Al-Hajoorie heads a network of Salafi schools. Some overview I wrote once:

Dar al-Hadith Salafi Centers in Yemen

Dar al-Hadith (DAH) is a network of educational institutes that teach fundamentalist Salafism. The first school was founded in the 1980's by Sheik Muqbel al-Wadi in Yemen's northernmost province, Sa'ada, which borders Saudi Arabia. Sheik Al-Wadi died in 2001. The movement also owns a number of publishing houses.

Locations and Leaders

The Salafi Scholars in Yemen website[1] lists the eight leading scholars of the DAH Salafi movement in Yemen, indicating an organizational network and ideological homogeneity among the schools. These eight sheiks in addition to running their own branches also travel among the institutes to give lectures.[2] [3]

In addition to the four leaders listed below, the website also references Sheik Abdul Rahman al-Adeni, Sheik Osman Salami, Sheik Abdullah al-Adeni, and Sheik al-Somali as within the leadership of the movement. Beyond the locations listed below, dozens of smaller DAH outposts are scattered throughout Yemen including in Utmah, Hadhramaut, Taiz, Sana'a and Aden.

Dammaj, Sa'ada: The largest DAH institute and the movement's headquarters is located in Dammaj. The institute is headed by Sheik Yahya al-Hajouri (al-Hajooree) who was appointed by Sheik al-Wadi.

In 2001, the Yemen Times noted[4] the school's enrollment exceeded 3000 students. The grounds contain a mosque, library and educational center. Johnny Walker Lind attended Dammaj institute before he left for Pakistan, the Yemen Times [5] reported.

During the 2007 Sa'ada war, Dammaj school authorities issued a statement[6]saying that there were no sustained hostilities between the Dammaj students and the Believing Youth Shia rebels despite a firefight that left one French student dead. The statement noted the school is well protected by the Yemeni government.

Beyond providing protection for the school, the Yemeni government has also hired some of the institute's graduates. Al-Thawri weekly[7] reported in August 2006 that the Endowments Ministry licensed over 100 graduates of Salafi centers as preachers in the space of two weeks. The paper said the centers are "linked to extremism and have relations with influential people". The Socialists' newspaper noted that graduates from both the Dammaj center in Sa'ada and Sheik Mohammed Al-Imam's center in Maber, were granted licenses to work.

Maber, Dhamar: The second largest Dar al-Hadith institute is in Maber and was described in 2007[8] as extremely active and organized. The Maber institute is headed by Sheik Mohammed al-Imam al-Reimi, a former student of Sheik al-Wadi. Armed guards protect the institute, a recent visitor noted in an internet posting. In 2001, the school had a capacity of 1500-2000 students.

Sheik al-Imam issued a fatwa in 2005 [9] prohibiting children from receiving polio vaccine because it was "unclean and comes from the west"; however, the Sheik reversed his position months later after conducting an investigation

Hodeidah: The Hodeidah branch of DAH is headed by Mohammed ben Abd al-Wahhab al-Wisabi, one of the most senior Salafi scholars in Yemen. The Hodiedah center includes a large bookstore called the Salam Center, owned by Mohammed Ba Mousa.

A 2007 travel log posted to the internet by a Kuwaiti visitor, Salam Ben Said Taweel, [10] noted hundreds of students in attendance at the Hodeidah branch of DAH. An earlier report by the Yemen Times in 2001 reported enrollment at 200-300 students. Taweel described the center as very active. In the nearby village of Bait al-Sackey, DAH students teach the Koran in the mosque's backyard, he noted.

Ibb: The DAH center in Ibb is supervised by Abdul Aziz Al-Burae and had about 100 students in attendance in 2000. Sheik al-Baurie is among the leading Salafi scholars currently listed on the Salafi Sheiks combined website. The Yemen Times reported[11] that the Hubaish Center in Ibb, supervised by Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Burai, had other branches found in Al-Baida, Hadramout and Haja.


Dispute with Sheik al-Maribi

Sheik Abu Hassan al-Masiri, who later changed his name to al-Maribi, heads a Salafi educational institute in Marib. Sheik al-Maribi's name does not appear on the Salafi Sheiks in Yemen website and apparently is something of an outcast. The Marib institute was affiliated with DAH during the lifetime of Moqbel al-Wadi. In 2001, about 200 students were reported in attendance.

