Claims that Islam is widely misunderstood by Americans
Produces the radical publication MSA News
The Muslim Students Association of Ohio State University (MSA OSU) "sponsors regular functions that are usually targeted for Muslims" but "are not exclusive to Muslims." "As a group that reflects OSU's diversity," says the organization, "all are welcome to attend our events."
MSA OSU produces and distributes a publication titled MSA News, which, on occasion, has included press releases from the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (which the U.S. State Department has designated as a terrorist organization) and the Islamic Salvation Front (an Islamist political party banned in Algeria.
A December 20, 2001 Associated Press report stated: "During last year's Ramadan fast, MSA-NEWS urged campus groups to purchase a videotape called 'The Martyrs of Bosnia' and show it to Muslim-only gatherings. The video was sold by London-based Azzam Productions, which featured articles on its Web site like 'Taliban: Allah's Blessing on Afghanistan,' and solicited funds there for the Taliban rulers in Afghanistan. The site, and a related German site, were shut down by the British and German governments as part of their Sept. 11 response."
Over the course of several days in October 2001, MSA OSU sponsored an event called "Islam," whose purpose, according to the OSU student newspaper, was "to promote the true nature of the religion" via brochures, CD-ROMs, and lectures. "We feel that it is very important for the general public, particularly the campus community, to know about Islam and Muslims," said MSA OSU's interim president Asif Salim. "They are present in the society and we have to know about each other and what we believe in order to coexist."
According to Salim, 9/11 had caused many Americans to develop inaccurate views of Islam. He said, for instance, that "jihad" does not mean "holy war" as most media outlets had reported. "By definition, it means struggling and striving" to be a better person, said Salim. "It doesn't refer to warfare."
But Islam experts such as Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, and Bat Ye'or have explained that, contrary to Salim's claims, the form of jihad most central to Muslim life manifests itself as a boldly offensive, permanent war of conquest whose ultimate aim is to achieve Islam's dominion over the human race at large. Menahem Milson (professor emeritus of Arabic Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) elaborates: "Islamist jihad has two goals, both global. One of these is to wage war against the main infidel power, the U.S., and all of its allies…. The other goal is to topple the evil regimes in the Muslim countries, because their leaders are only outwardly Muslim. It is thus a religious obligation to fight them, depose them, and establish a truly Islamic regime in their place. The ultimate goal of jihad is to impose Islam on the entire world as the only true religion."
Salim also asserted that the American media had unfairly cast Islam's treatment of women in a negative light. "We try to reverse the trend spreading in society and give an accurate view of Islam," he said. Moreover, Salim lamented what he viewed as the American public's backlash against Muslims nationwide. "It's really sad that people in a country that is supposed to stand for a melting pot with different cultures and people could be so intolerant."
In February 2006, MSA OSU's "Leaders of Tomorrow" conference was co-sponsored by: (a) Kindhearts (an organization that was raided immediately thereafter by federal law enforcement and was closed by order of the Treasury Department for financing terrorism); (b) Kindhearts' local parent organization, Masjid Omar Ibn El-Khattab, the mosque (near the OSU campus) which was home to the largest known al-Qaeda cell in the U.S. since 9/11, with two former members -- Iyman Faris and Nuradin Abdi -- already convicted and serving prison terms for their participation, and another cell member -- Christopher Paul -- awaiting trial at the time; and (c) Ilmquest Productions (the media arm of the Al-Maghrib Institute), which not only publishes and markets DVDs and CDs of Al-Maghrib "scholars," but also the works of numerous other extremist speakers, including Bilal Philips, Khalid Yasin, and Yemeni al-Qaeda cleric Anwar Al-Aulaqi.
