Law Enforcement Officials Express Concerns Over Conservative Islamic Movement

July 14, 2003

Source: The New York Times

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nyt/20030714/ts_nyt/amuslimmissionarygroupdrawsnewscrutinyinus

On July 14, 2003 The New York Times reported that "founded in rural India 75 years ago, Tablighi Jamaat is one of the most widespread and conservative Islamic movements in the world. It describes itself as a nonpolitical, and nonviolent, group interested in nothing more than proselytizing and bringing wayward Muslims back to Islam... But since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Tablighi Jamaat, once little known outside Muslim countries, has increasingly attracted the interest of federal investigators, cropping up on the margins of at least four high-profile terrorism cases... Law enforcement officials say the group has been caught up in such cases because of its global reach and reputation for rejecting such worldly activities as politics, precisely the qualities that are exploited by terror groups like Al Qaeda."