Islamic Thinkers Society

Islamic Thinkers Society
Islamic Thinkers Society
Abbreviation	ITS
Headquarters	Elections

The Islamic Thinkers Society (ITS) is an Islamist group based in New York City that seeks the goal of restoring the Islamic Caliphate to create what it calls "an ideal Islamic society". Its members are located mainly in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, United States. The ITS is an offshoot of Al-Muhajiroun, a pro Al-Qaeda British Islamic extremist group.^[1]

According to Michael Kenney, a scholar of Islamist extremism at the University of Pittsburgh, by 2014 the group had "fallen apart".^[2]

Platform

The group states that it wishes to see a reversal of the

Shi'ites

.

ITS calls on Muslims to oppose the

Shi'ites

whom its members view as not true Muslims.

Controversy

ITS is suspected of being an American offshoot of the London-based

9/11 attacks, referring to the hijackers as "the Magnificent 19", and posted a burning picture of the United States Capitol on its website. The Islamic Thinkers Society also used to fly the Al-Muhajiroun flag and distribute Al-Muhajiroun tracts. The Anti-Defamation League called ITS "a pseudonym or an offshoot of the British-based Al Muhajiroun, a now-disbanded radical Islamic group that supported terrorism and the imposition of Islamic hegemony worldwide."^[3]

In the CNN program

ParkerSpitzer, the ex-leader of Al-Muhajiroun, Anjem Choudary, was interviewed with the title "heinous terrorist" and linked to militant groups like Al-Qaeda.^[4] Choudary however, denounced these allegations in a press release on his personal website.^[5] The ITS has also published a press release in response to the CNN interview supporting Al-Muhajiroun's former leader Anjem Choudary, but denouncing links to violence in a similar fashion, stating "as the struggle [of ITS] is always intellectual and political."^[6]

When the group still called itself Al-Muhajiroun, its members held an event at Queensborough Community College, during which an Al-Muhajiroun speaker said, "We reject the U.N., reject America, reject all law and order. Don't lobby Congress or protest because we don't recognize Congress! The only relationship you should have with America is to topple it!"^{[citation needed]}

Observers such as the Intelligence Summit have called the Islamic Thinkers Society a

Fundamentalist

Islamic group.

Activities

The group is based in the largely immigrant community of the

Arab, Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani Muslim immigrants with a few converts.^[7]

2005

On March 19, 2005, the organization protested the intergender Muslim service held at Synod House of the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine. ITS members stood outside the service, irate that a woman was allowed to lead the ceremony.^[8]

The group changed its name to the Islamic Thinkers Society and held a rally against Israel, co-sponsored by the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, in New York City outside the Israeli mission to the United Nations on May 6, 2005. Placards were displayed which equated Nazi and Israeli symbols; other signs were emblazoned with the symbol of the Hamas militant group, and proclaimed that "Palestine is Islamic Land", "Allah Will Destroy the Terrorist State of Israel", and "Complete Liberation of Palestine From the Zionist Scum". One of the slogans shouted by the crowd in Arabic was the anti-Jewish slogan: "Khaibar, Khaibar ya Yahud, jaysh Muhammad sawfa ya'ud!" evoking the historical battle between the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the Jews of the Khaybar oasis.
On March 23, 2004 a rally to mourn the death of the militant leader
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of the group Hamas, was also held in front of the Israeli consulate. The leader of the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, Imam Red Shata, who was quoted by the New York Daily News, publicly stated, "The lion of Palestine has been martyred." In the same speech, he condemned all violence. he stated that "we don't hate Jews ...to kill one man is to kill all mankind."^[9]

On June 8, 2005 the ITS publicly desecrated and ripped up an American flag on the street in New York City during a rally on 74th Street and 37th Avenue in the borough of Queens. This event, which its members called "Operation: Desecrate American Flag" was videotaped by the Islamic Thinkers Society and can be seen on the

Muslims

may hate it."

The negative reaction by the press led the organization to issue a statement on its website stating, "This flag also represents oppression, not only in the Muslim world, but also in other parts of the world which include but are not limited to South America, Vietnam, Japan & Africa. We would like to clarify that we DID NOT BURN THE FLAG as the rumors say. Rather, we stepped on it and ripped it. The video is evident of that. What we did was completely legal and protected by the American Constitutional Amendment." Flag desecration is allowed under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

2006

On February 18, 2006, the Islamic Thinkers Society participated in a demonstration against
Muhammed as a terrorist.^[10]
The rally, which was organized by the Muslim Leadership Council, brought over one thousand Muslims to protest the cartoons across from the Danish Consulate in Manhattan.

On April 20, 2006, the ITS demonstrated in front of the Israeli consulate in Manhattan and publicly called for the nuclear destruction of Israel
Holocaust is on its way!" and "Israel won't last long. Indeed, Allah will repeat the Holocaust right on the soil of Israel!" The demonstration included signs that read "Islam will Dominate" and featured a picture with an Islamic flag flying over the White House
. A video of this event was also made available to the public on the Internet.