Al-Marabi, an Egyptian, had a dispute with movement's new leader, Yahya al-Hajouri, in 2002,[12] sparking "a crisis" among the Salafi movement. Apparently the rift has not healed. Al-Hajouri termed Al-Maribi a danger to Yemen who supports jihaddism. In a recent internet audio recoding entitled "A Warning to the Yemeni People", Sheik al-Hajouri says al-Marabi has a jihaddist mentality, a Muslim Brotherhood background, is a Takfiri and does not follow Sunni precepts.

During Yemen's 2006 presidential election, al-Maribi issued a fatwa that ruled, "To compete with the ruler is an illegitimate act." [13] The fatwa outlawed voting for the opposition candidate on Islamic grounds. It was delivered at an election rally held in support of Yemeni President Saleh and broadcast on state television. Al-Maribi has a liberal view of Salafi political participation relatively speaking and authorized his students to register to vote.

Students of al-Maribi reportedly include two Australian brothers,[14] arrested in Yemen in October 2006 on suspicion of smuggling weapons to Somalia and subsequently released. The brothers are the sons of Abdul Rahim Ayub, who set up a Jemaah Islamiah cell in Australia and fled after the Bali bombings.

Posted by: Jane at August 31, 2008 5:31 PM

"Germantown Masjid...."

A mad world, my masters!

Posted by: Hugh at August 31, 2008 5:32 PM

"Gould said that her husband had planned the trip to Yemen for a year to study Islam and Arabic with an imam in Mabar."

A Yemeni jail cell seems an excellent place to learn about Islam. He may even learn what Arab Moslems think of black Africans, Moslem or otherwise.

Posted by: ebonystone at August 31, 2008 6:04 PM

"Philly residents..."

To continue the theme of Philadelphia and Islam:

I once saw a neon sign in Philadelphia outside a sandwich shop that made me do a double-take: "Syrian Subs" it said. Apparently the light had gone off on the final "s" in "Syrians" so what had been the harmless advertising of two kinds of sandwiches -- "Syrians" and "Subs" as they are known in Philadelphia -- resulted in the first being demoted to adjectival status and the second from a foot-long edible to an underwater vessel leaving from Latakia to wreak havoc.

Posted by: Hugh at August 31, 2008 6:10 PM

"Attorney Tariq El-Shabazz, the managing director of the Germantown mosque, said that he did not know Gould...."

At least this is what they tell the non-Muslims.

Posted by: FirePig at August 31, 2008 6:13 PM

Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadi'i (who died several years ago) was known not to be a "jihadist" in the commonly-understood sense; his supporters in the west, at least, included the convert "salafis" who dominate the Muslim communities in places like Brixton, in south London, who are rigorously opposed to the Bin Laden type of jihad and to insurrections against rulers (particularly the Saudi rulers). They are best described as a sort of Islamic answer to the Plymouth Brethren, i.e. isolationist but not hostile to outsiders. Of course, the attitudes of "salafis" in the west in the 1990s do not entirely reflect the scene in Saudi Arabia or Yemen (the scholars whose respective followers were enemies, for example, like Bin Baz and Safar al-Hawali, were in fact friends), but if Germantown were sending people to study with Muqbil, it was definitely to study Arabic or Islamic sciences, not to participate in jihad.

Yusuf Smith

Posted by: Matthew Smith at August 31, 2008 6:18 PM

As the US military notes, numerous Yemenis currently held at Gitmo were originally sent to Afghanistan with logistical assistance and funding provided from religious authorities in Dammaj.

Posted by: Jane at August 31, 2008 6:29 PM

Hey Nasir, you imbecile, I hope you get to stay in backward, barbarian, loser-country Yemen...FOREVER! Enjoy yourself, stupid!

Posted by: darcy at August 31, 2008 6:41 PM

What Matthew "Yusuf" Smith says is only partially true. Yes, they are opposed to Bin Laden, but they DO believe in jihad "when the time is right." They have very little theological ground to stand on against the hardcore jihadists, since they quote from the same sources, and some of them are "flipped" -- in other words, they are dangerous nonetheless.

RS

Posted by: jihadwatch at August 31, 2008 6:54 PM

"Brixton..."

