• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Albany, New York: Imam convicted of aiding jihad terror group to be deported

Jun 11, 2019 10:54 am By Robert Spencer

What about all the people Yassin Aref taught at the Masjid As-Salam? What are they doing now?

“Prosecutors portrayed Aref as a religious fanatic. But Manley and others believe Aref’s arrest was a case of entrapment.”

How absurd. Could you be entrapped into plotting mass murder? No? Neither could I. Claims of entrapment are simply an attempt to deflect attention away from the grim reality that some Islamic texts and teachings provide ample justification for committing treason and mass murder. No one could be entrapped into plotting such things unless his beliefs already led him in that direction.

“Albany mosque imam convicted of terrorism in sting deported,” by Mallory Moench, Times Union, June 10, 2019:

Yassin Aref, an imam at an Albany mosque convicted of terrorism in a post-9/11 FBI sting, was deported Sunday night, his son and lawyer said.

Aref, who is Kurdish, will return to Iraq after 13 1/2 years in federal prison and eight months in immigration detention in Pennsylvania.

His son Salah Muhiddin said he received a call from his father around 3:45 p.m. Sunday telling him that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Aref to pack up his belongings and prepare to leave. A little later, the messaging system that he uses stopped working and ICE’s detainee locator stopped listing him as a detainee.

Muhiddin was expecting a call anytime Sunday evening to confirm Aref was at the airport.

“If everything goes smoothly, he should be back in his home country as a free man tomorrow,” Muhiddin said.

Aref’s long-term lawyer Kathy Manley said at a hearing in federal court arguing for Aref’s release last Friday, ICE said Aref would be deported soon.

“We were asking for him to be released because we didn’t know when he was actually going to go. They said you don’t need to do that, he’ll be deported next week,” Manley said.

Aref, who was imam at Masjid As-Salam on Central Ave., was convicted in October 2006 by a federal jury in Albany of conspiring to aid a terrorist group with Central Avenue pizza shop owner Mohammad Hossain, an immigrant from Bangladesh. Their 2004 arrest was based on recorded information gathered during an FBI counter-terrorism sting involving money laundering to purchase a shoulder-fired rocket launcher.

Prosecutors portrayed Aref as a religious fanatic. But Manley and others believe Aref’s arrest was a case of entrapment….

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Featured, immigration, mosques, Muslim clerics Tagged With: Yassin Aref


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Comments

  1. somehistory says

    Jun 11, 2019 at 11:42 am

    The claim of entrapment is much like claiming racism; it’s used so frequently that it has begun to be expected anytime a moslim is arrested, charged and tried for terrorism activities. But, they wish to engage in terror or the “stings” wouldn’t work.
    Someone suggests to another that they make a bomb, take part in mass murder, etc, and unless that person hearing the suggestion wished to so engage, the discussion could end with the one suggesting such being questioned by the police. One look at this guy’s face says enough to know he is guilty as charged.
    The question now is, what will he be doing in his “home country”? Planning more terror is likely in his future.

    • mortimer says

      Jun 12, 2019 at 1:24 am

      One Muslim out of six is a JIHAD-TERROR SUPPORTER and they MAY (or may not) be willing to support and abet it, but less than 1% of Muslims actually want to commit jihad terrorism themselves.

  2. mortimer says

    Jun 11, 2019 at 11:45 am

    15% of Muslims are in favor of terrorist groups. I believe at least one-half of them (7 – 8%) could be enticed or recruited to participate, aid and abet terrorist operations.

    This would mean 9,000 or 10,000 Muslims in the US might be enticed to participate in a jihad plot. This would mean most of the JIHAD-SUPPORTERS in the US could be deported. 85% of Muslims don’t support jihad-terrorist groups.

    85% of Muslims apparently feel that jihad is not something for the modern world. These are DISOBEDIENT Muslims, because the Koran, Sira and hadiths clearly recommend militant jihad as a normative part of Islam.

    The non-militant Muslims are disbelieving Allah’s commands.

    These 85% of Muslims believe they know more about Islam than Allah and Mohammed.

    • Terry Gain says

      Jun 11, 2019 at 12:39 pm

      These numbers assume that the people being asked whether they support terrorism are telling the truth. The likely numbers are probably much higher.

    • gravenimage says

      Jun 11, 2019 at 10:02 pm

      Terry, you are likely correct.

      And Mortimer, even given all the Taqiyya, over half of Muslims even in the West say that they want to impose Shari’ah law on us all.

