Alawis علوية

An Alawi falconer in Baniyas, Syria, during World War II. Photographed by Frank Hurley
Total population
3 million[1]
Founder
Ibn Nuṣayr
Regions with significant populations
Syria	2.1 million [2]
Turkey	About 450,000[3]
Lebanon	An estimated 100,000-120,000[4][5][6]
Lebanon/Golan Heights	2,100 live in Ghajar
Australia	Alawites comprise 2% of Lebanese born people in Australia[7]
Religions
Shia Islam
Scriptures
Qur'an, Nahj al-Balagha, Kitab al Majmu[8]
Languages
Arabic, Turkish

The Alawis, also known as Alawites, Nusayris and Ansaris (‘Alawīyyah (Arabic: علوية‎), Nuṣayrī (Arabic: نصيريون‎), and al-Anṣāriyyah) are a prominent mystical^[9] religious group centred in Syria who follow a branch of the Twelver school of Shia Islam.^[10][11][12]

Etymology[link]

Zulfiqar, a stylized representation of the sword of Ali, is an important symbol for Alawis

The Alawis take their name from Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin and son-in-law of Muḥammad,^[13] who was the first Shi'a Imam and the fourth and last "Rightly Guided Caliph" of Sunni Islam.

Until fairly recently, Alawis were referred to as "Nusairis", after Abu Shu'ayb Muhammad ibn Nusayr (d. ca 270 h, 863 AD) who is reported to have attended the circles of the last three Imams of the prophet Muhammad's line. This name is considered derogatory, and they refer to themselves as Alawis.^{[page needed][14]} They have allegedly "generally preferred" to be called Alawis, because of the association of the name with Ali ibn Abi Talib, rather than commemorating Abu Shu'ayb Muhammad Ibn Nusayr. In September 1920 French occupational forces instituted the policy of referring to them by the term "Alawi".

In older sources they are often referred to as Ansaris, as this is how they referred to themselves, according to the Reverend Samuel Lyde, who lived among Alawis in the mid-19th century. Other sources state that "Ansari", as referring to Alawites, is simply a Western mis-transliteration of "Nosairi".^{[page needed][15][16]}

Alawis are distinct from the Alevi religious sect in Turkey, although the terms share similar etymologies.^[17][18]

History[link]

Origins[link]

The origin of the Alawis is disputed. The Alawis themselves trace their origins to the followers of the eleventh Imām, Hassan al-'Askarī (d. 873), and his pupil ibn Nuṣayr (d. 868).^[19]

The sect seems to have been organised by a follower of Muḥammad ibn Nuṣayr known as al-Khasibi, who died in Aleppo about 969. In 1032 Al-Khaṣībī's grandson and pupil al-Tabarani moved to Latakia, which was then controlled by the Byzantine Empire. Al-Tabarani became the perfector of the Alawi faith through his numerous writings. He and his pupils converted the rural population of the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range and the plain of Cilicia to the Alawi faith.^[20] Around the turn of the last century, some Western scholars believed Alawites to be descended from ancient Middle Eastern peoples such as Canaanites and Hittites.^{[page needed][21][22]}

Under the Ottoman Empire[link]

Under the Ottoman Empire they were ill treated,^[23] and they resisted an attempt to convert them to Sunni Islam.^[24] The Alawites were traditionally good fighters, and revolted against the Ottomans on several occasions, and maintained virtual autonomy in their mountains.^[25] In his book Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T. E. Lawrence wrote:

"The sect, vital in itself, was clannish in feeling and politics. One Nosairi would not betray another, and would hardly not betray an unbeliever. Their villages lay in patches down the main hills to the Tripoli gap. They spoke Arabic, but had lived there since the beginning of Greek letters in Syria. Usually they stood aside from affairs, and left the Turkish Government alone in hope of reciprocity."^[26]

In the early part of the 20th century, the Sunnis sat on the wealth and dominated politics, while Alawites lived as poor peasants.^[27][28]

The French Mandate period[link]

Saleh al-Ali, leader of the 1919 Alawite Revolt against French rule

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Syria and Lebanon came under a French mandate. On December 15, 1918, prominent Alawi leader Saleh al-Ali called for a meeting of Alawi notables in the town of Sheikh Badr, and urged them to revolt and expel the French from Syria. When the French authorities heard of the meeting, they sent a force in order to arrest Saleh al-Ali. Al-Ali and his men ambushed them, and the French forces were defeated and suffered more than 35 casualties.^[29] After the initial victory, al-Ali started to organize his Alawi rebels into a disciplined force, with its own general command and military ranks, which resulted in the Syrian Revolt of 1919.^[29][30]

In 1919, Al-Ali retaliated to French attacks against rebel positions by attacking and occupying al-Qadmus from which the French conducted their military operations against him.^[29] In November, General Henri Gouraud mounted a full-fledged campaign against Saleh al-Ali's forces in the An-Nusayriyah Mountains. They entered al-Ali's village of Ash-Shaykh Badr and arrested many Alawi notables. Al-Ali fled to the north, but a large French force overran his positions and al-Ali went underground.^[29]

Map showing the states of the French Mandate from 1921-22 (Alawite State in green)

When the French finally occupied Syria in 1920, they recognized the term "Alawi", gave autonomy to them and other minority groups, and accepted them into their colonial troops.^[31] On 2 September 1920 an Alawite State was created in the coastal and mountain country comprising Alawi villages; the French justified this separation with the 'backwardness' of the mountain-dwelling people, religiously distinct from the surrounding Sunni population. It was a division meant to protect the Alawi people from more powerful majorities.^[32] Under the mandate, many Alawi chieftains supported the notion of a separate Alawi nation and tried to convert their autonomy into independence. The French considered the Alawites, along with the Druze, as the only "warlike races" in the mandate territories, as excellent soldiers, and the communities from where they could recruit their best troops.^[33]

The region was both coastal and mountainous, and home to a majorly rural, highly heterogeneous population. During the French Mandate period, society was divided by religion and geography: the landowning families of the port city of Latakia, and 80% of the population of the city, were Sunni Muslim. However, more than 90% of the population of the province was rural, 62% being Alawite peasantry. ^[34] In May 1930, the Alawite State was renamed "the Government of Latakia", the only concession the French made to Arab nationalists until 1936^[34]. There was a great deal of Alawite separatist sentiment in the region, but these political views could not be coordinated into a unified voice. This was attributed to the majority of Alawites being peasants "exploited by a predominantly Sunni landowning class resident in Latakia and Hama." ^[34] On 3 December 1936 (effective in 1937), the Alawite state was re-incorporated into Syria as a concession by the French to the Nationalist Bloc, the party in power of the semi-autonomous Syrian government^[35].

