Federal authorities have charged a prominent Islamist online educator in Alabama with conspiracy to produce child pornography. In a complaint filed on October 29, 2024, the FBI accused Wisam Sharieff, a Quran recitation teacher at AlMaghrib Institute in Houston, of encouraging a woman and her minor child, whom he met at a conference in Georgia, to produce sexually explicit videos , which were transmitted via Telegram. According to an FBI affidavit, Sharieff's wife called law enforcement officers in Alabama after discovering explicit texts and videos on her husband's phone. The AlMaghrib Institute, where Sharieff led a dawah campaign called “Quran Revolution,” announced his dismissal shortly after the allegations became public. Information on X that the victim was not a student of the organization.

Damage control doesn't work

AlMaghrib officials also stated: “Allah's religion is not dependent on a single person and the Quran Revolution program will continue as planned with our students.” They also reiterated the school's “long-standing zero-tolerance policy towards teachers who engage in romantic relationships.” their students have”.

The reaction backfired and elicited Hundreds of mocking comments on X. “That’s a terrible answer,” one commenter replied. “This despicable person was not in a 'romantic relationship' but was taking advantage of a minor. This is not a violation of the guidelines, but a CRIME against both ALLAH and the LAW.”

The prominent Islamist publication Muslim Affairswhat had previously promoted Sharieff's ideasalso issued a statement expressing horror at the allegations against the Imam, saying the “alleged actions are an unspeakable breach of trust and a despicable abuse of power that violates the core values ​​of our faith, our community and basic human decency .”

Former Islamist Ismail Royer addressed the scandal on X, praising Sharieff's wife for reporting the abuse. Him too mocked prominent Muslim organizations for deleting their links to the now-disgraced Imam from the internet and sentenced Muslims want to sweep the scandal under the carpet. He has it too sentenced AlMaghrib Institute for failing to address in its public statements how it places “a manipulative perpetrator in a position of trust.”

Texas Islamist Abu Najim Bin al-Iskandar has also commented on the controversy, explain on “Wisam Sharieff has been a darling of American Muslim organizations in the United States for over a decade,” Iskandar explained. “It is simply not possible that he is guilty of the allegations set out in the affidavit, even though no one suspected his proclivities. What I know from American Muslim organizations is that they constantly cover up the members of their networks and clubs.”

AlMaghrib's other controversies

Sharieff's arrest is one of many controversies for the AlMaghbrib Institute, a Houston-based Salafist educational organization founded in 2002 by Canadian-born scholar Muhammad Alshareef.

AlMaghrib, which advertises itself with the slogan “A life-changing experience,” describes itself as the largest academic center in the Western world with a focus on classical Islamic sciences and offers bachelor's degrees in Islamic studies.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to detonate an explosive device hidden in his underwear to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane in 2009, attended courses offered by the facility.

Salafist Imam Yasir Qadhi, the served once served as academic dean of the institute for 15 years explained that Jews and Christians are “the worst of all evils.”

Sharieff himself allegedly studied with the Pakistani Imam Israr Ahmed, who founded the extremist South Asian movement Tanzeem-e-Islami. Ahmed, a leading supporter of the Taliban and other violent extremists in South Asia, has spoken to Western audiences: refer towards Jews as a “cancer” and enemy of Islam, who “do not take advantage of the opportunity to repent, which is why they are visited by great disasters, and the example is what happened to them at the hands of the Germans.” ” The head of the branch of Tanzeem-e-Islami in the United States, the Islamic Organization of North America, supports openly the introduction of Sharia law and the destruction of liberal democracy. In 2017, an unknown number of women accused Another of Ahmed's followers, prominent Islamist imam Nouman Ali Khan, claimed to “use his position to lure and entice women into sexual relationships under the guise of secret marriages.”