From The MEMRI Archives: Reports On Pakistani School, Radical Mosque That Played A Role In CA Jihadi Tashfeen Malik's Radicalization

The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.

Tashfeen Malik studied for some time in Pakistan

It has emerged that Tashfeen Malik, 29, the woman who, with her husband Syed Rizwan Farook, carried out the mass terror attack in San Bernardino, CA, was radicalized at a Pakistani school and was connected to the radical Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) in Islamabad.

According to a Pakistani media report, Malik attended a school based in the Pakistani city of Multan that is part of the Al Huda network of institutions known for teaching religious orthodoxies to Pakistani women.[1]

A report by senior Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat stated that Malik used to live with her parents in Saudi Arabia but returned to Pakistan in 2007 to study for a pharmacy degree at Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan.[2] Here, while she was enrolled in Bahauddin Zakariya University, she also spent some time at an Al Huda institute in the city. Inayat quotes Pakistani researcher Arif Jamal as saying that "the Bahauddin Zakariya University is known as one of the most conservative educational institutions in Pakistan. The region where it is located is replete with Islamist and jihadi organizations… Many teachers are also known to be affiliated with jihadist organizations…"[3]

According to another media report, American officials have "handed over information to their Pakistani counterparts about links between Tashfeen Malik and the Red Mosque in Islamabad."[4] It should be noted that the Red Mosque, site of a military operation in 2007, is headed by radical cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz who, along with the female students at the Jamia Hafsa madrassa, which is part of the mosque, have expressed support for the Islamic State (ISIS).

Below are reports from the MEMRI archives shedding light on the role of the Al Huda network of institutions and the Red Mosque, which Pakistani military generals frequently attend to offer prayers.

MEMRI Dispatch: "Concerns Over Revivalist Islamic Teachings By Pakistan's Al Huda Network Of Schools For Elite Women"

In 2010, MEMRI published a dispatch on the role of Al Huda network of schools in Pakistan. Following are excerpts from the dispatch:[5]

"The Al Huda International Welfare Foundation, an Islamic charity registered with the Pakistani government, has emerged in recent years at the forefront of teaching Islam to Pakistani women, especially those from the higher echelons of Pakistani society. According to the charity's website, its main objectives are: to promote purely Islamic values and thinking on sound knowledge and research, free from bias and sectarianism; and to work for the welfare of society's lower classes.

"The charity was founded in 1994 by Dr. Farhat Naseem Hashmi, who received an MA in Arabic from the University of Punjab, Lahore, in 1980, and later obtained a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies with specialization in Hadith Sciences (i.e. sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad), from the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom. Latest reports indicate that Dr. Hashmi is now based in Canada, and from there offers online courses in Islamic teachings to Muslim women based in the U.S. and Canada via paltalk.com and inspeak.com.

"In the years after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, there has been a movement of the educated Pakistani elite toward right-wing Islamic groups. During this period, a network of Al Huda schools emerged in various Pakistani towns, offering Islamic teachings to women. According to the Al Huda website, the group offers a range of diploma and post-diploma courses, e.g. Taleem-ul-Islam – one and one-and-half year diploma in Islamic teachings for women and girls; Taleem-ul-Quran – one year diploma in both English and Urdu for girls; post-diploma 'Advance Course' in the in-depth knowledge of the Koran and deeds of the prophet; and a number of evening, summer and crash courses. These schools have become popular among the rich class of Pakistan in recent years.

"However, there are now concerns that the Al Huda network of schools promotes an Islamist version of Islam that isolates its students in their religious practices from mainstream Pakistani society. Recently, prominent Pakistani journalist Khaled Ahmed, who is also the Director of South Asia Free Media Association, reviewed a book on the workings of Al Huda schools. The book, "Transforming Faith: The Story of Al Huda and Islamic Revivalism among Urban Pakistani Women" (Syracuse University Press 2009), is authored by Sadaf Ahmad, an assistant professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in Lahore…."

Former Al Huda Student: "[Al Huda Schools] Are Not Breeding Terrorists; Neither Are They Planting Reasoning; Al Huda Believes In Conspiracy Theories"

Following are excerpts from a blog by former Al Huda student Habiba Younis:[6]

"[Pakistani writer] Khaled Ahmed's recent article… met a negative and spirited response by readers. In my opinion, as a former student [of Al Huda], the reasoning in the article wasn't absolutely correct and seemed slightly prejudiced. But it did have some valid points. I don't believe Al Huda to be as ideal as it is portrayed but not because of the reasons given by the writer in his article but because of my own experience with the Al Huda community.