On July 18, 2006, the ITS was again in front of the Israeli embassy with their signs, standing with a crowd that was chanting "Long live Hezbollah".^[citation needed]

2023

On July 25 2023 CBC and other Canadian media reported that a 28 year old Canadian man was charged under the U.K. terrorism act after his arrest at Heathrow Airport a week earlier. Canadian Khaled Hussein, 28, was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport on July 17, according to police, hours after Anjem Choudary, 56, a British citizen from east London, was arrested. Both men have now been charged under the U.K.'s terrorism act. The charges relate to the proscribed organization Al-Muhajiroun, also known as the Islamic Thinkers Society. In a media statement, Scotland Yard said Hussein, 28, is from Edmonton and Choudary, 56, is a British citizen from east London. According to multiple British media reports, Choudary is a well-known radical Islamic preacher who has been convicted of aiding ISIS.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ "N.J. suspects attended protests organized by radical Islamic group – This Just In – CNN.com Blogs". News.blogs.cnn.com. June 11, 2010. Retrieved June 15, 2010.
^ Conte, Andrew (27 September 2014). "Arrest of British Islamic radicals might spur attacks against Western targets". Pittsburgh Tribune. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
^ "Anti-Israel Protests – 2005". Anti-Defamation League. May 13, 2005. Archived from the original on August 29, 2007. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
^ "Video News". Retrieved 28 April 2017.
^ "รู้จักการวิ่งที่ถูกต้องและการวิ่งเพื่อสุขภาพ". Retrieved 28 April 2017.
^ "Press Release: CNN Lies and Spitzer's Entrapment". Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
^ Elliott, Andrea. "Queens Muslim Group Says It Opposes Violence, and America." The New York Times, June 22, 2005 pB1
^ Elliott, Andrea. "With Women at the Forefront, a Muslim Service Challenges Tradition." The New York Times, March 19, 2005 pB3 col 02.
^ Elliott, Andrea (March 6, 2006). "To Lead the Faithful in a Faith Under Fire". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
^ Fahim, Kareem. "More Than 1,000 Protest Cartoon Depiction of Prophet." The New York Times, Feb 18, 2006 pB3.
^ "Interview With Steve Emerson." Hannity & Colmes. Televised on Fox News. 04/24/2006

External links

Islamic Thinkers Society website
A Glenn Beck interview of a member of the Islamic Thinkers Society
An account of an ITS attack on a Shi'a rally at al-huda.al-khoei.org
An account of the May 6, 2005 rally with photos at adl.org
Video of an anti-Shi'ite rally in New York from Google Video

Press releases

Press Release 10.31.2010: CNN Lies and Spitzer's Entrapment

[1]

Press Release 09.11.2010

[2]

Press Release 06.11.2010

[3]

Press Release 11.12.2007: On the Crisis in Pakistan [4]

Press Release 10.15.2007 [5]

Press Release 11.14.2006: I.T.S. Press Release to the Muslim Communities of North America [6]

Press Release 10.11.2006: I.T.S. Press Release to the Media [7]

Press Release 06.15.2006

[8]

Press Release 03.16.2006: Press Release on the UK Arrests

[9]

Press Release 02.15.2006: Refuting Shia Heretic Claims of I.T.S. Linked to Al-Qaeda

[10]

Press Release 09.03.2005: I.T.S. Press Release on Katrina

[11]

Press Release 09.03.2005: Press Release on FCNA & Their Pathetic Fatwa

[12]

[autogenerated1-1] "N.J. suspects attended protests organized by radical Islamic group – This Just In – CNN.com Blogs". News.blogs.cnn.com. June 11, 2010. Retrieved June 15, 2010.

[2] Conte, Andrew (27 September 2014). "Arrest of British Islamic radicals might spur attacks against Western targets". Pittsburgh Tribune. Retrieved 21 October 2014.

[3] "Anti-Israel Protests – 2005". Anti-Defamation League. May 13, 2005. Archived from the original on August 29, 2007. Retrieved September 12, 2007.

[4] "Video News". Retrieved 28 April 2017.

[5] "รู้จักการวิ่งที่ถูกต้องและการวิ่งเพื่อสุขภาพ". Retrieved 28 April 2017.

[6] "Press Release: CNN Lies and Spitzer's Entrapment". Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2017.

[7] Elliott, Andrea. "Queens Muslim Group Says It Opposes Violence, and America." The New York Times, June 22, 2005 pB1

[8] Elliott, Andrea. "With Women at the Forefront, a Muslim Service Challenges Tradition." The New York Times, March 19, 2005 pB3 col 02.

[9] Elliott, Andrea (March 6, 2006). "To Lead the Faithful in a Faith Under Fire". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2010.

[10] Fahim, Kareem. "More Than 1,000 Protest Cartoon Depiction of Prophet." The New York Times, Feb 18, 2006 pB3.

[11] "Interview With Steve Emerson." Hannity & Colmes. Televised on Fox News. 04/24/2006

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v t e Al-Muhajiroun
People	Omar Bakri Muhammad Abu Hamza al-Masri Anjem Choudary Abu Izzadeen Abu Uzair Abdul Rahman Saleem Sulayman Keeler Sajeel Shahid Mohammed Junaid Babar Zacarias Moussaoui Richard Reid Kamel Bourgass Mizanur Rahman Omar Khyam Umran Javed Anthony Small Khalid Kelly Michael Adebolajo Michael Adebowale Khuram Butt Siddhartha Dhar Usman Khan
Events	2001 shoe bomb attempt Wood Green ricin plot Murder of Stephen Oake Mike's Place suicide bombing Operation Crevice 2006 Danish Embassy demonstration 2006 Cheetham Hill terrorism arrests "Muslim patrols" Murder of Lee Rigby 2017 London Bridge attack 2019 London Bridge stabbing
Associates	Islamic Thinkers Society
General	Terrorism in the United Kingdom Islamic terrorism in Europe Global caliphate Islamism Hizb ut-Tahrir (Britain) Al-Qaeda Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant "Londonistan" Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 Terrorism Act 2006 CONTEST Hope not Hate (critic) Quilliam (critic) English Defence League (founded in opposition)