Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America
Encyclopedia
Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America is the Virginia-based American satellite campus of Saudi Arabia's Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University
, Saudi Arabia
,
IIASA is funded by, and serves as an arm of, the Saudi embassy's Religious Affairs Department. The Institute's Board Chairman is the former Saudi ambassador to America (from 1983 to 2005), Prince Bandar Bin Sultan
.
According to Stephen Schwartz
, IIASA has been a major center for Saudi-sponsored Islamic outreach in America, training imams for local mosques in addition to at least 75 Muslim lay chaplains for service in the U.S. armed forces. Its 400 students pay no tuition. In late 2002, Ali Al-Ahmed
, a prominent Saudi dissident then based in Washington, DC, charged that IIASA, in its instruction on Islam, hewed to an ultra-radical line.
On December 22, 2003, Senator Charles Grassley of the Senate Finance Committee included IIASA in a list of U.S.-based, Saudi-established nonprofits and charities suspected of laundering funds used for terrorism.
In January 2005 the US State Department revoked the diplomatic visas of 16 staffers at the IIASA. According to U.S. and Saudi officials it was "part of the attempt" by the US and Saudi Arabia "to curb the spread of extremist Islamic rhetoric" in the US and "ensure that all Saudi Embassy employees are engaged in legitimate diplomatic activity."
Controversial Saudi cleric and professor at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University, Abd Al-Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan
, taught at IIASA for a while.
Background
The Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America (IIASA) was established in 1988 as a nonprofit organization in Fairfax, Virginia. A satellite of Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in RiyadhRiyadh
Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
,
IIASA is funded by, and serves as an arm of, the Saudi embassy's Religious Affairs Department. The Institute's Board Chairman is the former Saudi ambassador to America (from 1983 to 2005), Prince Bandar Bin Sultan
Bandar bin Sultan
Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud is a prince of the Saudi royal family and was Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States from 1983 to 2005. He was appointed Secretary-General of the National Security Council by King Abdullah on 16 October 2005...
.
According to Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz (journalist)
Stephen Suleyman Schwartz is an American Muslimjournalist, columnist, and author. He has been published in a variety of media, including The Wall Street Journal. He is the executive director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism...
, IIASA has been a major center for Saudi-sponsored Islamic outreach in America, training imams for local mosques in addition to at least 75 Muslim lay chaplains for service in the U.S. armed forces. Its 400 students pay no tuition. In late 2002, Ali Al-Ahmed
Ali Al-Ahmed
Ali Al-Ahmed is a Saudi scholar and expert on Saudi political affairs including: terrorism, Islamic movements, Wahhabi Islam, Saudi political history, Saudi-American relations, and the history of the Al-Saud family. He is the founder and director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs , an independent...
, a prominent Saudi dissident then based in Washington, DC, charged that IIASA, in its instruction on Islam, hewed to an ultra-radical line.
On December 22, 2003, Senator Charles Grassley of the Senate Finance Committee included IIASA in a list of U.S.-based, Saudi-established nonprofits and charities suspected of laundering funds used for terrorism.
In January 2005 the US State Department revoked the diplomatic visas of 16 staffers at the IIASA. According to U.S. and Saudi officials it was "part of the attempt" by the US and Saudi Arabia "to curb the spread of extremist Islamic rhetoric" in the US and "ensure that all Saudi Embassy employees are engaged in legitimate diplomatic activity."
Controversial Saudi cleric and professor at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University, Abd Al-Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan
Abd Al-Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan
Sheikh Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan, born, is a well known scholar in Saudi Arabia and prolific author.He is also known as Sheikh Dr. Abd al-Aziz b. Fawzan al-Fawzan and Abd Al-Aziz Al-Fawzan.-Background and education:...
, taught at IIASA for a while.