The Islamic Society of Boston (ISB), also known as the Islamic Society of Boston Trust, is an Islamic organization best known for its involvement in the construction and management of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center which, as of 2024, serves 1,500 congregants. ¹

The Middle East Forum (MEF) has referred to the ISB as “one of America’s most virulent wellsprings of Islamist activism.” ²

History

The Islamic Society of Boston was founded in 1981 by Muslim Students Association members in the Boston area, MEF reports, including Abdulrahman Alamoudi, who was later sentenced to prison for conspiring to assassinate the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. ³

Islamist Ties

According to critics like the Middle East Forum (MEF), the Islamic Society of Boston has a history of supporting Islamist organizations and scholars. For instance, in 2016, the Islamic Society of Boston launched the Boston Islamic Seminary (BIS) to train Islamic religious leaders. According to MEF, the BIS features Islamist and antisemitic teachers, including the former head of a defunct Al-Qaeda-associated charity. ⁴

In 2017, the ISB held a Ramadan fundraiser featuring Yasir Qadhi, whom MEF characterized as “a Salafi imam with a long record of preaching hateful views about Jews, gays, Christians, liberals, adulterers, Shia Muslims, and non-Muslims.” ⁵

Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center

In 1999, construction began on the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, which was projected at the time to cost over $15 million. ^{6 7 8 9}

In 2003, the David Project, a pro-Israel group, began a public relations campaign to investigate the ISB, alleging corruption in the acquisition of land as well as financial dealings with terrorist groups, Islamist organizations, and foreign governments. The David Project backed a lawsuit to stop the development of the Cultural Center, but was defeated. ^{10 11}

According to the ISB, the David Project used anti-Muslim sentiment after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to launch its smear campaign with “spurious and guilt-by-association charges.” Due to public pressure, including from the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Center of Jewish Philanthropies, the development of the Cultural Center stalled in the mid-2000s. ¹²

In 2005, the ISB sued the David Project, the Boston Herald, Fox-TV, a Muslim cleric, a Christian political science professor, Boston civic leader William Sapers, and national terrorism commentator Steven Emerson for defamation. ¹³

In 2005, the Boston Globe summarized: “Questions have been raised about the [Islamic Society of Boston’s] past and present leaders, some of whom have supported Islamist terrorism or indulged in virulently anti-American and anti-Semitic rhetoric. There are concerns about the sweetheart deal in which the land for the mosque was acquired from the City of Boston for a fraction of its value.” ¹⁴

The Boston Globe reported on financial documents showing that the Cultural Center was receiving funding from the Islamic Development Bank based in Saudi Arabia. The bank is a subsidiary of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as of 2024), an intergovernmental organization of 56 sovereign states and the self-proclaimed State of Palestine that are either Muslim-majority or have substantial Muslim minorities; 48 percent of the organization’s stock at the time was owned by the governments of Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Iran, which the Globe labeled as “three of the world’s foremost sponsors or incubators of terrorism.” ¹⁵

In 2007, the Jewish Herald-Voice reported that ISB ended its lawsuit against the David Project “only weeks after two of its original Middle Eastern trustees, Walid Fitaihi of Saudi Arabia and Ali Tobah of Egypt, suddenly resigned as trustees just before they were required to submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts court hearing the case.” ¹⁶ That same year, according to the ISB, the organization relinquished control over the community center to the Muslim American Society of Boston (MASB). In 2009, the Cultural Center opened. ^{17 18}

According to MASB’s website, MASB handed ownership of the Cultural Center back to ISB in 2018. ¹⁹

1. “About.” Islamic Society of Boston. Accessed September 3, 2024. https://isbcc.org/about-us/.
2. Swindle, David M. “Hardline Salafist Yasir Qadhi Headlines Islamic Society of Boston’s Ramadan Fundraiser.” Middle East Forum. June 2, 2017. Accessed September 3, 2024. https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/52758/hardline-salafist-yasir-qadhi-headlines-islamic.
3. Swindle, David M. “Hardline Salafist Yasir Qadhi Headlines Islamic Society of Boston’s Ramadan Fundraiser.” Middle East Forum. June 2, 2017. Accessed September 3, 2024. https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/52758/hardline-salafist-yasir-qadhi-headlines-islamic.
4. Westrop, Sam. “The Boston Islamic Seminary Is Training the Next Generation of Extremists.” Middle East Forum. November 19, 2017. Accessed September 3, 2024. https://www.meforum.org/7024/boston-islamic-seminary-training-extremists.
5. Swindle, David M. “Hardline Salafist Yasir Qadhi Headlines Islamic Society of Boston’s Ramadan Fundraiser.” Middle East Forum. June 2, 2017. Accessed September 3, 2024. https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/52758/hardline-salafist-yasir-qadhi-headlines-islamic.
6. Jacoby, Jeff. “The Boston Mosque’s Saudi Connection.” The Boston Globe, January 10, 2007. Archived from the original January 13, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070113134024/https:/www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/01/10/the_boston_mosques_saudi_connection/.
7. Bernstein, David S. “Menino’s mosque.” Investigative Project on Terrorism. November 24, 2008. Accessed September 3, 2024. https://www.investigativeproject.org/1079/meninos-mosque.
8. “Our History.” Islamic Society of Boston. Accessed September 3, 2024. https://isbcc.org/our-history/.
9. Schwartz, Penny. “Boston mosque project chills dialogue.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency. March 26, 2006. Accessed September 3, 2024. https://www.jta.org/2006/03/26/lifestyle/boston-mosque-project-chills-dialogue.
10. “Islamic Society of Boston drops lawsuits against David Project and others.” Jewish Herald-Voice. June 7, 2007. https://jhvonline.com/islamic-society-of-boston-drops-lawsuits-against-david-project-and-others-p2521-164.htm.
11. Bernstein, David S. “Menino’s mosque.” Investigative Project on Terrorism. November 24, 2008. Accessed September 3, 2024. https://www.investigativeproject.org/1079/meninos-mosque.
12. “Our History.” Islamic Society of Boston. Accessed September 3, 2024. https://isbcc.org/our-history/.
13. “Islamic Society of Boston drops lawsuits against David Project and others.” Jewish Herald-Voice. June 7, 2007. https://jhvonline.com/islamic-society-of-boston-drops-lawsuits-against-david-project-and-others-p2521-164.htm.
14. Jacoby, Jeff. “The Boston Mosque’s Saudi Connection.” The Boston Globe, January 10, 2007. Archived from the original January 13, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070113134024/https:/www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/01/10/the_boston_mosques_saudi_connection/.
15. Jacoby, Jeff. “The Boston Mosque’s Saudi Connection.” The Boston Globe, January 10, 2007. Archived from the original January 13, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070113134024/https:/www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/01/10/the_boston_mosques_saudi_connection/.
16. “Islamic Society of Boston drops lawsuits against David Project and others.” Jewish Herald-Voice. June 7, 2007. https://jhvonline.com/islamic-society-of-boston-drops-lawsuits-against-david-project-and-others-p2521-164.htm.
17. “Our History.” Islamic Society of Boston. Accessed September 3, 2024. https://isbcc.org/our-history/.
18. Bernstein, David S. “Menino’s mosque.” Investigative Project on Terrorism. November 24, 2008. Accessed September 3, 2024. https://www.investigativeproject.org/1079/meninos-mosque.
19. “About Us.” Muslim American Society of Boston. Accessed September 3, 2024. https://www.masboston.org/about-us/.