When one thinks of the southwestern part of the U.S. thoughts of cowboys, native Americans, desert scenery, an arid climate among others come to mind – not Sharia compliant Muslims. However, radical Islam also wants to leave its mark on the American Southwest. This seems to be the case with an imam named Talha Elsayed, an Albuquerque Journal article states:

One of New Mexico’s top Muslim spiritual leaders has been held in federal detention for more than two months, despite a judge’s order he be released on bond, a move federal officials say is necessary due to alleged national security concerns.

The article reveals how Elsayed is “a Saudi-born Egyptian citizen and Islamic studies scholar” and that his arrest “leaves the two mosques in Albuquerque without an imam, or priest.” Then further down in the article it shows the mosques Elsayed has been involved in, saying:

Elsayed first came to Albuquerque three years ago at the invitation of the Islamic Center of New Mexico, where he led prayers during the holy month of Ramadan and offered religious lectures. He returned for Ramadan in 2014.

The new mosque in northeast Albuquerque, Dar Al-Salam, invited him back in 2015 as a guest lecturer, and, early this year, the Dar Al-Salam Foundation applied to the U.S. government for a new visa that would let Elsayed work, providing religious instruction.

While one receives the impression after reading the article that Elsayed is just a Muslim victim of ‘unjust’ actions on behalf of federal law enforcement, it fails to expose Elsayed’s radical connections and why he truly is a danger to U.S. national security. The website of the Islamic Center of New Mexico (ICNM) mentions how it “is affiliated with Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and all associated properties are under the umbrella of North American Islamic Trust (NAIT).” Shariah: The Threat to America gives some important background information into these Muslim Brotherhood front groups and some of their networks, stating:

In the 1970s, the Brotherhood formed a number of trade organizations for the purpose of insinuating its members more deeply into American society. Those organizations included the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS), the Association of Muslim Scientists and Engineers (AMSE), the Islamic Medical Association (IMA), the Muslim Communities Association (MCA), and others. The Brothers also formed other student groups in the 1970s, including the Muslim Arab Youth Assembly (MAYA) and Muslim Youth of North America (MYNA).

In 1973, the Saudis created an important new enabler of Brotherhood operations in the United States and domination of American Muslim communities: the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT). NAIT “controls” approximately 80 percent of the titles/deeds to the mosques, Islamic organizations and Islamic schools in the United States, ensuring that the vast majority of Muslim facilities in this country are dominated by the most reactionary strains of Islam.

Typically, along with such ownership come Saudi-trained and appointed imams, textbooks for the madrassas, jihadist literature and videos for the bookstores, paid hajj pilgrimages (the obligatory trip to Mecca) and, in some cases, training for jihad.

According to NAIT’s website, NAIT promotes a lifestyle for Muslims to live in America “in a shariah-compliant way.” The site does not provide a street address for NAIT, but lists office phone numbers that have a Chicago area code.

In 1980, the Brotherhood created a new organization to extend the footprint made possible by the swelling ranks of Muslim Students Association alumni. It brought together most of its groups under the auspices of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), based in Indiana, which today is the largest Muslim Brotherhood front on the continent.

NAIT says on its website, “NAIT supports and provides services to ISNA, MSA, their affiliates, and other Islamic centers and institutions. The President of ISNA is an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees of NAIT.”

The creation of ISNA ushered in an era of massive growth of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in North America. Through the 1980s and 1990s, the Ikhwan created hundreds of new organizations and built hundreds of mosques and Islamic schools across North America. It did so primarily with funding from Saudi Arabia.

In addition, both ISNA and NAIT are listed as “unindicted co-conspirators” in the infamous Holy Land Foundation trial. So we have an imam who is involved with Muslim Brotherhood front groups that are committed to “civilization jihad” – which aims at “destroying Western civilization from within[.]” Furthermore, the Muslim Brotherhood has a history of violence and terrorism – especially in the country where it was founded (Egypt). Elsayed’s background suggest that he was likely involved with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to at least some extent. Elsayed (“charged with overstaying his visa”) allegedly told a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) official:

…he was afraid to go back to Egypt and, if his visa petition was being denied, wanted to apply for asylum in the U.S. According to court documents and an interview with Elsayed, the imam told Dennis he feared persecution by the Egyptian government for his participation in the Arab Spring protests in favor of the democratically elected, then deposed, Islamist President Muhammed Morsi.

So, we have a potential revolutionary that’s a Morsi supporter and helps subversive Brotherhood groups in the U.S. Who knows what else federal law enforcement hasn’t yet disclosed about Elsayed. We see time after time the overlap between hard-core Sharia compliant adherents and supporters of jihad. This could very well be the case, but only time will tell.