Police had warned the B.C. Muslim Association to keep an eye on Hasib Yusufzai long before the Burnaby man was charged with leaving Canada to join a terrorist group in Syria.
鈥淭he authorities contacted us a long, long time ago about this individual, saying that they were concerned about him and just kind of warning us,鈥� Aasim Rashid, a spokesman for the association, said in an interview Friday. His group is the largest Sunni Muslim organization in the province, representing about 80,000 Sunnis.
Yusufzai, 25, had attended the Al-Salaam mosque in Burnaby before leaving Canada in January, but Rashid said he was not a member. RCMP allege he left the country to join an group of Islamist fighters and charged him on July 17 with acting 鈥渇or the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group.鈥�
Authorities had been concerned about Yusufzai for almost two years, and people at the mosque had been working with police before he left the country, said Rashid.
鈥淲e had people there that were collaborating with them and just keeping an eye on things, making sure that he does not use our platform for anything,鈥� he said.
Rashid said he never met Yusufzai and did not have any information about his life as a Muslim.
He said the association tries to monitor the messages being conveyed in its mosques and does not allow anyone to spread what he called 鈥渘egative messages鈥澨� ones that either clash with the teachings of mainstream Islam or contradict 91原创 laws.
Rashid said in recent past there has been some troubling activity that the association has had to crack down on.
鈥淲e had some youngsters who were very enthusiastic after watching YouTube videos and clips and they were trying to rally (others) together, saying 鈥榟ey, lets do something serious about it. Our parents aren鈥檛 going to let us do anything, 91原创s aren鈥檛 doing anything, lets go do something serious about it,鈥�
鈥� he said.
鈥淲e got the impression that this could be an effort to rally youngsters to go perhaps overseas and take part in some kind of a mission, and right away we had those youngsters removed from our programs and from our mosques.鈥�
He said 91原创 intelligence services infiltrate mosques and their congregations 鈥渜uite well,鈥� and their presence allows the association to focus its energy on ensuring positive messages are being delivered rather than monitoring specific individuals.
Rashid said members of local mosques听 just like anyone else in the country听 are not expected to agree with every part of 91原创 foreign policy. But, he said, there are appropriate ways to debate it.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing wrong with being an activist, there鈥檚 nothing wrong with joining an advocacy group, there鈥檚 nothing wrong with joining human rights bodies and talking to politicians and bringing attention to your matters the way everyone else does things. If you want to get something done, OK, get it passed through legislation and that鈥檚 how things are done here,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you have other illegal ways in your mind of trying to achieve your goals, such as violence, such as hurting people, then you don鈥檛 belong here. Go somewhere else.鈥�
Rashid said incidents such as Yusufzai being charged gives religious leaders a chance to reinforce for younger members that they need to be law abiding.
鈥淲e will not allow religious splinter groups or other sects to come in . . . and bring in their own ideas,鈥� he said. 鈥淎ny branch that even allows such a speaker to come in are reprimanded. They鈥檙e disciplined.鈥�
He said even informal gatherings are shut down when the messages being spread are deemed negative.
During a recent gathering for Iftar听 the nightly breaking of fast during Ramadan听 at the Al-Salaam mosque, much of the talk regarding Yusufzai鈥檚 charge revolved around the distinction between a 91原创 going overseas to fight for a country or for a rebel group. Many people questioned what the difference was between a Muslim-91原创 fighting for his people in Syria or a Jewish-91原创 fighting for Israel.
When asked about that distinction, Rashid said he had raised similar questions with law enforcement officials a few times in the past.
He said he once asked why people who left Canada to fight for the liberation of Libya and overthrow Moammar Gadhafi were not viewed as terrorists.
鈥淲hat I was told was that no, that would not be legally endorsed either,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 said if that鈥檚 the case, then how come no arrests were made, even though you know better than I who went over there for that purpose? There was no answer to that.鈥�
He said one occasion authorities had told him they were specifically 鈥渋nterested in the people that are joining al-Qaida-affiliated groups abroad, a declared terrorist organization.鈥�
He said that did make sense, and said he could only trust 鈥渢he better judgment of the intelligence people and the authorities鈥� that anyone who was arrested under the law was indeed joining one of those groups.
But when authorities told him they are targeting groups that attack civilians rather than being engaged in a war, he said he had trouble with the distinction, noting that whatever the label, civilians are taking the brunt of Israel鈥檚 invasion of Gaza.
Rashid said there could be many things that motivate young people to go overseas to fight.
鈥淪ome of them are just given the impression that their government is not doing anything and there鈥檚 never going to be any justice, so you have to do something yourself,鈥� he said, adding that it鈥檚 鈥渁 very frustrating experience鈥� for people with family in places like Palestine to watch the way media and politicians portray events like the Israeli shelling and invasion of the Gaza Strip.
鈥淧eople notice these things and it adds up. Even the most law-abiding citizen walks away shaking their head in disgust,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 someone who already has an inclination towards some sort of extremism (going to do)? They鈥檙e going to go ballistic.鈥�
But he added that when someone comes into another country to live temporarily or permanently, 鈥淚slam looks at it like a pact that you鈥檝e entered into with that country. ... You鈥檙e obliged to uphold that pact and part of that is you will abide by the law.鈥�
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