      • mortimer says

        Jun 12, 2019 at 1:27 am

        People tend to tell the truth in anonymous surveys. The same percentages tend to come up in most countries. Only about 15% of Muslims are approving jihad terrorism. Look it up on PEW and other research companies, rather than making up the numbers that suit your guesses.

        I do not ‘guess’. I check.

        • mortimer says

          Jun 12, 2019 at 1:29 am

          More than 60% of Muslims want Sharia law to be imposed, but they do not say how this will be accomplished. There is a certain amount of simplistic thought and double-think among Muslims. They are not using logic, but emotion. Thus most Muslims are very inconsistent.

        • gravenimage says

          Jun 12, 2019 at 10:43 pm

          Even in anonymous polls, fewer Muslims are apt to admit that they support Jihad and Shari’ah, because they know that civilized Infidels do not like these things.

          But even the reported numbers are horrifying enough.

    • Frank Anderson says

      Jun 12, 2019 at 5:00 am

      friend Mortimer, We agree on much. I think there are 2 problems with your comments.
      1. When you are using the word “people” in your generalization about surveys showing your approval and what I consider a Viktor Frankl “delusion of reprieve”, you characterize muslims with other people. Muslims are different from other people and cannot be covered by the usual generalizations. Muslims are taught from birth as a core teaching that lying whenever advantage can be obtained over an infidel is to be encouraged. There is no “thou shalt not bear false witness” commandment in islam; quite the contrary. What you and I consider obligatory telling the truth all muslims are taught to regard with contempt. Any survey of muslims should be treated with total disbelief.

      2. Under federal law, which DOES apply in the United States, 18 United States Code Section 2, (please look it up and read some cases) (The United States Code Annotated and United States Code Service would be good starting places.), anyone who “aids, abets, counsels or acts in furtherance” of a federal crime is equally guilty. It is not necessary that all participants in a criminal conspiracy do all of the acts, know all the purposes, only that they share the goals and do anything to help accomplish them. “The knowledge of one is the knowledge of all; The acts of one are the acts of all.” These are the legal, binding conclusions of the US Supreme Court and many Courts of Appeals going back at least 50 years, not something I am merely opining. I would be honored to give you case cites to help you start your reading. I have read literally hundreds of cases in my research, and NEVER HAD A SINGLE CASE CITED TO THE CONTRARY in any of my more than 2 decades of litigation.

      Please consult a currently licensed attorney practicing in your jurisdiction for any legal advice.

      Always with greatest respect and sincere admiration.

  3. mortimer says

    Jun 11, 2019 at 11:52 am

    US law allows people to lose their citizenship and become stateless, so someone with a dual citizenship will simply cease being an American and have no right to return to the US as a resident or visitor. This ability to exclude jihad-terrorists from residency should be made firmer in law.

    • gravenimage says

      Jun 11, 2019 at 10:04 pm

      Hear, hear, Mortimer!

      • Rufolino says

        Jun 12, 2019 at 3:46 am

        Meanwhile in politically correct London, Anjem Chowdry walks free.

        • gravenimage says

          Jun 12, 2019 at 10:45 pm

          Yes–insanity.

  4. Walter Sieruk says

    Jun 11, 2019 at 12:19 pm

    This imam of Albany New York is a man of violence. To be more specific he is a man of Islamic violence.
    In all fairness, not every imams in the whole world promotes incites and promotes Muslim terrorism. Still more the enough of them do.

    About all the Muslim clerics, be they living in the UK or the USA or if they are the mullahs of Iran and Afghanistan or the imams of Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia or any other country. All those Muslims clerics are, according to the doctrines of the Bible, Isaiah 8:20. false religious teachers .Meaning false teacher s who teach and indoctrinate the false doctrines of the false religion of Islam into the hearts and minds of others . Such false teachers are described in the Bible ,in Second Peter 2:1. “There were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” [K.J.V.]

    Therefore, to reply to the many different claims made by the imams and mullahs as well as the other apologists for Islam there is the Christian internet site. It’s http://www.answering-islam.org

    In addition, it should be make clear that in the context and meaning of the above Bible verse Second Peter 2:1. The word “destruction” does not mean “loss of being but loss of well-being ,as the destruction of well- being . That is “going to ruin” by ending up and a terrible place of awful suffering which the Bible call hell, Luke 16:19-31.

    • Frank Anderson says

      Jun 12, 2019 at 5:08 am

      W.S. every fundamental writing in islam orders violence. Any effort to moderate or reform a single word of islam is regarded as apostasy subject to the death penalty. This imam is today a person of violence; but all other muslims are people of violence sooner or later, but not now. Only former muslims, who take their lives in their own hands for apostasy have abandoned the “final, perfect, complete, unchangeable” commands of violence, which are often illustrated here..