Alawite woman gleaning in 1938

In 1939 a portion of northwest Syria, the Sanjak of Alexandretta, now Hatay, that contained a large number of Alawis, was given to Turkey by the French following a plebiscite carried out in the province under the guidance of League of Nations which favored joining Turkey. However, this development greatly angered the Alawi community and Syrians in general. In 1938, the Turkish military had gone into Alexandretta and expelled most of its Arab and Armenian inhabitants^{[neutrality is disputed]}.^[36] Before this, Alawi Arabs and Armenians were the majority of the province's population^{[neutrality is disputed][36]} Zaki al-Arsuzi, the young Alawi leader from Iskandarun province in the Sanjak of Alexandretta, who led the resistance to the annexation of his province to the Turks, later became a founder of the Ba'ath Party along with the Eastern Orthodox Christian schoolteacher Michel Aflaq. After World War II, Salman Al Murshid played a major role in uniting the Alawi province with Syria. He was executed by the newly independent Syrian government in Damascus on December 12, 1946 only three days after a hasty political trial.

After Syrian independence[link]

Syria became independent on April 17, 1946. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Syria endured a succession of military coups in 1949, the rise of the Ba'ath Party, and unification of the country with Egypt in the United Arab Republic in 1958. The UAR lasted for three years and broke apart in 1961, when a group of army officers seized power and declared Syria independent again. A further succession of coups ensued until a secretive military committee, which included a number of disgruntled Alawi officers, including Hafez al-Assad and Salah Jadid, helped the Ba'ath Party take power in 1963. In 1966, Alawi-oriented military officers successfully rebelled and expelled the old Ba'ath that had looked to the Christian Michel Aflaq and the Sunni Muslim Salah al-Din al-Bitar for leadership. They promoted Zaki al-Arsuzi as the "Socrates" of their reconstituted Ba'ath Party.

The Assad family

In 1970, then-Air Force General Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite, took power and instigated a "Correctionist Movement" in the Ba'ath Party.^[37] Robert D. Kaplan has compared his coming to power to "an untouchable becoming maharajah in India or a Jew becoming tsar in Russia—an unprecedented development shocking to the majority population which had monopolized power for so many centuries."^[31]

In 1971 al-Assad became president of Syria, a function that the Constitution allows only a Sunni Muslim to hold. In 1973 a new constitution was published that omitted the old requirement that the religion of the state is Islam and replaced it with the statement that the religion of the republic's president is Islam. Protests erupted when the statement was altered,^[38] and to satisfy this requirement in 1974, Musa Sadr, a leader of the Twelvers of Lebanon and founder of the Amal Movement who had earlier sought to unite Lebanese Alawis and Shias under the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council without success,^[39] issued a fatwa stating that Alawis were a community of Twelver Shia Muslims.^[40][41] Under the authoritarian but secular Assad government, religious minorities were tolerated, political dissent was not.

After the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad maintained the outlines of his father's governance.^{[citation needed]} Although the Alawis comprise the entirety of the top military and intelligence offices, government employees from lower bureaucratic ranks are largely from the majority Sunni Muslim faith, who represent about 74% of Syria's population. Today the Alawis exist as a minority, but are the most politically powerful sect in Syria and the only one with direct government control.

Beliefs[link]

Alawis are self-described Shia Muslims, and have been called Shia by other sources^[10][11] including the highly influential Lebanese Shia cleric Musa al-Sadr of Lebanon.^[40] The Alawis get their beliefs from the Quran and the majority get it from the Shia book Nahj al-Balagha.^{[citation needed]} At least one source has compared them to Baha'is, Babis, Bektashis, Ahmadis, and "similar groups that have arisen within the Muslim community", and declared not truly Muslim by some^[42]. However the prominent Sunni Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, issued a fatwah recognizing them as part of the Muslim community in the interest of Arab nationalism.^[43][44] Sunni scholars such as Ibn Kathir, on the other hand, have categorized Alawis as pagans in their religious works and documents.^[23]

Heterodox[link]

Alawis celebrating a festival in Banyas, Syria, during World War II

According to Yaron Friedman, distinct Alawi beliefs include the belief that prayers are not necessary, they don't fast, nor perform pilgrimage, nor have specific places of worship.^[45] Many of the tenets of the faith are secret and known only to a select few Alawi.^[23]

According to some sources, Alawis have integrated doctrines from other religions (Syncretism), in particular from Ismaili Islam and Christianity.^[9][23][41] According to scholar Cyril Glasse, it is thought that "as a small, historically beleaguered ethnic group", the Alawi "absorbed elements" from the different religions that influenced their area from Hellenistic times onward,^[41] while maintaining their own beliefs, and "pretended to adhere to the dominant religion of the age."^[41] Alawites are reported to celebrate certain Christian festivals, "in their own way",^[41] including Christmas, Easter, and Palm Sunday, and their religious ceremonies make use of bread and wine.^[31] According to Matti Moosa, a "leading scholar of the Nusayris":

