The Quranic Literacy Institute (QLI) was a nonprofit that promoted Islamic scholarship in the United States. After being sued by the parents of David Boim, an Israeli-American killed in a terrorist attack in 1996, the QLI was revealed to have raised and laundered money for the terrorist organization Hamas. In the wake of this revelation, QLI was dissolved in 2004 or shortly afterward.

Early History

The Quranic Literacy Institute operated at least as early as the 1980s, but was formally incorporated in the United States in 1990. The group was founded to create authoritative translations of Islamic texts in English. ¹

QLI was founded by Ahmad Zaki Hammad, an Egyptian Islamic scholar who was president of the Islamic Society of North America and sat on the board of the North American Islamic Trust. ²

Starting in 1989, QLI was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of a probe into money laundering for terrorists. In 1991, Yassin Kadi, a Saudi who has been accused of funding Islamic extremism, gave a $820,000 loan to QLI. In 1997, the FBI seized $1.4 million from a QLI employee, which reportedly “included […] money generated by Kadi’s $820,000 loan to the organization.” ^{3 4}

Murder of David Boim

In 1996, 17-year-old yeshiva student David Boim was shot dead at a bus stop in Bait El, a village in the West Bank. The perpetrators were two members of the Islamic terrorist group Hamas. One of the perpetrators died the following year in a suicide bombing conducted by Hamas; the other confessed to the crime and was sentenced to ten years of hard labor. Boim had been living in Israel since 1985 with his parents, all of whom were American citizens. ^{5 6 7}

Using the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1992, a law that allows American victims of foreign terrorism to collect damages in domestic civil courts, David’s parents, Stanley and Joyce Boim, filed lawsuits in the United States against the Quranic Literacy Institute and several other defendants, all of which allegedly raised money for Hamas. The defendants all denied any connection to Hamas and only acknowledged supporting non-military aid groups in the West Bank. ^{8 9}

In December 2004, a federal jury awarded $52 million in damages to the Boim family, to be paid by the defendants; pursuant to law, the $52 million in damages were tripled. A spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations condemned the decision. ^{10 11 12}

According to federal courts, the QLI “was and is also engaged in raising and laundering money for Hamas.” ^{13 14}

QLI went defunct after the litigation and judgment. ¹⁵

In May 2017, the Boim family filed another suit against American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). The AMP denied any connection with Hamas and accused the Boim family of “Islamophobia.” ¹⁶

1. “Boim v. Holy Land Foundation.” Uniset. November 30, 2005. Accessed April 20, 2023. http://uniset.ca/other/cs5/511F3d707.html.
2. “The Gracious Koran.” Quran Archive. Accessed April 22, 2023. https://quran-archive.org/explorer/ahmed-zaki-hammad.
3. “BOIM v. QUARANIC LITERACY INSTITUTE.” Case Text. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://casetext.com/case/boim-v-quranic-literacy-institute-7.
4. Jackson, David; Cohen, Laurie; Manor, Robert. “U.S.: Money trail leads to Saudi.” Chicago Tribune. October 29, 2001. Accessed April 22, 2023. https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/sns-worldtrade-kadi-ct-story.html.
5. “Muslim charities fined for colony death.” Al Jazeera. December 9, 2004. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/12/9/muslim-charities-fined-for-colony-death.
6. Bacon, John. “21 years after son’s death, parents aim to crush groups that fund terror.” USA Today. May 12, 2017. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/12/parents-us-teen-killed-hamas-sue-palestinian-charity-group/101546712/.
7. “BOIM v. QUARANIC LITERACY INSTITUTE.” Case Text. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://casetext.com/case/boim-v-quranic-literacy-institute-7.
8. “Muslim charities fined for colony death.” Al Jazeera. December 9, 2004. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/12/9/muslim-charities-fined-for-colony-death.
9. Bacon, John. “21 years after son’s death, parents aim to crush groups that fund terror.” USA Today. May 12, 2017. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/12/parents-us-teen-killed-hamas-sue-palestinian-charity-group/101546712/.
10. “Muslim charities fined for colony death.” Al Jazeera. December 9, 2004. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/12/9/muslim-charities-fined-for-colony-death.
11. Bacon, John. “21 years after son’s death, parents aim to crush groups that fund terror.” USA Today. May 12, 2017. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/12/parents-us-teen-killed-hamas-sue-palestinian-charity-group/101546712/.
12. Barber, Amy. “The Real Price of paying Ransoms: The Australian Legal Position Concerning Ransom Payments To Terrorist Organizations.” Austlii. Accessed April 20, 2023. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UWALawRw/2016/13.pdf.
13. “BOIM v. QUARANIC LITERACY INSTITUTE.” Case Text. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://casetext.com/case/boim-v-quranic-literacy-institute-7.
14. “United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.” Uniset. November 30, 2005. Accessed April 20, 2023. http://uniset.ca/other/cs5/511F3d707.html.
15. Bacon, John. “21 years after son’s death, parents aim to crush groups that fund terror.” USA Today. May 12, 2017. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/12/parents-us-teen-killed-hamas-sue-palestinian-charity-group/101546712/.
16. Bacon, John. “21 years after son’s death, parents aim to crush groups that fund terror.” USA Today. May 12, 2017. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/12/parents-us-teen-killed-hamas-sue-palestinian-charity-group/101546712/.