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The Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA) is a sufi based religious organization and think tank allegedly closely associated with the neoconservative lobby in the United States founded by the Naqshbandi Shaykh Hisham Kabbani.
Aim of the ISCA
The ISCA strives to integrate what they see as "traditional" sufi scholarship in resolving contemporary issues affecting the maintenance of Islamic beliefs in a modern, secular society. The Council states that it promotes traditional sufi Islamic thought. It explicitly rejects puritanical forms of Islam (whom they attack as being wahhabi), such as taught by the salafi movement, for being too 'harsh' against modernity and what they believe to be 'good' innovations in Islam, as well as claiming that the wahhabi condone terrorism. However the Salafi scholars across the globe espouse they are simply teaching that Islam should be taken from the sunnah as understood by the earliest Muslims, the salaf, as their way of Islam was free from heretical innovations and do not condone terrorism in any form.
The ISCA propagates a conspiracy that terrorist organizations who espouse Islamist ideologies are in fact wahhabi, however these slogans and chants against the entitled "wahhabi" groups typically lack empirical evidence.
Founding member Hisham Kabbani
The Naqshbandi Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, founding member and current chairman of ISCA, is critical of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the American Muslim Council, saying, "There are many Muslim organizations that claim to speak on behalf of the Muslim community but that in reality are not moderate, but extremist."
Alleged links with the U.S. neoconservative lobby
The ISCA is alleged to have links to the non-Muslim neoconservative lobby in the United States, hence explaining the groups hatred for the "wahhabi" movement. Kabbani allegedly thanked UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in 2005 for the role the UK played in the Middle East, saying: “We are glad to see changes taking place in the political mechanisms in the Middle East. We hope to see an end to tyranny and we are happy to observe a strong upsurge in freedom of speech, freedom of belief and political openness in the region.”
As of 23 September 2009, its website features photos of its officials meeting with George W. Bush, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and UK Crown Prince Charles. The ISCA is praised by Daniel Pipes, who describes it as "relatively small".
References
- Jake Tapper, "Islam's flawed spokesmen", Salon.com, 26 September 2001 (accessed 27 January 2007).
- The 'Neoconservative' Sufi Muslim Council : Uncover Traitor who destroy Islam and Umah. May 25, 2008
- http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/media_center/Releases/110802-pr-whitehouseiftar.htm
- http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/activities/2007/Joint_Chiefs/Joint_chiefs.htm
- Daniel Pipes, "The Danger Within: Militant Islam in America", Commentary, November 2001 (accessed 27 January 2007).