"The Christian elements in the Nusayri religion are unmistakable. They include the concept of trinity; the celebration of Christmas, the consecration of the Qurban, that is, the sacrament of the flesh and blood which Christ offered to his disciples, and, most important, the celebration of the Quddas (a lengthy prayer proclaiming the divine attributes of Ali and the personification of all the biblical patriarchs from Adam to Simon Peter, founder of the Church, who is seen, paradoxically, as the embodiment of true Islam).^[46]"

Alawi man in Latakia, early 20th century

Glasse writes that they also practice a religious feast called by the Persian name Naw Ruz and that they believe in a "trinity"^[23] or "schema"^[41] of `Ain-Mim-Sin, which stands for `Ali, Muhammad, and Salman al-Farsi, the Persian Companion of Muhammad. Muhammad is known as ism, or "name", Ali as bab, or "door", and Salman al-Farsi as ma'na, or "meaning", with both Muhammad and Ali considered to be emanations of Salman al-Farsi.^[41]

According to author Theo Padnos, who lived in Syria from 2007 to 2010, the Alawi religion evolved during the years under Hafez Al Assad's rule, so that Alawites became not Shia, but effectively Sunni. Public manifestation or "even mentioning of any Alawite religious activities" was banned, as was any Alawite religious organizations or "any formation of a unified religious council" or a higher Alawite religious authority. "Sunni-style" mosques were built in every Alawite village, and Alawi were encouraged to perform Hajj.^[47]

Orthodox[link]

Alawi women in Syria, early 20th century

Some sources have suggested that the non-Muslim nature of many of the historical Alawi beliefs notwithstanding, Alawi beliefs may have changed in recent decades. In the early 1970s a booklet entitled al-`Alawiyyun Shi'atu Ahl al-Bait (The Alawis are Followers of the Household of the Prophet), was issued in which doctrines of the Imami Shi'ah were described as 'Alawi, and which was "signed by of numerous `Alawi` men of religion".^[48]

A scholar suggests that factors such as the high profile of Alawi in Syria, the strong aversion of the Muslim majority to apostasy, and the relative lack of importance of religious doctrine to Alawi identity may have induced Syrian leader Hafez al-Assad and his successor son to press their fellow Alawi "to behave like 'regular Muslims', shedding or at least concealing their distinctive aspects."^[49]

Alawis have their own scholars, referred to as shaikhs, although more recently there has been a movement to bring Alawism and the other branches of Twelver Islam together through educational exchange programs in Syria and Qumm.^[50]

Some sources have talked about "sunnification" of Alawites under Baathist Syrian leader and Alawite Hafiz al-Asad.^[51] Joshua Landis, Director of the Center for Middle East Studies, writes that Hafiz al-Asad "tried to turn Alawites into `good` (read Sunnified) Muslims in exchange for preserving a modicum of secularism and tolerance in society." While al-Asad "declared the Alawites to be nothing but Twelver Shiites", he "set the example for his people by adhering to Sunni practice. He built mosques in Alawite towns, prayed publicly and fasted and encouraged his people to do the same."^[51] In a paper on "Islamic Education in Syria", Landis wrote that "no mention" is made in Syrian textbooks controlled by the Al Assad regime, of Alawites, Druze, and Ismailis or even Shi`a Islam. "Islam is presented as a monolithic religion and Sunni Islam is it."<sup>[52]</sup> Ali Sulayman al-Ahmad, chief judge of the Baathist Syrian state, has stated: “We are Alawi Muslims. Our book is the Quran. Our prophet is Muhammad. The Ka`ba is our qibla, and our religion is Islam.”^[53]

Population[link]

Map showing the current distribution of Alawites in the Levant.

Syria[link]

Traditionally Alawis have lived in the Alawite Mountains along the Mediterranean coast of Syria. Latakia and Tartous are the region's principal cities. Today Alawis are also concentrated in the plains around Hama and Homs. Alawis also live in all major cities of Syria. They have been estimated to constitute about 11-12% of Syria's population^[54][55]- 2.1 million people. ^[56]

There are four Alawi confederations – Kalbiyah, Khaiyatin, Haddadin, and Matawirah – each divided into tribes.^[23] Alawis are concentrated in the Latakia region of Syria, extending north to Antioch (Antakya), Turkey, and in and around Homs and Hama.^[57]

Before 1953 they held reserved seats in the Syrian Parliament, like all other religious communities. After that, including for the 1960 census, there were only general Muslim and Christian categories, without mention of subgroups in order to reduce "communalism" (taïfiyya).

There are also about 2000 Alawis living in the village of Ghajar, split between Lebanon and the Golan Heights.^[58] In 1932, the residents of Ghajar were given the option of choosing their nationality and overwhelmingly chose to be a part of Syria, which has a sizable Alawite minority.^[59] Prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, the residents of Ghajar were counted in the 1960 Syrian census.^[60] When Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967, Ghajar remained a no-man's land for two and a half months.

Lebanon[link]

The Alawite Imam Ali Mosque in Jabal Mohsen, Lebanon

There are an estimated 40,000 to 120,000^[61][39][62] Alawis in Lebanon, where they have lived since at least the 16th century.^[63] They are recognized as one of the 18 official Lebanese sects, and due to the efforts of their leader Ali Eid, the Taif Agreement of 1989 gave them two reserved seats in the Parliament. Lebanese Alawis live mostly in the Jabal Mohsen neighbourhood of Tripoli, and in 15 villages in the Akkar region,^[64][65][66] and are mainly represented by the Arab Democratic Party. Bab al-Tabbaneh, Jabal Mohsen clashes between pro-Syrian Alawites and anti-Syrian Sunnis have haunted Tripoli for decades.^[67]

Turkey[link]

Alawite children in Antioch, now in Turkey, 1938

In order to avoid confusion with Alevis, they prefer the self-appellation Arap Alevileri ("Arab Alevis") in Turkish. The term Nusayrī, which used to exist in (often polemical) theological texts is also revived in recent studies. In Çukurova, they are named as Fellah and Arabuşağı, the latter considered highly offensive by Alawis, by the Sunni population. A quasi-official name used particularly in 1930s by Turkish authorities was Eti Türkleri ("Hittite Turks"), in order to conceal their Arab origins. Today, this term is almost obsolete but it is still used by some people of older generations as a euphemism.