"Al Huda is administered by the four Hashmi sisters, all four of whom speak English and are seen by many urban-upper middle and upper-class women as modern Islamic revolutionaries. Al Huda students will say that the sisters are generous, pious, humble and down-to-earth but the truth is that they are proud and get easily offended if they are not treated like VIP celebrities. They are arrogant and cruel to servants and lower-grade employees.

"Having said that, contrary to what Khaled Ahmed's article hints at, they are not breeding terrorists. But neither are they planting reasoning or thinking seeds in their student's minds. Al Huda believes in conspiracy theories and students are led to believe that Muslims are perfect and this in turn means that they are not taught on how self-assessment as a Muslim is important. Students are told that the world is bad and Muslims are the best and that the former needs to reform itself. In my view, this makes for an individual who is not very humble and misses out on the humility inherent in Islam…."

"It is quite understandable to consider Al Huda's concepts as outdated, rigid and conservative or orthodox but since the women gathered in their lectures have no intentions of enforcing their beliefs on everyone using 'dandas' [sticks] like the Lal Masjid extremists [i.e. like the clerics of the Islamabad-based Red Mosque who began implementing Islamic Shari'a by force], it is unfair to tag them as a potential threat to society. They are not monstrous and harmful as many claim but at the same time neither are the Hashmi sisters some sort of superwomen. Nor is Al Huda an inspiration to instil enlightenment or rationality in society.

"So, if you are planning to tip some cash in Al Huda's Ramadan Zakat fund, think twice before doing so. Others are more deserving, and do a better job. We need to be suspicious of anyone who wishes to 'own' Islam and whose practice of it tolerates no other views."

Islamabad-Based Red Mosque's Cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz: "Very Soon ISIS Will Unfurl The Flag Of Victory On The Whole World"

Excerpts are given below from a MEMRI dispatch published dated March 2, 2015:[7]

"Following is the text of an interview with Maulana Abdul Aziz, the leader of Islamabad's Red Mosque, which was the site of the 2007 Pakistani military operation against the jihadists hiding there. Recently, Maulana Abdul Aziz has expressed support for the Islamic State (ISIS), led by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, while the girls of the Jamia Hafsa madrassa associated with the Red Mosque have offered their bai'yah (oath of fealty) to Al-Baghdadi."

"Islamabad…: The khateeb [mosque leader] of the Red Mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz, has said that very soon ISIS will unfurl the flag of victory on the whole world because ISIS wants the implementation of the system of Shari'a and Caliphate in the world. The female students [of Jamia Hafsa madrassa] consider ISIS as their messiah.

"[He also said:] That is why our female students have expressed pious wishes and sentiments for them; and we are with anyone who will implement the Koran and Sunnah [traditions of Prophet Muhammad] in the world. Our war also is for the enforcement of an Islamic system. The country [Pakistan] is being run under the British system [inherited from the colonial era]; in the courts too, judgements are being delivered under the British law…."

Maulana Abdul Aziz: "We Want The Caliphate Established In The Entire World, Including Pakistan"; "Israel Will Not Bend Like This Unless It Is Diagnosed Through Jihad"

Following are excerpts from a MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor report published on September 10, 2014:[8]

"In a video interview dated July 28, which emerged sometime in mid-August [of 2014], radical Pakistani cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz expressed his support for the Islamic State under Al-Baghdadi. Abdul Aziz is the brother of Maulana Abdur Rasheed Ghazi, a radical cleric who was killed during the 2007 military operation in the Red Mosque of Islamabad. The two brothers controlled the Red Mosque and its adjacent madrassa for girls known as Jamia Hafsa. The military operation was ordered after the girls began enforcing Islamic Sharia code in Islamabad.

"A terror training camp named after Abdur Rasheed Ghazi has been operational in Iraq-Syria region for a few years now. It is also the case that some members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), a jihadist group that specializes in killing Shia Muslims in Pakistan, is reportedly part of the Abdur Rasheed Ghazi training camp. Importantly, Maulana Abdul Aziz is a towering leader among Pakistani jihadists of all factions in Pakistan. In his July 28 interview, Abdul Aziz was asked to comment on Al-Baghdadi's declaration of the caliphate and he responded: 'See, we ourselves want a caliphate and we want that the caliphate should be established in the entire world including Pakistan. And the caliphate is the solution to problems. So, if these Arab mujahideen have brought about the establishment of the caliphate, we view it as good omen for the Muslim Ummah. Allah willing, as their organization is, if it continues, we will see its springs across the world....'

