Born in India in 1971, Altaf Husain is the Ex-officio of the Muslim Students' Association of the United States and Canada (MSA), a North American student organization that is an influential member of International ANSWER's steering committee. With its close ties to the Marxist-Leninist Workers World Party, ANSWER uses the anti-war movement as the vehicle by which it promotes Communist ideals and condemns American values and capitalism. The MSA is also a key lobbying organization for the Wahhabi sect of Islam. While the organization portrays itself as a moderate group that opposes Islamic terrorism, its chapters' websites have featured not only Osama bin Laden's propaganda, but also publicity-recruiting campaigns for Wahhabi subversion of the Chechen struggle in Russia.

Husain says that most young Muslim immigrants and second-generation Muslim Americans interpret radical Islamist messages in unthreatening ways, ignoring calls for violent martyrdom and focusing instead on demands for justice. He has been particularly supportive of the MSA's continued support for charity organizations that have been investigated by U.S. government authorities for funding terrorists abroad, including the Benevolence International Foundation, the Global Relief Foundation, and the Holy Land Foundation, which have all been suspected of having financial ties to such terrorist groups as Hamas and al Qaeda. Asserting that the MSA "has no plans to stop raising money for various groups unless federal authorities crack down," Husain says, "We are as American as anyone else. Why should we be the ones looking for all these so-called 'sleeper cells' or whatever? There are oversight authorities who should be following these dollars to the end."