The exact number of Alawis in Turkey is unknown, but there were 185 000 in 1970^[68] (this number suggest ca 400 000 in 2009). As Muslims, they are not recorded separately from Sunnis in ID registration. In the 1965 census (the last Turkish census where informants were asked their mother tongue), 180,000 people in the three provinces declared their mother tongue as Arabic. However, Arabic-speaking Sunni and Christian people are also included in this figure. Alawis traditionally speak the same dialect of Levantine Arabic with Syrian Alawis. Arabic is best preserved in rural communities and Samandağ. Younger people in Çukurova cities and (to a lesser extent) in İskenderun tend to speak Turkish. Turkish spoken by Alawis is distinguished by Alawi and non-Alawi alike with its particular accents and vocabulary. Knowledge of Arabic alphabet is confined to religious leaders and men who had worked or studied in Arab countries.

Alawis show a considerable pattern of social mobility. Until 1960s, they used to work bound to Sunni aghas around Antakya and they were among the poorest folk in Çukurova. Today, Alawis are prominent in economic sectors such as transportation and commerce. A large professional middle-class had also emerged. In recent years, there has been a tendency of exogamy, particularly among males who had attended universities and/or had lived in other parts of Turkey. These marriages are highly tolerated but exogamy of women, as in other patrilineal groups, is usually disfavoured.

Alawis, like Alevis, mainly have strong leftist political preferences. However, some people in rural areas (usually members of notable Alawi families) may be found supporting secularist conservative parties such as True Path Party. Most Alawis feel discriminated by the policies of Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı.^[69][70]

References[link]

Notes

See also[link]

• Religious minorities in Turkey

External links[link]

• بيان عقيدة العلويين
• “The Book of Sulaimans First Ripe Fruit Disclosing the Mysteries of the Nursairian Religion” by Edward E Salisbury, 1864

Abu Izzadeen (Arabic: ابو عز الدين‎, Abū ‘Izz ad-Dīn), born Trevor Brooks, 18 April 1975), is a British spokesman for Al Ghurabaa, a Muslim organization banned under the Terrorism Act 2006 for the glorification of terrorism, that operated in the United Kingdom.^[1] He was convicted on charges of terrorist fund-raising and inciting terrorism overseas on 17 April 2008,^[2] and sentenced to four and a half years in jail. He was released in May 2009,^[3] after serving 3 and half years, including time on remand.

Personal background[link]

Abu Izzadeen is a British citizen born in Hackney, east London to a family originally from Jamaica. Brooks converted to Islam a day before he turned 18, on the 17 April 1994, changing his name to Omar, but preferring to be called Abu Izadeen. He is fluent in Arabic.^[4][5]

He trained and worked for a while as an electrician. He and his Arab-born wife Mokhtaria were married in 1998; they have three children.^[5][6][7]

Political activities[link]

Abu Izzadeen met Omar Bakri Muhammed and Abu Hamza al-Masri at Finsbury Park Mosque in the 1990s; this is when he is thought to have been radicalized.^[6]

He visited Pakistan in 2001, before the September 11 attacks, as part of Al-Muhajiroun; he claims he went there to give a series of lectures. He also claimed to have attended terror training camps in Afghanistan.^[5][6]

He described the 7/7 suicide bombers in London as "completely praiseworthy".^[8]

On the eve of the anniversary of the 7/7 attacks in London, he was filmed preaching to a group of Muslims in Birmingham (UK) mocking and laughing at the victims of 9/11 and threatening further terror attacks in the UK.^[9]

He has openly stated that he wishes to die as a suicide bomber.^[10]

On 20 September 2006, Abu Izadeen and Anjem Choudary disrupted Home Secretary John Reid's first public meeting with Muslims since his appointment. He called Reid an "enemy" of Islam.^[11] John Humphrys interviewed Izzadeen on the 22 September 2006 edition of BBC Radio 4's Today programme. In a heated discussion Abu Izadeen stated that his aim was to bring about Sharia law in the UK and that this should be achieved without following the democratic process but rather "in accordance to the Islamic methodology".^[12]

Arrests[link]

February 2007[link]

British police arrested Abu Izadeen on charges of inciting terrorism on 2007-02-08. A spokesman for Scotland Yard said the arrest is related to an "on-going inquiry," involving a speech Abu Izadeen gave in the West Midlands area in 2006, which predates the 20 September 2006 incident.^[13][14]

April 2007[link]

He was arrested again in a pre-dawn police raid on 2007-04-24 under the Terrorism Act 2000 "in connection with inciting others to commit acts of terrorism overseas and terrorist fundraising". ^[15]

April 2008[link]

On 2008-04-17 Izzadeen was among six men convicted at Kingston Crown Court of supporting terrorism, while the jury failed to reach a verdict on a third charge of encouraging terrorism.^[16] He was subsequently jailed for four and a half years.

