Islamic Society of Baltimore

External video
The President Speaks at the Islamic Society of Baltimore

On December 12, 2015, the White House held three meetings with Muslim leaders to discuss concerns about rising hostility toward religious minorities. They pressed officials to consider then-president Barack Obama to visit a mosque, preferably with former president George W. Bush, which has been requested for years.[21]

On January 28, 2016, mosque officials were informed of a possible visit by Barack Obama,[22][1] and plans for the visit to the mosque were made official and announced by the White House on January 30.[21] White House officials stated that its purpose is "to celebrate the contributions Muslim Americans make to our nation and reaffirm the importance of religious freedom to our way of life," which is likely related to the combat of Islamophobia.[21][23]

Barack Obama visited the mosque on February 3, 2016, marking his first presidential visit to a mosque in the United States.[24][25][26] He held a round table discussion with Muslim community leaders[22][27] and made a speech, in which he rejected political rhetoric and violence directed at Muslims, and talked about the role Islam has played in American history.[22]

Many have derided the visit, such as American Muslim and doctor Zuhdi Jasser, who said, "As a Muslim American I'm just insulted, this is disgraceful that this is one of the mosques — or the mosque — that [Obama has] chosen to visit", during an interview on Fox & Friends. Jasser described the mosque as radical, extreme, and not representative of modern Muslim Americans.[13][19][18]

Construction in March 2020

County officials issued a mandate to remove the temporary classroom trailers, as there are too many on the campus. Around ten Al-Rahmah School classes are held in the trailers due to lack of space in the main building. The society developed plans for expansion from older proposed expansion layouts. The society was given permission by the county to start the expansion, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held in October 2018. The expansion plans to add a library, more classrooms, larger prayer areas for major events, and move the Al-Rahmah Quran Academy closer to the main building. The cost is estimated to be around $2 million and was projected to be completed by August 2019, coinciding with the society's 50th anniversary.[10] The 50 Strong campaign celebrated both the society's 50th anniversary in 2019 and the expansion project.[28] The society collected artifacts such as old photos and documents from its past, which was to be presented in a multimedia project on the society's anniversary.[4]

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Islamic Society of Baltimore cancelled all prayers and events, broadcasting programs and religious activities from its YouTube channel to reach people.[29][30][31] Mosque officials formed an all-physician task force to recommend safety protocols.[32] During Ramadan, the society distributed "Blessing Boxes", boxes containing flour, oil, rice, and other househould staples, to help Muslim families affected by COVID-19 break their fast.[33] A drive-through was also set up for families to receive meals while socially distancing.[34] Alongside 49 other local organizations, the Islamic Society of Baltimore received a grant of at least $3,000 from the Baltimore County COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund to promote public health.[35]

While Mohammed Adam El-Sheikh was an imam at the mosque in 2004, he told The Washington Post, "If certain Muslims are to be cornered where they cannot defend themselves, except through these kinds of means, and their local religious leaders issued fatwas to permit that, then it becomes acceptable as an exceptional rule, but should not be taken as a principle." The comment gained controversy with several media outlets,[18] such as The Daily Caller,[18] Fox News,[13] and The Washington Times.[19] ThinkProgress, however, commented that these "right-wing outlets omitted that fact that the quote was a specific reference to the uptick in violence between Israelis and Palestinians — not Americans — and that Sheikh immediately added that 'condemnation of indiscriminate killing of civilians' was widespread in his community."[18]

El-Sheikh is also a former imam of the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Virginia. Anwar al-Awlaki, who was allegedly centrally involved in planning terrorist operations for Al-Qaeda, preached and made sermons at the mosque in 2001.[13] Despite the statements made by news outlets, El-Sheikh "never delivered those sermons himself," as noted by ThinkProgress.[18] The mosque was also served by imam Mohammed al-Hanooti in the 1990s, who was "named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing."[19]

El-Sheikh was a member and "leading figure" of the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan before moving to the United States in 1978.[13][19] However, as he told The Washington Post, he cut relations with the group in 1992.[36]

El-Sheikh was also a co-founder of the Muslim American Society, a group controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood.[19] El-Sheikh was also a regional director for the Islamic American Relief Agency, whose parent organization has been cited by the U.S. Treasury Department for connections to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.[13][19]

The Islamic Society of Baltimore is reportedly connected to the Islamic Society of North America, a Muslim organization "named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a 2008 criminal prosecution in which several individuals were convicted of funneling money to the terrorist group Hamas," according to The Washington Times.[19]

In 2011, Suleiman Anwar Bengharsa, a Muslim cleric, prison chaplain, and imam, gave a two-week course at the Islamic Society of Baltimore on the Islamic teachings of marriage. In the years leading up to 2016, however, he openly endorsed ISIS on Facebook, condemned American mosques as un-Islamic, declared that homosexual acts should be punishable by death, and criticized Muslims who assisted authorities in terrorism investigation. According to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court, in June 2015, he supplied $1,300 to Sebastian Gregerson in Detroit, who used it to expand his arsenal of firearms and grenades, although Bengharsa claimed it was intended for charity. Gregerson was arrested in July and indicted on explosive charges. The FBI suspected the two men of plotting terrorism.[37][38]

In a 2013 YouTube video,[39] Yaseen Shaikh, an imam at the mosque and formerly in Plano, Texas, "characterized homosexuality as a psychological disorder that has no place in Islam or society," and "lamented that gay rights groups have 'hijacked' political discourse," which received negative feedback from news media such as The Daily Caller and The Washington Times.[19]