  5. infidel says

    Jun 11, 2019 at 1:00 pm

    Why are they sparing the family of this piece of S……. Kick them out too…

    • gravenimage says

      Jun 11, 2019 at 10:26 pm

      Authorities should at the very least take a hard look at them.

    • mortimer says

      Jun 12, 2019 at 1:35 am

      Infidel, we do not punish people who have committed no crime. It is unjust.

      • mgoldberg says

        Jun 13, 2019 at 7:52 am

        Indeed, that is so. But the day should come, hopefully will come, when the term ‘Jihadist’ will be a designation for those who have advocated homicidism in the name of Islam and lose their right to citizenship and be forever banned from the U.S.

        • Frank Anderson says

          Jun 13, 2019 at 8:17 am

          Membership in a criminal conspiracy in the US is a crime, whether the “accused” acted personally or not. “The knowledge of one is the knowledge of all; The acts of one are the acts of all.”

  6. Or Else! says

    Jun 11, 2019 at 1:21 pm

    If I’d been indoctrinated with this ideology as a youth, I’d likely believe it, too. Like the majority of Germans who didn’t agree with Hitler, the “peaceful” Muslim majority will likely be irrelevant in the face of those who follow Mo and Al to the letter and undermine Western democracy as we speak. If only the Left would wake up to recognize a real enemy of liberty for all.

    Welcome back, Mr. Spencer! Best of health to you!

  7. Phil Copson says

    Jun 11, 2019 at 1:56 pm

    “His son Salah Muhiddin said ……”If everything goes smoothly, he should be back in his home country as a free man tomorrow.”
    —————————————————————————————————————-
    Given that his own son – a lawyer – recognises that Yassin Aref didn’t regard the USA as being his home, why should anyone else ?

    The same is true of many others such as Shamima Begum, the “ISIS bride” who wants to return “home” to Britain: the simple answer is that she already is “home” right where she is – an anti-Western muslim back in an anti-Western muslim country – seems like the perfect fit really…

    • observer says

      Jun 11, 2019 at 4:49 pm

      Phil Copson

      Beautifully stated.
      A perfect fit indeed.

      So good to have you back Robert.
      My prayers for your ongoing recovery…

    • gravenimage says

      Jun 11, 2019 at 10:26 pm

      Good point, Phil.

  8. ploome says

    Jun 11, 2019 at 3:40 pm

    When are we going to wake up and deport THE WHOLE FRIGGIN FAMILY?

    • Terry Gain says

      Jun 11, 2019 at 10:00 pm

      When are you going to wake up and realize that we can’t just ignore the law.

  9. PRCS says

    Jun 11, 2019 at 4:08 pm

    “Prosecutors portrayed Aref as a religious fanatic. But Manley and others believe Aref’s arrest was a case of entrapment….”

    Both are wrong.

    As it pertains to Muslims–in particular–what’s the official definition of ‘religious fanatic’.

    And, ‘entrapment”? RS explains why that’s just nonsense.

    • Georg says

      Jun 11, 2019 at 5:47 pm

      “what’s the official definition of ‘religious fanatic’”

      The effective definition is one practicing Islamic orthodoxy with it coming to the attention of too many Westerners. Sort of like “Islamophobe” is a Westerner who knows too much about Islam and doesn’t hide it.

      • PRCS says

        Jun 12, 2019 at 12:17 am

        Not bad.

        But, as the prosecutors portrayed him as a religious fanatic, I suspect that they, the defense, the judge, and the jury–ikely not JW readers–all agreed upon upon that subjective, ‘effective definition’ in a court case.

        Gotta wonder if the cleric was asked if he thinks he’s a religious fanatic.

        As with other ongoing criminal enterprises (” I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”), you are right about “coming to the attention of”–the Detroit FGM case being an example.

        P.S. Your Islamophobe definition is so true.

  10. gravenimage says

    Jun 11, 2019 at 9:58 pm

    Albany, New York: Imam convicted of aiding jihad terror group to be deported
    ………………………

    *Good*.

    More:

    What about all the people Yassin Aref taught at the Masjid As-Salam? What are they doing now?
    ………………………

    Excellent question–which few in authority will ever think to ask.

    More:

    “Prosecutors portrayed Aref as a religious fanatic. But Manley and others believe Aref’s arrest was a case of entrapment.”

