altmuslim
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It started with noble intentions, in the hills above California’s Central Valley, with a group of mostly African-American Muslims creating a place where they could live in peace, away from drug-addled, violence-plagued inner cities. They called the place “Baladullah” (City of God), and were led by a Kashmiri immigrant named Shaykh Gilani. “They become real good citizens. They stop smoking, they stop stealing, they stop living on welfare,” says Gilani. “That is what I teach them.” But somewhere along the way, something went wrong. After 9/11, people grew suspicious of secretive Muslims living on land with an airstrip and firing range. Shaykh Gilani was accused by the US State Department (the accusation was later dropped) of running a terrorist group called Al-Fuqra, whose members are either suspected or convicted of a series of crimes including bombing several Hindu temples and murdering an Ahmadiyya imam in Arizona. Not long ago the Gateway charter school founded at Baladullah had it’s charter revoked by state officials who accused the school – which was raided by the FBI last week – of using public funds to teach religion. Baladullah’s 300 residents strenuously denied any knowledge of Al-Fuqra, as well as any mismanagement at the school, but the damage has been done. This week, Baladullah is all but deserted, as its residents have succumbed to legal, media, and investigative pressures. And Shaykh Gilani? He’s in Pakistan, where his latest brush with fame was being the person that Daniel Pearl was on his way to interview when he was kidnapped and later killed.
Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.
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