See also[link]

• Abdul-Aziz ibn Myatt
• Khalid Kelly
• Anjem Choudary
• Abu Uzair
• Hassan Butt
• Andrew Ibrahim
• Sulayman Keeler
• Abu Hamza al-Masri
• Omar Bakri Muhammad

References[link]

v t e Alleged militants in the War on Terror who have lived in the United Kingdom Al Ghurabaa and Al-Muhajiroun Hassan Butt Anjem Choudary Abu Izzadeen Sulayman Keeler Omar Bakri Muhammad Abu Uzair Lockerbie bombing Abdelbaset al-Megrahi 1993 World Trade Center bombing Ramzi Yousef 2001 shoe bomb plot Richard Reid Saajid Badat 7 July 2005 London bombings Hasib Hussain Mohammad Sidique Khan Germaine Lindsay Shehzad Tanweer 21 July 2005 London bombings Osman Hussain Muktar Said Ibrahim Ramzi Mohammed Yasin Hassan Omar Adel Yahya 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack Bilal Abdullah Kafeel Ahmed 22 May 2008 Exeter bombing Nicky Reilly Miscellaneous Andrew Ibrahim Abu Bakr Mansha Abu Hamza al-Masri Aabid Khan Rabah Kadre Younes Tsouli Kamel Rabat Bouralha

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (April 2010)

Dr. Sami Amin Al-Arian (Arabic: سامي العريان‎; born January 14, 1958, in Kuwait, to Palestinian parents), is a former resident of Temple Terrace, Florida, now living in Northern Virginia, who is a Muslim activist, and former University of South Florida professor of computer engineering. He pled guilty in 2006 to conspiracy to contribute services to or for the benefit of the Palestine Islamic Jihad, a Specially Designated Terrorist organization.^[2][8]

He was indicted in 2003 on multiple counts related to supporting a Palestinian group on the State Department's terrorist list. At his trial the jury acquitted on 8 of 17 counts, and deadlocked on the remaining 9 counts. He then pleaded guilty in 2006, pursuant to a plea agreement, to conspiracy to help a "specially designated terrorist" organization, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.^[2][3][9] Al-Arian was sentenced to 57 months in prison, given credit for time served, and ordered deported following his prison term.^[3] He was to serve the balance of 19 months.

In November 2006, because he refused to testify before a federal grand jury after the court held that he had no legal basis for his refusal, he was held in civil contempt and imprisoned for his contempt of court by a Virginia district court judge.^[4] He served 13 months in prison for his civil contempt, until the court lifted its contempt order in December 2007.^[4]

In 2007 and 2008, the United States Department of Justice subpoenaed Al-Arian to testify before a grand jury. He again refused to testify, and prosecutors charged him with criminal contempt in June 2008.^[10][11] In September 2008, Al-Arian was released from detention on bond.^[12] He remains under house arrest, as he awaits a trial on criminal contempt charges.^[13][14]

Life and work[link]

Early life, family, and U.S. status[link]

Al-Arian was born in Kuwait, one of five children of Amin and Laila Al-Arian, Palestinian refugees.^[6] In 1966, the family moved to Egypt.^[7] According to Al-Arian, the government made them leave because his father refused to become an informant for Kuwaiti intelligence.^[7]

He was raised in Cairo, Egypt, and has a brother named Khaled Al-Arian.^{[5][15][16][17][18]} His wife's brother, Mazen Al-Najjar, a former University of South Florida engineering instructor, was jailed in the U.S. from 1997 to the end of 2000, on secret evidence that he helped support terrorists through an Islamic research center and charity he founded with Al-Arian. His brother-in-law was deported on August 22, 2002.^[19]

He is married to Nahla Al-Arian, and they have five children.^[20] His son Abdullah Al-Arian was an intern for U.S. Representative David E. Bonior in 2001.^[21] Al-Arian's eldest daughter, Laila Al-Arian, is a producer for Al Jazeera English in Washington, DC, and a freelance journalist and contributor to the Huffington Post^[22] and The Nation.^[23]

Al-Arian came to the U.S. in August 1975, on an Egyptian passport and a student visa, to attend Southern Illinois University.^[1][17][24] He became a permanent resident alien of the U.S. on March 27, 1989.^[1][17] On December 30, 1993, he allegedly filed a false application with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to become a U.S. citizen.^[1][17] He was denied U.S. citizenship in 1996.^[25]

1978–89[link]

Al-Arian obtained his B.S., graduating in 1978 with a major in Electrical Sciences and Systems Engineering from Southern Illinois University,^[6] and completed his M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Ph.D. in Computer Engineering in 1980 and 1986 respectively, from North Carolina State University.^{[citation needed]} In 1981, Al-Arian helped establish the Islamic Society of North America.^{[citation needed]}

On January 27, 1986, he was hired as an assistant professor in the Computer Sciences Department of the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa.^[5][24] He also established the Islamic Committee for Palestine (ICP) on October 20, 1988,^[17][24] purportedly to raise awareness of the plight of the Palestinians; allegedly, however, it was part of a criminal enterprise with PIJ.^{[1][9][17][20]} ICP meetings were attended by Omar Abdel-Rahman, convicted of plotting to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993, and Abdul Aziz Odeh, the Islamic Jihad's spiritual leader.^[7]

1991–99[link]

On February 21, 1991, he and his brother-in-law, Mazen Al-Najjar, founded the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE), an academic institution whose purpose was purportedly to promote dialogue between the Muslim and Western worlds.^[1][17][24] Allegedly, however, it also was part of a criminal enterprise with PIJ.^{[1][17][24][26]}

In 1991, at an Islamic rally Al-Arian said: "Jihad is our path. Victory to Islam. Death to Israel", and at another: "Let us damn America, let us damn Israel, let us damn them and their allies until death".^[5][27][28] On April 17, 1991, he allegedly gave a speech in which he again spoke in favor of jihad, and praised individuals who had escaped from prison with the help of the PIJ, and then killed a number of people.^[1][17] On September 29, 1991, he said in a speech at a Chicago conference that Allah had made Jews "monkeys and swine", "cursed those who are the sons of Israel", and damned Jews in this world and the afterworld.^{[1][5][7][17][29]}

On April 27, 1992, he allegedly modified computer files at WISE/ICP that contained the wills of three PIJ suicide bombers.^[1][17] On June 3, 1993, he allegedly sent moneys to families of four PIJ terrorists who had killed three Israelis.^[1][17]

