess a firearm, refused, “Shareef” persisted, asking if there were anyone else he could get to obtain one for him. Learning of Al-Akili’s desire to open a “halal” restaurant (one serving food consistent with Islamic dietary laws), “Shareef” told Al-Akili that he could help with the financing, but only if Al-Akili would do something for him—which Al-Akili understood to mean some “act of violence against others.” After this, Al-Akili tried to avoid Shareef, but he
pressure
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While he enjoyed the perks of working in a Muslim environment, the compensation just wasn’t enough to support his new family. “One of the main things was the amount of compensation available,” he said. If the compensation at my old job was anywhere near what I’m making here I would have stayed there. I’m making about more than twice what I was making there.” Still, he misses some of the non monetary perks of his old position working at Dar-Us-Salaam in College Park, Maryland. “One of the intangible benefits is the
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was living only two blocks away. When “Shareef” offered to introduce Al-Akili to a man he called his “brother,” Al-Akili tried to avoid the meeting, but as he was walking back to his apartment from the store one night, “Shareef” pulled his vehicle up to Al-Akili. A man got out of the passenger side, introduced himself as “Mohammed,” and said that he wanted to talk to Al-Akili over coffee. Al-Akili made excuses, but when he got home the phone began to ring; it was “Shareef” and “Mohammed” downstairs, wanting to come in. Al-Akili pretended not to be at home. The next morning, as Al-Akili and his friend Daoud Carter were walking back from the post office, “Mohammed” appeared from “out of nowhere,” again insisting over Al-Akili’s objections that they have coffee together. “Mohammed” said that he was from Pakistan near the Afghani border and began talking about his concept of “jihad.” Changing the subject, Al-Akili asked “Mohammed,” who professed to be an importer, if he had advice as to how he could take up a former teacher’s offer to send him a large number of religious books from South Africa. “Mohammed” offered to arrange and pay for delivery of the books in his company’s name and they exchanged numbers, but “Mohammed” did not call back. Failing to find the alleged import business on the Internet, Al-Akili instead
community support you get from a [Muslim] organization. They care about your life and not just your productivity,” said Madani. However, Madani does feel the benefits of working for a more structured company. Over his nearly seven years working within Muslim business and organizations he found little opportunity for employee improvement through formal training. “There are also opportunities for training [at my new job]. A lot of training in my old job was self training,” he said. To the Muslim organizations and businesses he’s worked for in the past, and to others like them Madani urges they provide what they can to help their employees improve their skill sets on
discovered that the telephone number “Mohammed” had given him belonged to an FBI informant named Shahed Hussain. Hussain had been used by the FBI in a plot to implicate an Albany pizza parlor owner and an Albany imam in an imaginary plot to kill the Pakistani ambassador in New York with a surface-toair-missile. Al-Akili’s concern turned to fear for himself and his family when he learned that prior to working for the FBI, Hussain had been arrested on charges of murder in Pakistan and convicted of fraud in the U.S. Hussain had been profiled in Mother Jones magazine for his role as informant in the Newburgh Four case, in which US District Judge Colleen McMahon said the FBI “created acts of terrorism out of [a defendant’s] fantasies of bravado and bigotry, and then made those fantasies come true.” Carter, who would have appeared with Al-Akili at the press conference, confirms that Internet photos of Hussain reveal him to be the man who called himself “Mohammed.” Al-Akili had hoped legal action against the FBI for what he calls “their continuous harassment and attempts to set” him up might protect others from tactics that critics consider to be illegal entrapment. As precedent for such a case, the NCPCF points to a case in which the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California got
a regular basis. “I’d say that if you can’t outright give them compensation try to make up for it in intangible benefits,” said Madani. Madani also noted a distinct difference in employee management. “Muslim organizations tend to be understaffed,” he said. “You learn what you need to in order to get the job done. You kind of tailor yourself to the needs of the organization.” In his current job he’s found that the basic needs of the employee are better looked after. While they may be more formal, they are regular and efficient. “In the Islamic organizations it seems to be a little more informal and person-
a restraining order against FBI informant Craig Monteilh. Later the ACLU filed a lawsuit on the mosque’s behalf and the judge granted sanctions against the government for lying to the court about its activities, and Monteilh also sued the FBI. The NCPCF is calling on the FBI to stop such dangerous practices that do not enhance our national security but rather provoke greater divisions within our society, disgrace our image in the world and erode the rights enumerated in the U.S. Constitution. Additional Information: Trevor Aaronson, “The Making of an FBI Superinformant,” Mother Jones (Sept.-Oct. 2011), and also Paul Harris, “Newburgh Four: poor, black, and jailed under FBI ‘entrapment’ tactics,” The Guardian (Dec. 12, 2011) The National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms is a coalition of national and local organizations, whose mission is to educate the public about the erosion of civil and political freedoms in our society. For more information, visit www. CivilFreedoms.Org. NCPCF will hold its first fundraising dinner on Sunday, April 15 in Northern Virginia featuring popular journalist and civil liberties advocate Glenn Greenwald. See the advertisement on page 19 for event details.
al but personal doesn’t always mean responsive,” said Madani. Madani said he understood the situation of the average cash strapped and understaffed Muslim organization but when he had to make a decision between staying at an organization where he enjoyed the camaraderie and the cause of the work and a career that catered to skills development and provided the pay he needed, he chose the latter. While Muslim organizations may provide their employees with a sense of intangible fulfillment, gaps in pay and concerns about possible career advancement cause some to seek longterm employment elsewhere.