I used to live in Brixton. Right next to a demure church, with a churchyard not always used demurely. I wonder what's become of that church, given the new neighbors.

Posted by: Hugh at August 31, 2008 7:20 PM

"if Germantown were sending people to study with Muqbil, it was definitely to study Arabic or Islamic sciences, not to participate in jihad."

signed "Yusuf Smith"

Sorry "Yusuf". If you have adopted the name "Yusuf", I can't trust your claim about any Muslims "not participating in jihad". Some may call my position bigotry. I call it logical survival.

Posted by: DenverRodeo at August 31, 2008 7:28 PM

Not to be flip, but Nasir Daymar Gould found out about Islam, all right. Maybe more than he counted on.

Or maybe he'll show up back here in the States, planning or execting an attack.

Interesting that this isn't a national story.

Posted by: Always On Watch at August 31, 2008 7:46 PM

From the article, the standard Denial Denial Denial:

"As a youth, Gould was in and out of jail, but his mother said he had turned his life around. Though his father was Muslim, he did not study Islam until his most recent jail term.

"After his release, he prayed regularly at the Germantown Masjid, in lower Germantown.

"Attorney Tariq El-Shabazz, the managing director of the Germantown mosque, said that he did not know Gould....".

Oh yeah??? This seems to happen *every single time* that a wannabe jihadist is arrested, anywhere in the western world: the people in charge of the mosque that everyone knows the suspect or perp frequented, swear black and blue that he was never there, they didn't know him, never saw him, don't know anything about him, etc etc etc.

i agree with FirePig's remark above -

'At least this is what they tell the non-Muslims.'

- Posted by: FirePig at August 31, 2008 6:13 PM

I would bet my bottom dollar that El-Shabazz is lying till he's black in the face. If he was Pinocchio his nose would be three feet long by now and still growing.

Memo to whoever's in charge of this investigation.

The circumstantial evidence that 'Germantown Masjid' is up to no good appears to me, a humble housewife, to be extremely suggestive:

it is "the same Germantown Masjid which was at the center of the controversy surrounding the killing of Police Officer Stephen Liczbinski. Incidentally, Mustafa Ali -- the ATM killer who executed two retired police officers -- as well as the Wal-Mart robbers, also attended this Germantown mosque. They are all Salafis -- "pure" Muslims."

"It is known that the Germantown mosque has sponsored "students" going to Yemen to study with the jihadist Sheikh Muqbil -- and after he passed away, another jihadist, Yahya Hajoori."

Obvious next move for police and army, CIA and FBI and Homeland Security?

Without ANY prior warning, raid the 'Germantown Masjid' with overwhelming force - preferably at the time of Evening Prayers. Close the perimeter - *no-one* gets out. Shut off the power and the communications. (That's why you'll NEED overwhelming force). Turn everyone you find inside, including Tariq El-Shabazz, upside down and shake them and see what falls out of their pockets. Take sniffer dogs. Go through the whole damn building and any associated premises from basement to attic. See what you find. In simultaneous raids, search the homes and offices of whoever governs or runs the mosque, including Tariq El-Shabazz.

If you find ANYTHING illegal in the mosque itself or in the homes of any one of its 'prayer leaders' or employees - and if you find things such as beheading videos and jihad recruitment dvds and jihadist literature - then the Germantown Masjid gets shut down, permanently. Record all evidence three times over; then dynamite the place. End of story. No more Germantown Mosque.

Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at August 31, 2008 9:58 PM

it was definitely to study Arabic or Islamic sciences
posted by Matthew, (AKA Yusuf) Smith

Yusuf, what are "islamic sciences"?

Posted by: Susanp at August 31, 2008 11:59 PM

Yusuf, what are "islamic sciences"?

Islamic law, memorisation of the Qur'an, theology (in the case of these schools, from one particular school of thought), hadeeth, the usual things.

Posted by: Matthew Smith at September 1, 2008 6:38 AM

Yusuf, what are "islamic sciences"?

Posted by: Susanp at August 31, 2008 11:59 PM

Here's an example, Susan.

Mo said that the sun sinks in a pool of mud.

And there's your Islamic science!

Posted by: darcy at September 1, 2008 8:44 AM

Susanp

Another example of an Islamic science

If your husband reaches his climax before you when you are conceiving your child, the child will look like him. If you beat him to it, it will look like you.