He was Chairman of the Board of the Islamic Academy of Florida (IAF) from its August 1992 founding until at least June 2002; allegedly, it was used by the PIJ to provide some of its members as cover as employees.^[1][17] Steven Emerson, a former CNN investigative correspondent and U.S. News and World Report senior editor, made a 1994 PBS documentary, Jihad in America, that said that Al-Arian is an Islamic extremist and heads the PIJ in the U.S.^[7][30]

Al-Arian performed services for the PIJ in 1995 and thereafter, knowing that it achieved its objectives by violence, among other means, and that it had been declared a Specially Designated Terrorist by the U.S.^[2] Among other things, he filed for immigration benefits for people associated with the PIJ, hid the identities of individuals associated with the PIJ, and provided assistance to a person associated with the PIJ in a U.S. court proceeding.^[2]

After a terrorist attack by PIJ killed 19 Israelis, Al-Arian wrote a February 1, 1995, letter saying:

The link with the brothers in Hamas is very good and making steady progress, and their [sic] are serious attempts at unification and permanent coordination. I call upon you to try to extend true support to the jihad effort so that operations such as these can continue... so operations like the one by the two mujahideen [warriors] who were martyred for the sake of God [can continue].^[24][31]

Al-Arian said that the letter was a response to a friend's question about the relationship between PIJ and Hamas, and whether to support them, and that in his letter: "I ask others to support them, but I don't support them personally."^[31] On February 10, 1995, he allegedly requested monies from Ismael al-Shatti in Kuwait to support PIJ suicide bombings.^[1][17]

In 1995, the FBI opened a criminal investigation of Al-Arian after Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah, a professor whom he had helped bring to Tampa and appointed head of WISE, suddenly left after the PIJ's head was killed, and re-emerged in Syria one month later on October 31, 1995, as the new head of the PIJ.^[24][28] Al-Arian said he was shocked to learn Shallah was "anything other than a scholar."^[28] In October 1995, he lied to a journalist for the St. Petersburg Times as to his knowledge of Shallah's activities, saying that Shallah had only been involved in scholarly work.^[2] On November 20, 1995, the FBI raided his home, his office at USF, and the offices of the ICP and WISE.^[7][24]

From May 2, 1996, until August 1998, he was on paid administrative leave from USF pending the outcome of a federal investigation into whether he was running fronts for terrorist organizations.^[24][30] In 1997, he co-founded the Tampa Bay Coalition for Peace and Justice, which focused on the use of secret evidence and other civil rights issues in antiterrorism and immigration acts adopted in 1996.

2000–03[link]

Al-Arian met then-candidate George W. Bush at a campaign event at the Florida Strawberry Festival in March 2000, and Bush and his wife posed for a photo with Al-Arian and his family.^[5][32] Al-Arian later claimed to have spoken to Bush about the government use of "secret evidence" in deportation proceedings against accused terrorists. When Bush subsequently brought up the issue in a debate with Al Gore, Al-Arian was reportedly "thrilled—and began registering local Muslims to vote, and promoting Bush's candidacy at local mosques." He also lobbied Congress on civil liberties matters, contributed thousands of dollars to the campaigns of influential members of Congress, and renounced violence during television appearances.^[33]

On August 18, 2000, he allegedly directed Bashir Musa Mohammed Nafi to use Al-Arian's daughter's email address to communicate with Al-Arian.^[1][17] On October 10, 2000, he made hand-edited revisions to the PIJ charter, which were incorporated into a clean copy of the charter.^[1][17] He also co-founded the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, to oppose the use of secret evidence, and was elected its first president in 2000.^[20]

In June 2001, Al-Arian joined 160 Muslim-American activists in a White House briefing with Bush senior advisor Karl Rove.^[5][32] His son Abdullah Al-Arian was the subject of national media attention when he was escorted out of another June 2001 White House event by the Secret Service without explanation, prompting an apology by President George W. Bush.^[5][21][32] On August 29, testifying at his brother-in-law's deportation hearing in federal court, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 99 times so as not to answer questions such as whether he had engaged in fund-raising on behalf of organizations on the United States Department of State watch list.^[34]

On September 26, 2001, he appeared on The O'Reilly Factor talk show, and Bill O'Reilly asked him about his connections to PIJ head Ramadan Abdullah Shallah and to Tarik Hamdi, a former manager of WISE who was linked to al-Qaeda during the trial of four men convicted in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa, and who set up an interview for Osama bin Laden with ABC.^[35][36] Al-Arian said as to Shallah, he was "shocked like everyone else in the world ... he became the leader of the jihad movement."^[36] He also said he would be shocked that Hamdi is on a list of suspected terrorists.^[36] Asked about his having said "Jihad is our path. Victory to Islam. Death to Israel." in a 1988 speaking engagement in Cleveland, he said: "Let me just put it into context... When you say 'Death to Israel,' you mean death to occupation, death to apartheid, death to oppression, death to... [but] absolutely not [death to any human being]."^[36] He also said that it came as a shock to him that his brother-in-law was being deported.^[36] O'Reilly closed by saying:

Well, Doctor, you know, with all due respect ... if I [were] the CIA, I'd follow you wherever you went. I'd follow you 24 hours... I'd be your shadow, Doctor... I'd go to Denny's with you, and I'd go everywhere you went.^[36]

Later that month, after receiving a dozen death threats against Al-Arian and after funding sources threatened to cut off grants, USF placed him on paid leave, saying it was doing so in the interests of safety for its faculty, staff, and students.^[7][37] Although described by many students as a popular teacher, 22 of the university's 48 student senators voted to support his ouster—as the rest either abstained, or didn't show up.^[38] On December 19, 2001, USF's Board of Trustees voted 12–1 vote for his dismissal.^[24][39] On February 26, 2003, Al-Arian was fired from his position at USF, which had been tenured since March 1992.^[28][40]

