Islamic Teaching Center (ITC)

Islamic Teaching Center (ITC)

Overview

* Founded by the Muslim Students Association as a subsidiary of the Islamic Society of North America
* Named as one of the Muslim Brotherhood’s likeminded “organizations of our friends” which shared the common goal of destroying America and turning it into an Islamic nation
* Disbanded in 1994


Based in Plainfield, Indiana, the Islamic Teaching Center (ITC) was created in 1977 by the Muslim Students Association of the U.S. and Canada (MSA). The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), which itself was an outgrowth of MSA, was headquartered at ITC’s large complex in suburban Indianapolis until 1994, at which time ITC was disbanded.

ITC trained aspiring imams to become better acquainted with the principles of the Islamic faith; to more skillfully communicate those principles to non-Muslims; and to maximize their own effectiveness as religious instructors for Muslims. Toward these ends, ITC published educational and promotional literature; arranged lectures and study groups; offered correspondence courses; and organized training camps for young religious workers.

ITC also had a prison ministry, called the Department of Correctional Facilities, which sought to recruit Muslim converts from the U.S. prison population. In 1981, ITC contacted some 4,000 inmates in 310 prisons and enrolled more than 500 of them in Islamic correspondence courses.

Dr. Abdullah Idris Ali, who served as ISNA president from 1992-1997, was an ITC board of trustees member. Ihsan Bagby was ITC’s director from 1985-1991.

ITC published several pamphlets by Jamal Badawi, who had affiliations with such organizations as the Consultative Council of North America, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the European Council for Fatwa and Research, the Fiqh Council of North America, the Islamic Society of North America, the Juristic Council of North America, the Muslim American Society, and the Muslim Brotherhood. His ITC-published titles included: At-Tahara (Purity and Undefilement), 1977; Siyam (Fasting), 1977; and Islam: Basic Concepts and Requirements, 1982.

An ITC publication titled Islam at a Glance stated the following:

“Islam protects all noble values and human rights. Freedom, equality, justice, and the right to life, liberty, and security of person are of prime concern in Islamic law….

“Islam places great emphasis on social justice. It opposes all those who exploit, oppress and deal unjustly with people….

“Racism is a major problem in many materially advanced countries…. For 1400 years Islam has shown in practice how racism can be ended….

“It is unfortunate that some teachings of Islam have been distorted and misrepresented in the West and the communist world. The main distortions relate to the status of women, marriage, divorce, jihad or the so-called ‘holy war,’ authenticity of the prophethood of Muhammad…, and the distinction between the Qur’an and Hadith.”

ITC was named in a May 1991 Muslim Brotherhood document — titled “An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America” — as one of the Brotherhood’s 29 likeminded “organizations of our friends” that shared the common goal of destroying America and turning it into a Muslim nation. These “friends” were identified by the Brotherhood as groups that could help teach Muslims “that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands … so that … God’s religion [Islam] is made victorious over all other religions.”

Also named in the Muslim Brotherhood document were:

ITC ceased operations in 1994.

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