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One of the most mainstream Muslim organizations on North American campuses—hundreds of chapters, tens of thousands of alumni (including Huma Abedin).

But few realize:

· It was founded in 1963 with guidance from Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat-e-Islami activists.
· Early funding flowed from the Muslim World League and other Gulf patrons.
· Its leaders helped build ISNA and NAIT.
· And Brotherhood influence still echoes in MSA's DNA.

In this thread, I'll trace:
1️⃣ Who the founders were
2️⃣ How MB ideology shaped MSA's mission
3️⃣ Where the money came from
4️⃣ How the ideology evolved in America
5️⃣.How their alumni influence both the Republican and Democratic parties

As always, patience as I pull together the thread live.

As a reminder, the Muslim Brotherhood *is* Hamas -- it is a sprawling, influential network which has received billions from Saudi Arabia.

One of the 9/11 terrorists was trained in a Brotherhood camp. But the US authorities had turned a blind eye to Brotherhood operations in the USA -- possibly because it was already so embedded in society thanks to influence of the Muslim Student Association and other "mainstream" associations.

Youssef Qaradawi, a Brotherhood official and referred to as the "spiritual leader of Hamas" in some articles I saw, famously said that conquest of the West would come through dawah. Qaradawi named the Muslim Student Association and had 21 million raised through Qatar.

Muslim World League, a NGO of Saudi Arabia, also financed the founding of Muslim Student Association.

MSA's own homepage explicitly says its goal is to promote da'wah (the same mechanism that Qaradawi said that Islam would take over the world).

The Wikipedia page for the MSA claims that it is only a loose confederation of chapters, which gives it plausible deniability. But their handbook says something very different - that strict unification is the Qu'ran ayah which "MSA National was founded upon in 1963." All chapters are strongly recommended to donate to the national one.

A memo written by Mohamed Akram Adlouni, a member of the Brotherhood's Shura Council, lists Muslim Student Association along its organizations.

The same document also describes their end goal: "their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions."

Ahmed Elkadi, U.S. Muslim Brotherhood leader, deliberately sought to expand the influence of Islam through the Muslim Student Association. He also created the Muslim Youth of North America.

The Muslim Brotherhood credited him and his associates with "saving the younger generations from melting into the American lifestyle without faith." His father-in-law was repeatedly jailed for Brotherhood activities.

Anwar al-Awlaki, Al-Qaeda organizer, was the President of George Washington University Muslim Student Association and eventually targeted and killed in a drone strike by Barack Obama.

Guess who else was a member of the GWU MSA just a few years later? Huma Abedin.

Here's perhaps the most serious connection: Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi, founder of the American Muslim Council, is serving 23 years in prison for financing Al Qaeda and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He has power of attorney over many family members imprisoned in Guatanamo Bay.

He was president of the Muslim Student Association during the 1980s as well. He met with the Bush and Clinton administrations frequently, donated to the Bush administration, and founded the Pentagon's Muslim chaplain program.

David Horowitz had a debate with the Muslim Student Association - he could not find anyone in MSA who would condemn Hezbollah. Horowitz got a student to admit they were for hunting down Jews.

Huma Abedin is by and far the most famous Muslim Student Association; I need to do a dedicated thread on her. But if you browse other chapters' pages, you will see they do things like fundraise for UNRWA.

Ahmad H. Sakr, Jamal M. Barzinji, Hisham Yahya al-Talib all played founding roles in MSA. All three were identified in a FBI memo as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

There's tension between MSA and its more liberal Muslim peers. Linda Sarsour spoke at a MSA-affiliated gathering wherein pro-LGBT Muslims were not allowed.

Although MSA is not CAIR, it is still nonetheless very active in shaping the next generation.

Today, approximately 58% of Muslims are immigrants. Recent refugees have been flown in from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, and Somalia, with the majority being under 25 years old.

I will wrap up here. Muslim Student Association might not own political parties like CAIR does -- but they were nonetheless founded to become the Muslim Brotherhood incubator in the USA.

Reddit threads have described Muslim Student Association as being very aggressive in recruiting and ultra-conservative.

Given the refugees that have already been admitted here - the government would do well to keep an eye on their radicalism.