Madrasas
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Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the
Islamic schools known as madrasas have been of increasing interest to
analysts and to officials involved in formulating U.S. foreign policy toward
the Middle East, Central, and Southeast Asia. Madrasas drew added attention
when it became known that several Taliban leaders and Al Qaeda members had
developed radical political views at madrasas in Pakistan, some of which
allegedly were built and partially financed through Saudi Arabian sources.
These revelations have led to accusations that madrasas promote Islamic
extremism and militancy, and are a recruiting ground for terrorism. Others
maintain that most of these religious schools have been blamed unfairly for
fostering anti-U.S. sentiments and argue that madrasas play an important
role in countries where millions of Muslims live in poverty and the
educational infrastructure is in decay.
[Source: Congressional Research Service]
Articles
Madrasas Overview Madrasas.Info
Saudi Time Bomb?
Frontline, PBS
War on Terror:
Holy War 101 MSNBC/Newsweek
Mosques
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Most U.S. mosques are local initiatives, started by groups of
Muslims seeking a place to worship together. They are usually explicitly
Sunni or Shi'a. The mosque is often run by an elected board that hires or
fires the imam (similar to a Christian minister or priest) and decides which
national Islamic federation(s) to support. In many areas, a mosque may be
dominated by whatever group of immigrants is the largest. Sometimes the
Friday sermons, or khutbahs, are given in languages like Urdu or Arabic
rather than English. Areas with large Muslim populations may support a
number of mosques serving different immigrant groups or varieties of belief
within Sunni or Shi'a traditions. At present, many mosques are served by
imams imported from overseas, as only these imams have certificates from
Muslim seminaries. This sometimes leads to conflict between the congregation
and an imam who speaks little English and has little understanding of
American culture. Some American Muslims have founded semi aries in the US in
an attempt to prevent such problems.
[Source: Wikipedia]
Articles
Mosque Matters
American Enterprise Institute
San Francisco Islamofascists
Center for Security Policy
Educational Institutions
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It can be argued that the atmospheres prevalent on American
university campuses lend themselves to students exploring a plethora of
ideology - both mainstream and extreme - while experiencing limited
opportunities to explore the consequences and ramifications of those
ideologies in "real life" scenarios. Radical Islamists and those who
sympathize with them have targeted American universities as recruiting
grounds, their targets being students, educators and, to a lesser extent,
administration officials.
Articles
Campus Support for Terrorism
FrontPage Magazine
Prisons
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An increasing number of inmates within the prison system of
the United States are converting to Islam, many identifying with the radical
ideologies. Many experts contend that this makes prisons in the US perfect
recruiting grounds for potential Islamist terror operatives.
Articles
Prison Jihad
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, The
Daily Standard
Radical Religion
in Prison Southern Poverty Law Center
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons Explains Jihad
Daniel Pipes |
