Niraj Warikoo

Detroit Free Press

ISIS lists Hisham Kabbani, 71, of Michigan, as 1 of 5 Muslim-American religious leaders to be killed

10 Muslim leaders in U.S. were placed on a hit list by ISIS, 7 in U.K., 2 in Canada, 1 in Australia

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, who is Sufi Muslim, has been outspoken against Islamic extremists for decades

ISIS alleges that Hisham Kabbani and other leaders like him in the West are not true Muslims

ISIS is threatening to kill a moderate Muslim leader in a Flint suburb who's been outspoken for decades against extremism.

In the latest issue of its online magazine, ISIS lists Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, 71, of Fenton, as one of five Muslim-American religious leaders and scholars who should be killed because, it says, they are "apostates" and "crusaders" who have deviated from Islam.

In addition to the five Muslim religious leaders, ISIS says five Muslim-American politicians or government officials also should be killed, including two who are former Michigan residents: U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and Huma Abedin, a close aide to Hillary Clinton.

The FBI's Detroit office confirmed on Thursday the threat against Kabbani and others, but did not comment further.

"We are aware of the information, but beyond that, we are not commenting at this time," said Jill Washburn, spokeswoman for the Detroit office of the FBI.

Kabbani and officials with his institutions could not be reached on Thursday by phone, e-mail, their websites and social media accounts.

The 10 Muslim Americans whom ISIS put on its hit list represent a range of beliefs and schools of thought within Islam. All were strongly condemned by ISIS in its magazine for, ISIS alleged, not being true Muslims.

In its magazine, ISIS criticized Kabbani for promoting a peaceful idea of jihad, not the violent version that ISIS endorses. Kabbani drew national attention in 1999 when he said that many mosques in the U.S. were led by extremists.

Born in Lebanon, Kabbani moved to the U.S. in 1991 and is a Sufi Muslim leader with a wide following. He is known worldwide for his views on religion.

An author of about a dozen books on Islam, he travels frequently to speak and has been a critic of extremism among some Muslim Americans in the U.S. After the Sept. 11 attacks, he was invited by then-President George W. Bush to attend the prayer service at the National Cathedral on Sept. 14, which he attended. He has opened 23 Sufi mosques in the U.S. and Canada, according to a biography on his website.

"Kabbani advocates an understanding of Islam described by his supporters as fundamentally based on peace, tolerance, respect and love," says his Facebook page, which has been liked more than 700,000 times. "Shaykh Kabbani has been an outspoken critique of extremism as well as the Wahhabi doctrine," referring to a school of thought from Saudi Arabia that critics like Kabbani say promotes extremism.

Kabbani is a teacher and leader with the Naqshbandiyya-Nazimiyya Sufi Order, which it says has about 2 million followers. Sufis often focus on internal spirituality and sometimes on mystical experiences.

Kabbani founded and leads the Islamic Supreme Council of America, based in Fenton. In 2001, he opened an Islamic center in Burton, the As-Siddiq Institute & Mosque. After the mosque opened, U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee, whose district included the Flint area, praised Kabbani on the House floor, saying: "Shaykh Kabbani has worked tirelessly to build bridges of understanding between Muslims and persons of other faiths. He has endeavored to provide insight into the beauty and peace of Islam."

U.S.: Who's funding Dearborn cleric popular with ISIS?

The latest issue of ISIS's magazine was published online this week by groups and experts who monitor extremism, including on a website by terrorism expert Aaron Zelin, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The Council on American-Islamic Relations also confirmed that the magazine was released.

The threat against Kabbani came in a section of the magazine titled "Kill the Imams of Kufr in the West." The word "kufr" is often used to describe non-Muslims and used in a derogatory manner.

In the magazine, ISIS rails against Muslims in the West. It targets for death 20 Muslim leaders living in the West, 10 of them in the U.S., seven in the U.K., two in Canada and one in Australia.

Of the Americans listed, five are religious leaders and five are political leaders or government officials, including Ellison, who was the first Muslim elected to Congress, Abedin, Rashad Hussain, appointed last year in the U.S. State Department as the U.S. Special Envoy and Coordinator for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, Arif Alikhan, a official with the Department of Homeland Security in California, and Mohamed Elibiary of Texas, who has advised the Department of Homeland Security.

ISIS attacks Kabbani for, it says, being "quick to ally with any taghut who will allow them to spread their message," using a word that refers to non-Muslims. It includes a photo of Kabbani meeting with Prince Charles of England, with a caption that reads: "The murtadd Hisham Kabbani with the taghut Charles."

"Murtad" means an apostate from Islam.

ISIS also alleges that Kabbani wrote a legal ruling on the Islamic concept of jihad that promoted peace, claiming that U.S. troops distributed it to Iraqis to prevent attacks against them.

In 1999, Kabbani stirred a debate after he said in a U.S. State Department forum that extremists "took over more than 80% of the mosques that have been established in the U.S."

At the time, some Muslim-American groups criticized Kabbani for his statements, which he defended, saying that radical ideology had gained sway in some mosques in the U.S.

In response to ISIS's threats, some on the list fired back at ISIS. Ellison, who grew up in Detroit, said in a statement, using an alternative name for ISIS: "Daesh is a collection of liars, murderers, torturers and rapists. No Muslim I know recognizes what they preach as Al-Islam."

“The fact that I’m on Daesh’s bad side means I am fighting for things like justice, tolerance and a more inclusive world.”

Another Muslim American on the list, conservative preacher Yasir Qadhi of Tennessee, also criticized ISIS, comparing it in a Facebook post on Wednesday to "the fanaticism" of extremists in the past. Other Muslim-American religious leaders on the list are Imam Suhaib Webb of Boston, Waleed Basyouni of Texas, and Hamza Yusuf of California.

In the ISIS article, a photo was included of Nihad Awad, the cofounder and national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Awad was not listed in the text, but his photo was included alongside others who were on the list.

Awad said in a statement on the threats by ISIS: "The best response to such threats is to continue challenging extremism, whether it is espoused by organizations like ISIS or by Islamophobes who seek to demonize Islam based on that group's brutality."

"When extremists of all stripes attack our efforts to promote tolerance and mutual understanding, we know our work is having a positive impact."

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or 313-223-4792. Follow him on Twitter @nwarikoo.