Posted by: Infidel Pride at September 1, 2008 10:12 AM

Yusuf, what were you thinking?
Why did you revert?

Posted by: interestinconundrum at September 1, 2008 12:28 PM

You really need to study the new rules for dawah in the west, no taking Arabic names, it's easier to fool the kufr into "reverting"...
http://debate.org.uk/topics/books/poston-dawa.html

Posted by: interestinconundrum at September 1, 2008 12:30 PM

Islamic law, memorisation of the Qur'an, theology (in the case of these schools, from one particular school of thought), hadeeth, the usual things.

Yusuf/Matthew

Would that not include the study of jihad?

Do they not learn that the establishment of an Islamic state is an imperative, but that the bin ladens are simply "not doing it at the right time" or "according to correct minhaj"?

Do they not teach that they are biding their time until the conditions are right to "defeat the kufaar"?

Do you learn in their studies that the one who leaves Islam should be killed?

Do they not learn that Muslims should NOT co-exist indefinitely with other religions?

Further, your contention that the Philadelphia salafis are "isolationist but not hostile to outsiders" is laughable - no offense. In Philadelphia, they are KNOWN for being extremely rude to non-Muslims.

The fact is that they DO believe in jihad.
They DO believe that they should rule over the kufaar

Posted by: Axel Foley at September 1, 2008 12:40 PM

Yes, it seems like the word 'science' is used rather liberally these days.

Posted by: Abu Allah at September 2, 2008 2:49 PM

Please tell me what does any of those robberies mentioned above have to do with Islam? Is it because these acts were committed by Muslims. So why aren't all of the armed robberies and murders that are committed by Jews and Christians categorized and placed on a pedestal. Why are we paying so much attention to these men and women who may worship differently than any of us, but who are still human beings and spill the same color bloods as everyone in the world? Or why aren’t we calling Jewish and Christian men in women that practice their religion to the "extreme" who call for fighting like these so call "jihadist", jihadist themselves? Didn't the crusaders "for Christ" say fight against the infidels (all of those who did not think like them and practice their religion like them.) Does it not say in the bible to defend you religion and let no one defile it and to fight those who do? From the beginning of time until now man has been taught to defend that which is dear to him for Muslim it’s their God, their Prophets, and their way of life. As for every other religion even atheist practice this code. So who are we to tell people they are not allowed to worship the way they want and where they want and to hold the belief they want. And as for the "learnt" man Axel Foley: Is not any other religion taught to be dominant among the people, are they not taught to teach and spread their belief and if they are not followed to strike them with a power strike? For instance back with the crusaders they invaded Jerusalem and tried to take the land from both the Muslims and the Jews with force and were they not taught this by the very people that called their selves religious scholars of the Christian faith (who in fact were jihadists{those who wage war}) And why did they wage war? It was to gain world dominance. I am not saying of this to be rude or to criticize anybodies belief but only to state the truth. I am defending the Muslims and our leaders because this is supposed to be a site with authenticated speech (found under the type key logo. None of the mentioned statements above about the Sheikhs or Masjid are true. The meaning of the word truth extends from honesty, good faith, and sincerity in general, to agree with fact or reality in particular. But as you know you can’t believe everything in the media/News because most times there is no truth in it, they have no basis even to spread such nonsense. By the way if you have not already caught on that I am a proud Muslim Women who attends Masjid Assunnah an nabwiyyah and I can assure you that the masjid does not send or sponsor people to go overseas to study. Or as you so eloquently put it "to learn terrorism". (sarcasm) Also it is the worshippers (Muslim) own duty to his lord that he learns his religion in truth and not blind follow. And it does not matter if one or all of you don't believe a word I said it’s the truth and my lord and yours will let the truth be known even if not one single person follows it. As a people we all are taught hate the things we Fear the Most. I hope you all learn and stop spreading lies to gain some worldly advantages. Because we all are taught right and wrong with that hate and we know that spreading lies is wrong and furthermore a major sin in all religion. We have the ability to think for ourselves and distinguish between truth and falsehood. Thank you all very much for letting me share. please don't try to twist and misconstrue anything that I have said because it was all said with the clearest of speech and does not need explaining, Even a "learnt" man or woman can understand it.

Posted by: umm at September 6, 2008 4:17 PM