Conspiracy prosecution; 2003–06[link]

Arrest and indictments[link]

On February 20, 2003, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Al-Arian had been arrested as the alleged leader of the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the U.S., and Secretary of the PIJ's central worldwide governing group (the "Shura Council").^[8][17] It also charged three others living in the U.S., as well as four outside the U.S.^[8][17] These included Al-Arian's long-time top USF/WISE associate Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, who had been designated a Specially Designated Terrorist by the U.S. in 1995, and was accused of being Secretary General of the PIJ.^[8][17][40]

The PIJ was identified as an international terrorist organization, with cells throughout the world, that supports jihad and martyrdom, responsible for the deaths of among others Americans Alisa Flatow (20 years old) and Shoshana Ben-Yishai (16 years old).^[1][8][17] In 1995 the PIJ, Syrian-based and largely financed by Iran, had been designated a "Specially Designated Terrorist" by the U.S., and in 1997 it had been designated a "foreign terrorist organization".^{[1][2][17][28][40]}

A 50-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Tampa charged the defendants under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) with operating a racketeering enterprise from 1984 that engaged in violent activities, as well as: conspiracy within the U.S. to kill and maim persons abroad, conspiracy to provide material support and resources to PIJ, conspiracy to violate emergency economic sanctions, engaging in various acts of interstate extortion, perjury, obstruction of justice, and immigration fraud.^[1][8][17] The indictment alleged a ten-year conspiracy to support PIJ worldwide, help solve internal PIJ disputes and financial problems, help disseminate PIJ claims it was responsible for terrorist attacks in Israel, and raise funds within the U.S. for "violent jihad."^[17] It alleged numerous PIJ-associated terrorist acts, resulting in the murders of over 100 people in Israel and the Occupied Territories.^[8][17] It claimed that PIJ, ICP, and WISE operated together as an illegal enterprise.^[1][17] It also alleged that the defendants used USF, where some of them were teachers or students, as cover and as a means to bring other PIJ members into the U.S., purportedly for academic meetings and conferences.^[1][17]

Attorney General
John Ashcroft

Attorney General John Ashcroft said that Al-Arian and his co-defendants played:

a substantial role in international terrorism. They are 'material supporters' of foreign terrorist organizations. They finance ... and assist acts of terror. Our message to them is clear: We make no distinction between those who carry out terrorist attacks, and those who knowingly finance, manage, or supervise terrorist organizations.^[8]

Al-Arian told reporters: “it’s all about politics”, and his attorney labeled the indictment a “work of fiction.”^[33]

The indictment was later expanded into a 53-count superseding indictment in September 2004.^[1] It charged Al-Arian with: 1) conspiracy to commit racketeering; 2) conspiracy to murder or maim persons outside the U.S.; 3) conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization (the PIJ); 4) conspiracy to make and receive contributions of funds, goods, and services for the benefit of Specially Designated Terrorists (the PIJ); 5) use of the mail or any facility in interstate or foreign commerce to promote unlawful activity; 6) providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization; 7) money laundering; 8) attempt to procure naturalization unlawfully; and 9) obstruction of justice.^[1]

Trial[link]

Al-Arian was tried with co-defendants Ghassan Ballut, Hatim Fariz, and Sameeh Hammoudeh in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa, beginning on June 6, 2005.^[3] At trial, FBI agent Kerry Myers testified that the PIJ had planned an attack inside the U.S., but that all information about the plot was classified and he could not discuss it. Under cross-examination, Myers admitted that the PIJ had never carried out an attack outside Israel and the "occupied territories." Myers also testified that during its 10-year investigation of the defendants, the FBI intercepted 472,239 telephone calls on 18 tapped lines. However, none involved any discussion of an attack against the U.S. or reflected advance knowledge of attacks in the Middle East.^[41] Furthermore, some of the conversations occurred before PIJ was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1995.^[9]

The five-month trial featured 80 witnesses and 400 transcripts of intercepted phone conversations and faxes. At the end of the prosecution's case, Al-Arian's attorneys rested without offering a defense, and the trial concluded on November 14, 2005.^[3] On December 6, 2005, after 13 days of deliberations, the jury acquitted Al-Arian on 8 of 17 counts.^[3] It deadlocked on the 9 other counts.^[3] The jury deadlocked on what the prosecutors described as three of the most important four conspiracy charges against Al-Arian, including the charge of conspiracy to provide services to the PIJ.^[42] A co-defendant also was acquitted on some charges and faced deadlocks on others, and two co-defendants were acquitted of all charges. U.S. Justice Department officials said they were considering whether to retry Al-Arian and co-defendant Hatem Fariz on the jury deadlock charges, one of which carried a life sentence.^[43]

Jurors had mixed reactions.^[44] One who voted for acquittal said, "They have so little on [Al-Arian] that I'm disappointed. Most of us think he gave in because he was so sick of being in jail."^[44] But one of the few jurors who believed Al-Arian was guilty on nine counts, causing a mistrial, said:

Like another person on the jury, I was convinced Mr. Al-Arian was still working with the PIJ after it was illegal. He was a very smart man and knew how not to be obvious. For me, the absence of evidence didn't mean there was no evidence. For me, it suggested a coverup, which he admitted to, in the plea agreement.^[44]

Guilty plea, pursuant to plea agreement[link]

On February 28, 2006, Al-Arian signed a plea agreement in which he agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to contribute services to or for the benefit of the PIJ, a Specially Designated Terrorist organization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.^[2][45] In return, the U.S. Attorney: a) agreed to dismiss the other eight remaining charges in the superseding indictment; b) agreed not to charge Al-Arian with any other crimes known to the government at the time of the execution of the agreement; c) agreed not to enter any recommendation as to the imposition or amount of a fine; d) agreed with Al-Arian that an appropriate sentence would be 46–57 months in prison; and e) covenanted that if no adverse information were received suggesting such a recommendation to be unwarranted, the U.S. would recommend that Al-Arian receive a sentence "at the low end of the applicable guideline range, as calculated by the Court".^[2]

