February 16, 2007

Is Group Training Jihadis in the U.S. & Australia?

Are Muslims training for jihad in the U.S. and Australia? Possibly. They are called "Silat Mubai" and they are dedicated to teaching people "the classical Warrior Traditions of the Muslim people."

Whenever someone advertises as "Islamic military training" a red flag should go up. When that same group claims they don't support terrorism BUT

Muqawama (Resistance) operations and Martyrdom operations against foreign occupation forces in Muslim lands are what we consider to be legitimate Military operations

In other words: bin Laden, we don't support. Jihadis in Iraq and Afghanistan: our kind of people!

While the main group seems to be located in Taiwan, they also offer "Islamic warrior training" in Australia and the United States. Their emphasis is on martial arts training, but they also have weapons training.

Here is an image of "Emir Ekrem" showing his moves to an audience in Melbourne, Australia. Notice the keffiyas, the symbol of Palestinian "resistance", being worn by two of his students.

On one non-Islamic forum, a participant claimed he had been trained by the group in Taiwan and that they welcomed non-Muslims. Another says that he had been in contact with Silat Mubai in Taiwan and that they were not jihadists.

This, combined with the fact that some of their American devotees do not appear to be Muslims, suggests that the group falls into the category of "Muslim nationalists". That is, while not primarily motivated by religion per se, they do identify with Muslims in any Muslim vs. non-Muslim political struggle. Terrorist groups such as the PLO fall into this category in my classification scheme. Other terror groups, such as the 1920s Revolutionary Brigade in Iraq, who think of their jihad in terms of Muslim vs non-Muslim (not necessarily Sunni v. Shia), also fall along that spectrum.

And though none of those involved may personally be a jihadist, they certainly are openly supporting them, and quite possibly training them.

The "head trainer" for Silat Mubai, in this forum, is quick to disavow killing civilians, but goes on to say:

Strapping a bomb on yourself and running into an enemy convoy is what a real Mujahid does.

The group also encourages Muslims to fight against the U.S. and Australia in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. And remember, this is their public stance:

If there are those Mujuhideen who decide to join their brothers in Iraq to fight against the occupation forces, then they are justified in doing so to relieve the people of foreign occupation and to institute a proper Islamic government, God Willing. No one can stop them from going to fight to protect the lands of Muslims who are being attacked. It is their right to do so and as long as they follow the guidelines of the Warrior Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, then they will win by martyrdom or by victory. One as excellent as the other.

If an American/Israeli/Russian/British or any other foreign occupation Soldier drops sick and injured on my doorstep, I will pay a doctor to take care of him and bring him to full strength again. In the future if we meet in combat I will kill him or he will kill me and I will not think twice about slitting his throat or putting a bullet into his heart at that time.

While the group's activities seem to be centered in Australia and Taiwan, they also have "trainers" in the United States. I won't mention any more details about them, because of the four names that have been affiliated with the group in the past, two of them appear to be non-Muslims (one actively serving in the U.S. military) who's only connection was that they shared an interest in martial arts. A third I have no information on.

The last affiliate in the U.S. comes off as a very liberal Sufi--- of a school of thought that many Muslims would consider heretical because they are so liberal--- on a forum he posted to in the past. Like many Muslims, he defends the extremism of Silat Mubai's founder as simply a "devout Muslilm" who happens to share a different view than he. In this case, though, "devout Muslim" translates into supporter of jihad.

We'll continue looking into the U.S. connection and get back when we know more.

Thanks so much to Bobby for doing much of the leg work for this post.