The website of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) has announced that Dr. Jamal Barzinji, one of the IIIT founders, was awarded a Community Service award by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). According to the announcement :
Dr. Jamal Barzinji, vice President of IIIT, was awarded Islamic Society of North America’s annual Dr. Mahboob Khan Community Service Award at the Community Service Recognition Luncheon during ISNA’s 45th annual convention in Columbus, Ohio. The luncheon, held this year on August 30, is a prime event at ISNA conventions. Organized by the Founders’ Committee, the luncheon showcases ISNA’s achievements during the preceding year, lays out its financial projections, and recognizes someone who has rendered exceptional service to ISNA in its pioneering days and has continued to support and strengthen Muslim presence in North America.
Both IIIT and ISNA are important parts of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and Dr. Barzinji played founding roles in both organizations. The announcement goes on to provide useful biographical information on Dr. Barzinji who can be considered one of the “founding fathers” of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood:
The award proclamation noted the fifty years of Dr. Jamal Barzinji’s service to Islam and Muslims in the West, beginning with his founding role in the establishment of Muslim Student Society of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland (MSS) in 1959. Most recently he has been the Recipient of the first Faith in Action Award given by the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD), Washington, D.C. in 2007. Along the way, Dr. Barzinji has served as President of the MSA (1972), founding general manager of North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) (1973), chair of MSA’s Planning and Organization Committee, member of ISNA’s Majlis Al-Shura, founding member of International Charitable Foundation, Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS), and the Association of Muslim Scientists & Engineers (AMSE), founding member, Trustee and Vice President of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) (1981), dean of School of Islamic Revealed Knowledge & Human Sciences at the International Islamic University Malaysia (1994 to 1998), and advisor and consultant to various educational, charitable and professional organizations. Dr. Bazrinji has had progressive experience of well over forty years in development and leadership of diverse organizations (business, educational, think-tanks, political and charitable), such as Amana Mutual Funds, Mar-Jac Poultry, Safa Trust, SAAR Foundation, Bank Islam Malaysia, and Nada International. He holds Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering, with a minor in Management from Louisiana State University, U.S.A. (1974), and a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering & Fuel Technology from the University of Sheffield, England (1962).
This biography interestingly omits Dr. Barzinji’s role as a one of the founders of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY, a Saudi youth organization that U.S. government agencies and officials have has helped spread Islamic extremism around the world as well as sponsoring terrorism in places such as Bosnia, Israel, and Kashmir.
Also interesting was the presence at the IIIT luncheon of keynote speaker Dr. James Zogby, president of the Arabic American Institute (AAI). An earlier post discussed Dr. Zogby’s blog post in which he falsely accused “extremist right-bloggers” of forcing the resignation of Mazen Asbahi, the Obama campaign’s Muslim outreach adviser who resigned after the Wall Street Journal queried the campaign about Asbahi’s ties to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. Dr. Zogby’s claim was part of a larger effort mounted by the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters to create the impression that Islam and U.S. Muslims were under attack. Asbahi was recently replaced by another U.S. Muslim with no apparent ties to the U.S. Brotherhood and no objections have been raised to her appointment.