    How absurd. Could you be entrapped into plotting mass murder? No? Neither could I. Claims of entrapment are simply an attempt to deflect attention away from the grim reality that some Islamic texts and teachings provide ample justification for committing treason and mass murder. No one could be entrapped into plotting such things unless his beliefs already led him in that direction.
    ………………………

    *Very* important point–and one that the sharp Robert Spencer has made before.

    Actual entrapment involves something that reasonable people could be expected to want–such as, say, cheap big screen TVs being sold off the back of a truck. Sure, the most savvy and honest people wouldn’t buy a TV under these circumstances, because they’d assume it was a scam or stolen goods. But hey–everyone likes inexpensive consumer goods, so police are not going to run a sting like this.

    But who wants to mass murder innocent people–even if they thought they could get away with it? No normal person–but that, of course, leaves out Jihadists…

    • PRCS says

      Jun 12, 2019 at 12:20 am

      The savvy might.
      The honest wouldn’t.

      • gravenimage says

        Jun 12, 2019 at 12:33 am

        PRCS, I knew a new immigrant from Vietnam whom I taught to read back in the 1990s. She was a *very* honest person, but had made this mistake because she was ignorant of how business was done in the United States.

        The box she bought was weighted with lumber, and contained no TV. She was very embarrassed.

        But yes–most Americans would know that this was not the way to make a purchase.

        • PRCS says

          Jun 12, 2019 at 12:52 am

          In that instance, she was not being honest.

        • gravenimage says

          Jun 12, 2019 at 10:52 pm

          How was she not being honest? She didn’t think that it was a bad sign that these TVs were being sold off the back of a truck–she just thought that the TV was cheaper because the sellers didn’t have to pay rent for a shop. She was originally from a rural area in Vietnam, and didn’t know much about cities, let alone American cities.

          When she mentioned it at work, she realized that everyone there knew that this was either a scam or a sign of stolen goods–but she hadn’t known.

          I imagine she is one of the few completely innocent victims of this scam, though.

  11. Lydia Church says

    Jun 11, 2019 at 10:36 pm

    Don’t run into this guy in a dark New York alley…

  12. Frank Anderson says

    Jun 12, 2019 at 5:33 am

    Please always give some slack (mercy) when looking at the arguments of defense lawyers. Their function under both the law and rules of professional conduct is to force the “state” to prove its case. Their duty of “zealous advocacy” is limited by an equally solemn duty to uphold the law and the standards of professional conduct. If a defense attorney fails to make a claim on behalf of an accused that is within those limits (zealous advocacy and law/standards), the accused in not being represented “competently”. The claim of incompetent assistance of counsel is a frequent foundation for appeals and misery for lawyers.

    Please consult a currently licensed lawyer practicing in your jurisdiction for any legal advice.

  13. Allan Bailur says

    Jun 12, 2019 at 5:35 am

    I’m absolutely delighted to see you’re back, Robert. Stay well.

    • gravenimage says

      Jun 12, 2019 at 10:52 pm

      Hear, hear!

  14. unbeliever1 says

    Jun 12, 2019 at 10:15 am

    If Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and AOC had their way, there would be no ICE to enforce immigration laws.

    • Frank Anderson says

      Jun 12, 2019 at 10:23 am

      Un, if they had their way the laws would be reversed totally so the invaders would come in and either expel or kill us. They have no commitment except to disregard and destroy the Constitution of the United States and the government it establishes. Don’t take my word for it. Start reading, PLEASE: Spencer, Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam, Warner, The Abridged Koran, Spencer, History of Jihad. And then keep reading. “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free; but first it will make you miserable.” Bible/Thomas Jefferson.

  15. Andy says

    Jun 12, 2019 at 12:01 pm

    Good riddance.

  16. Seeking Deliverance says

    Jun 14, 2019 at 2:20 am

    Entrapment my arse…
    What I want to know is why are the mosques who aided, abetted, harbored, and supported the 9/11 Saudi terrorists not closed within the United States? Why is the one who hosted this guy not closed?

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • John on Muslim cleric: ‘We welcomed the takeover of ISIS because they wanted to implement the Sharia’
  • Vladimir on Muslim cleric: ‘We welcomed the takeover of ISIS because they wanted to implement the Sharia’
  • Linda McGuire on UK: Muslim stabs two women in Marks & Spencer, one in the neck, cops search for motive
  • Linda McGuire on UK: Muslim stabs two women in Marks & Spencer, one in the neck, cops search for motive
  • jacksonl03 on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.