‘Red flag’: Terrorist’s mosque points FBI to Islamic group that condemns Israel’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Gaza

Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, the man who drove a car into New Years Eve revelers on Bourbon Street after praising the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or ISIS, had been a member of a Houston mosque where an imam claimed that Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler massacred Jews because they controlled the economy.

Jabbar’s terrorist attack claimed the lives of 14 people, and he died in a shootout with police during the attack. His attack injured more than 30 people.

Masjid Bilal in northern Houston, where Jabbar had been a member, sent a message to the community about the attack. The mosque urged the community, “It is crucial that we stay united at this time as we condemn these terrible acts.”

Yet the mosque faces more scrutiny in the attack’s aftermath. The Middle East Media Research Institute unearthed a video showing Imam Eiad Soudan discussing the Jews and Hitler on Nov. 17, 2023. MEMRI also released a video showing Imam Mohammed ElFarooqui discussing the Quranic story of the People of Saturday—a group of Jews who violated Allah’s command not to fish on Saturday, whom Allah turned into monkeys, pics, and rats.

“Our initial review of sermons at the Texas mosque where Shamsud-Din Jabbar reportedly worshipped, the Islamic Center of Greater Houston (ICHG)–Masjid Bilal, shows some disturbing antisemitic tropes,” Steven Stalinsky, MEMRI’s executive director, told The Daily Signal.

“Since October 7, 2023, the MEMRI project on extremist mosques and Islamist organizations in the West has published 220 clips from 27 states,” Stalinsky added. “We have found dozens of examples of outright support for Hamas, Hizbullah, and Iran, and for designated Iranian terrorists–all of whom are anti-U.S. We have also found explicit support for jihad and martyrdom, and many sermons and lectures inciting to violence and jihad.”

Hitler Comments

“Imagine, in Europe, what was happening to the Israelites there?” Soudan asks at a youth committee program recorded on video. He asks why Jews were “destroyed, persecuted.”

He says Jews face antisemitism because “they like to take control of the economy.”

He cites the Quran, quoting, “‘And they spread corruption across the land, and Allah does not like corrupters.’ They seek corruption in the land.”

He goes on to claim of the Jews that “the whole world want[s] them to stay in Palestine” to keep them out of their own countries.

“In the First World War–Germany won or lost? Lost,” the imam adds. “Until this guy, Hitler, with the nice mustache, came to power, and we all know what he did.”

“By the way, Hitler hated the Israelites so bad because of the economy thing, they were in control of the economy, but not only that, they used to consider them a lower level of citizens,” Soudan says. “They used to believe that German blood is above every other blood. Hitler did not only kill many of the Israelites, by the way.”

The imam notes that “thousands of Muslims were killed.”

Mosque Directs FBI to CAIR

When responding to the terrorist attack, the mosque directed members of the community to reach out to the Council on American-Islamic Relations or the Islamic Society of Greater Houston if the FBI asked for comment.

CAIR, which presents itself as America’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, has faced accusations of antisemitism after CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad appeared at a rally next to Imam Abdul Alim Musa, who has called Jews the enemy of humanity, according to the Anti-Defamation League. CAIR claims to have always condemned antisemitism.

CAIR has repeatedly condemned Israel for what it calls the “ethnic cleansing” of Gaza after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks, which CAIR also condemned. President Joe Biden’s White House, which listed CAIR in a document on its antisemitism strategy, disavowed the group in December 2023, after MEMRI published remarks in which Awad praised some Palestinians for “breaking the siege.” Awad claimed the remarks were taken out of context and he had not meant to praise Oct. 7 terrorists.

CAIR also faces criticism for its historic connections to terrorist funding networks, with which the organization denies having any contact.

“I’m sure many of you have heard about the tragic events that took place in New Orleans this morning that are now being classified as an ‘act of terror’ by the FBI,” the mosque wrote. “If anyone is contacted by the media, it is very important that you do not respond. If approached by the FBI and a response is necessary, please refer to CAIR and ISGH.”

Neither the mosque nor the Islamic Society of Greater Houston responded to The Daily Signal’s requests for comment by publication time.

The Daily Signal reached out to the mosque, CAIR, and the Islamic Society of Greater Houston for comment.

CAIR forwarded a Thursday statement condemning the Islamic State and Jabbar’s attack.

“We join the New Orleans Muslim community in extending our condolences to the families of those killed in the horrific, senseless and infuriating Bourbon Street attack,” the organization stated. “May God comfort the families of the victims, heal the injured and protect humanity from those who dare to commit such cowardly acts of mass violence.”

“If reports that the perpetrator was a man with a history of drunk driving and spousal abuse who plotted to kill his family before supposedly experiencing dreams telling him to join Daesh are true, then his crime is the latest example of why cruel, merciless, bottom-feeding extremist groups have been rejected by the overwhelming majority of the Muslim world – from Islamic scholars, to mosques, to organizations, and to individual Muslims,” CAIR added. “We strongly denounce this crime, we stand in solidarity with the people of New Orleans, we encourage anyone with relevant information to come forward immediately, and we pray for a full recovery of those impacted by this crime.”

Stalinsky, the MEMRI executive director, condemned CAIR.

“When there is a terrible incident like the New Year’s New Orleans attack and the mosque with whom the attacker was affiliated references the Council on Islamic-American Relations, it is always a red flag,” he told The Daily Signal. “Our project has documented CAIR leaders expressing open support for the October 7 attack and promoting hatred and antisemitism.”

“Despite the fact that the White House cut ties with CAIR after MEMRI exposed CAIR leaders supporting October 7, many Democrats have yet to distance themselves from such hate organizations,” Stalinsky added.

MEMRI highlighted a series of videos in which CAIR leaders said Israel does not have the right to defend itself, and that Western civilization is not true civilization, among other things.

Jabbar’s History

Jabbar, a 42-year-old Army veteran who studied information technology, divorced two wives and was separated from his third, according to The New York Times. He “pledged allegiance to ISIS” in a video on Facebook Tuesday.

Dwayne Marsh, who is married to Jabbar’s first former wife, said the terrorist had been acting erratically in recent months, “being all crazy, cutting his hair” after converting to Islam. Marsh said he and his wife stopped allowing Jabbar’s two daughters to spend time with their father.

Jabbar’s brother Abdur said the brothers had been raised Christian in Beaumont, Texas, but that Shamsud-Din Jabbar converted to Islam many years ago.

“As far as I know he was a Muslim for most of his life,” the brother said. “What he did does not represent Islam. This is more some type of radicalization, not religion.”

According to a recent poll, many American Muslims (43%) say “Israel does not have a right to exist as a Jewish homeland,” and most say Jews have “too much power” over the media (58%) and federal policy (57%). More than a third of American Muslims (39%) deny the Hamas murders and rapes on Oct. 7.

According to the Pew Research Center, about 55% of American Muslims identify as Sunni and 16% identify as Shia. Others identify with neither group or simply say they are Muslim. While all Muslims follow the Quran and the Hadith (traditions of the Prophet Mohammed), imams interpret these texts widely. Radical groups like ISIS claim that the oldest and harshest texts apply, while more mainstream imams take different approaches.

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]