"Maulana Aziz also spoke about the Israeli action in Gaza, urging the Palestinians to march on the path of jihad. He stated: 'The only solution is jihad. And the Palestinians will continue to die like this unless they rise on [the path of] jihad. For the Palestinians, our lord Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, had given the path of jihad [which they should follow]. Israel will not bend like this unless it is diagnosed through jihad. If a big power like the Soviet Union can break up by being defeated in the field of jihad [in Afghanistan in the 1980s], Israel is a very small thing. Only that it should come to the mind of Palestinians, to adopt the path of jihad instead of dying like this, begin guerrilla war; Allah willing, Israel doesn't stand.'"

Maulana Abdul Aziz: "Training [For Jihad] Is One Thing, [Inculcating] Craving, Ideology And Preparing The Mind Is Another"; "We Inculcate In Them The Ideology, Thought And Passion For Jihad"

Maulana Abdul Aziz of Red Mosque

Following are excerpts from a MEMRI Special Dispatch based on an interview with Maulana Abdul Aziz, dated June 6, 2014:[9]

Interviewer: "[You] must have become the Khateeb of the Red Mosque in inheritance. This mosque is formally under the administration of Auqaf [a government department of religious endowment]. Are you a government servant then?"

Maulana: "Earlier also I was at the Mujadiya Mosque at F-8 in Islamabad where I was a Khateeb officially [as a government servant]. But when my father suddenly got martyred in 1998 then I was transferred here. I had Grade 9 there and here also I am in Grade-9 [government job rank]."

Interviewer: "Grade 9? What salary were you being paid at that time?"

Maulana: "Yes, Grade 9. I used to get about seven-eight thousand [Pakistani rupees] at that time. This was continuing when the Red Mosque incident [military operation in 2007] took place. And I was dismissed. Technically, I should have been reinstated but the government did not do that and it did not suit my sense of honor to write an application to the government [requesting to be reinstated in the job]. Why should I make a request to them to reinstate me? So, at present I'm not a government khateeb."

Interviewer: "Beside the Red Mosque, how many mosques and madaris [madrassas] are under your supervision?"

Maulana: "There are some 27-28 madaris in which over 5,000 boys and girls receive religious education from us. And there are about 550 staff, which includes teachers and others."

Interviewer: "How much salary do you pay to the staff in total?"

Maulana: "About 27 to 28 lakhs [one lakh = 100,000] goes into monthly payroll."

Interviewer: "Are the boys and girl students here prepared for the passion and training of jihad?"

Maulana: "Training [for jihad] is one thing and [inculcating] craving, ideology and preparing the mind is another. Our work is that we inculcate in them the ideology, thought and passion for jihad. And the Koran tells us that."

Maulana Abdul Aziz: "There Is No Sanctity Of The [Pakistani] Constitution For Us; For Us The Koran And Sunnah Have The Sanctity"; "[On Naming Of Library After Osama Bin Laden:] We Call Osama Bin Laden A Hero Of Islam, A Martyr"

Interviewer: "You consider the constitution of Pakistan un-Islamic but you accept it; why, then, don't you accept the law [i.e. not to occupy government land to build a mosque]?"

Maulana: "There is no sanctity of the [Pakistani] Constitution for us. For us the Koran and Sunnah have the sanctity. If there is a conflict between the Constitution and the Koran and Sunnah, then we will give preference to the Koran and Sunnah; we would push the constitution to the back seat."

Interviewer: "You have set up this library in the name of Osama bin Laden. Do you want to fight the whole world?"

Maulana: "When there is freedom of speech then if someone calls him a terrorist then it is their view, it is not our view. We call Osama bin Laden a hero of Islam, a martyr."

Interviewer: "Did you ever meet Osama bin Laden?"

Maulana: "No, never."

Interviewer: "Maulana Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi [chief of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, a Taliban-allied group] came to meet him [during the day of this interview].

"There are 1,300 girl students in this Jamiaat [Jamia Hafsa]."

Maulana: "Just as there is Darul Ifta [house for issuing Islamic sharia edicts] for men where we give answers to their queries, we likewise have one for women."

Interviewer: "That is to say, women also issue fatwas?"

Maulana: "Certainly. This is Darul Ifta. Female muftis sit here and these are books of fatwas for them. They guide those who come for fatwas."