In the agreement, Al-Arian said that he was pleading guilty because he was "in fact" guilty.^[2] Al-Arian admitted knowing "that the PIJ achieved its objectives by, among other means, acts of violence."^[46] As part of the deal, Al-Arian agreed to be deported once his prison sentence ended.^[2][42]

The plea agreement provided that it was "limited to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida and the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice, and cannot bind other federal, state, or local prosecuting authorities."^[2][4] It also provided that it "constitutes the entire agreement between the government and [Al-Arian] ... and no other promises, agreements, or representations exist or have been made to [Al-Arian]".^[2][4]

Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez said:

We have a responsibility not to allow our nation to become a safe haven for those who provide assistance to ... terrorists. Sami Al-Arian has already spent significant time behind bars, and will now lose the right to live in the country he calls home as a result of his confessed criminal conduct on behalf of the [PIJ], which is the same conduct he steadfastly denied in public statements over the past decade.^[42]

At the plea agreement hearing, U.S. Magistrate Thomas B. McCoun said, " if you're satisfied you're guilty or you believe it's in your best interest to plead guilty ... let me know that." Al-Arian replied, "I believe it's in my best interest to enter a plea."^[47]

The district court judge asked Al-Arian whether he had been promised anything else by anyone to induce his guilty plea, and he said that he had not.^[4] The plea agreement was unsealed and accepted by Judge James S. Moody on April 17, 2006.^[42] The count carried a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.^[2] Al-Arian remained in custody pending his sentencing and deportation.

The deal came after 11 years of Federal Bureau of Investigation investigations, wiretaps and searches, and three and a half years of trial preparation, time Al-Arian spent in jail, most of it in solitary confinement.^[47] Amnesty International said Al-Arian's pre-trial detention conditions "appeared to be 'gratuitously punitive'", and that "the restrictions imposed on Dr. Al-Arian appeared to go beyond what were necessary on security grounds and were inconsistent with international standards for humane treatment.".^[48]

Supporters of Al-Arian said the agreement was reached in part to end his family's suffering and to reunite them.^[46][49][50]

The Washington Post, in an editorial, said:

To hear Mr. al-Arian's family and supporters describe the plea agreement, you might think the defendant been exonerated.... By contrast, the Justice Department described the deal as if it were a big win in the war on terrorism.... In fact, both claims are bunk. [I]t ill becomes the government to claim victory. Concerning Mr. al-Arian, a sometime rallying point for advocates of free speech and academic freedom, the verdict is in: He is not only a terrorist supporter, but a liar, too.^[51]

Sentencing[link]

Judge Moody sentenced al-Arian to the maximum 57 months in prison and three years of supervised release on May 1, 2006, and gave him credit for time served.^[3] Prosecutors said al-Arian would serve the balance of 19 months, and then be deported.

In his ruling, Moody harshly criticized al-Arian for doing nothing to stop suicide bombings perpetrated by the PIJ. "I find it interesting that you praise this country in public," he said, "the one you called Great Satan."^[18] He continued:

You lifted not one finger. To the contrary, you laughed when you heard of the bombings... You are a master manipulator. The evidence is clear in this case. You were a leader of the PIJ.^[3][52]

Describing the PIJ suicide bombings, the judge said: "Anyone with even the slightest bit of human compassion would be sickened. Not you, you saw it as an opportunity to solicit more money to carry out more bombings."^[18] Reacting to Al-Arian's contention that he had raised money for charities, Moody said: "Your only connection to widows and orphans was that you create them."^[53]

Civil and criminal contempt prosecutions; 2006–present[link]

Al-Arian was subpoenaed three times to testify in terrorism-related investigations before Virginia federal grand juries between 2006 and 2008. Each time, he refused to testify. He challenged the initial subpoena in four different federal courts, each of which held that he was in fact required to testify. He was imprisoned for 13 months for civil contempt for failing to testify in compliance with the first subpoena. He is awaiting trial as well for criminal contempt for his failure to testify in compliance with the second and third subpoenas.

Grand jury subpoenas, refusal to testify, civil contempt, and hunger strikes[link]

Subpoena

In May 2006, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a subpoena to Al-Arian to testify before a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, in an investigation into the alleged financing of terror by the Herndon, Virginia-based International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).^[4][54] Homeland Security agent David Kane described alleged ties between Al-Arian and IIIT in an affidavit that was unsealed in 2003, saying that IIIT was once the largest contributor to a PIJ group run by Al-Arian.^[54] Kane also alluded to a letter from a leader of IIIT to Al-Arian saying he considered him and leaders of the Palestinian resistance to be "a part of us and an extension of us."^[55]

Refusal to testify

The subpoena was served on Al-Arian in October 2006.^[4] He sought to quash it on the assertion that his plea agreement prevented his being forced to testify before the Virginia grand jury.^[4] He said the government had agreed that he would not be required to cooperate with it in any manner, though that specific agreement was not reflected in the written plea agreement.^[4] In a verbal agreement that he says appears in court transcripts, federal prosecutors agreed he would not have to testify in Virginia.^[56]

Second, Al-Arian also said he refused to testify because he believed "his life would be in danger if he testified."^[54] Third, Al-Arian claimed he has no information that could further the investigation.^[54] Fourth, Al-Arian said he would not testify because he felt IIIT was inappropriately charged.^[57] Finally, another explanation for his not testifying was presented by his wife, who said:

My husband is a man of principle, and he will never turn into an informant. We admire him and are proud of him. In our culture, as Palestinians, if a person becomes an informant for the government, this is very shameful.^[58]