Rabih Haddad

Early life

Rabih Haddad was born into a largely Christian family in Lebanon not long before the Lebanese civil war.

Education

He began his studies at the American University of Beirut but moved to the United Stated when his parents feared for his safety during the Lebanese civil war. He then moved to the U.S. and studied mechanical engineering at the University of Nebraska. His brother, Bassem, also studied at the University of Nebraska. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1994 after marrying an American woman.

Religious conversion and spiritual journey

Rabih’s father was Presbyterian and his mother was Greek Orthodox, but Rabih was never baptized, as his parents wanted him and his brothers to be able to choose their own religion once they were old enough. As a teenager, Rabih started attending a Baptist church in Lebanon with his grandfather. He began to question how Christ could be a prophet and son of God.

When he was 17, he was introduced to Buddhism by a friend. His curiosity about Buddhism did not last long and at 18 he became interested in Islam. He converted to Islam at age 19, shortly after meeting his wife al-Rushaid, who was a Muslim. For a while he did not practice Islam despite having converted, but once he moved to the U.S. he began to attend Friday prayers.

Family life

He married al-Rushaid in 1987 in Ohio, where she had been studying. Between 1988 and 1992 the couple split time between Pakistan and Kuwait. In 1993, they moved from Kuwait to Chicago, where the Global Relief Foundation had already been established. In 1996, they moved back to Kuwait before returning to the United States in 1998. By 1999 they moved to Ann Arbor where Haddad continued to work for GLF. They have children, Sana, Sami, and Rami, and currently live in Lebanon.

Career

Rabih Haddad moved to Pakistan in 1988 and went to work for Maktab al-Khidamat, an organization regarded as the precursor to al Qaeda. He then served as the Director of External Relations for Muslim Aid, a UK-based charitable organization. Rabih Haddad, along with Mohamad Chehade, founded the Global Relief Foundation in 1992. Haddad served as the organization’s president until his arrest in 2001.

Haddad also served as a fundraiser for the Ann Arbor chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). While living in Ann Arbor he also served as an imam at the Islamic Center in Ann Arbor where he also taught school and gave lectures.

Global Relief Foundation

Global Relief Foundation, also known as Fondation Secours Mondial (FSM), was started in 1992 as a non-profit charitable organization, and became the largest Islamic charity in the United States.

Rabih Haddad served as GRF’s president throughout the 1990s and 2000. The FBI had begun their investigation prior to 9/11 on suspicions that GRF has been supporting radical Islamic groups such as al Qaeda. In 2000, agents found that a portion of GRF’s funding was in fact going to terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda, Algerian Armed Islamic Group, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Gama al Islamiyah, and Kashmiri Harakat. GRF was also registered with the Taliban. In addition to providing funds, GRF also promoted jihadist material, particularly the works of Abdallah Azzam who, along with Osama bin Laden, ran the organization that was the precursor to al Qaeda.

In 2001, after 9/11, the U.S. government froze GRF’s assets and arrested Rabih Haddad.

GRF later sued the government for wrongfully designating it a terrorist organization and freezing its assets. The organization remains closed to this day.

Arrest and deportation

Rabih Haddad was arrested by the INS during the raid on GRF and deported back to Lebanon. He was held for having an outstayed his tourist visa, which he had obtained in 1999. His case was labeled as a special interest case and therefore was closed to the press and public under the September 21, 2001 “Creppy Directive”. The Immigration Judge ruled that Haddad was a threat to society because he owned a firearm. Haddad was then denied bail because the government deemed him to be a flight risk. Ultimately after the filing of Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft, a court ruled that his hearings should be opened and he was given another bond hearing. Before the bond hearing could occur, Global Relief Foundation was designated by the U.S Treasury as having terrorist ties.

During his imprisonment, it also came out that he had been dishonest about his declared income. On several occasions, Haddad declared on official documents that he worked for GRF, when he in fact was not officially an employee. Ultimately, his income came from donations raised by GRF. After 19 months in prison, he was deported in July 2003.

At the time of his arrest, Haddad was living in Ann Arbor, Michigan and was an imam at a local mosque.

Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft

In January 2002, several news organizations, the American Civil Liberties Union, and U.S. Representative John Conyers (D-Detroit) sued Attorney General John Ashcroft, Immigration Judge Elizabeth Hacker, and Michael Creppy, who was the nation’s chief immigration judge. They demanded that the hearings be opened and the records be made public. This suit was initiated due to Rabih Haddad’s closed hearings. Haddad and his attorney later also filed a lawsuit demanding that his hearings be open to the public.

In April 2002 U.S. District Court Judge ruled that his hearings must be opened but the Justice Department appealed the decision. His hearings were then opened and he was granted a new bond hearing with a new judge.

Global Anti-Aggression Campaign

The Global Anti-Aggression Campaign (GAAC) was started in Qatar by Dr. Abd al-Rahman al-Nuaimi, a founding member of the Sheikh Eid Organization. It was formed in 2003 to create an Islamist network that campaigns against Western imperialism in the Muslim world. The campaign organizes yearly conferences. Rabih Haddad serves as the group’s Lebanese chief, who was appointed by the Sheikh Eid Organization to optimize the Salafi activities of the group. Rabih Haddad currently serves on the Board of Trustees. Nuaimi also currently still serves on the Board of Trustees of GAAC.

The group is allegedly backed by Hamas.

Terrorist connections

Rabih Haddad worked for Makhtab al-Khidamat (MAK) in Pakistan in the early 1990s. MAK was co-founded by Sheikh Abdullah Azzam and Osama bin Laden in the 1980s. Makhtab al-Khidamat was the precursor to al Qaeda and was designated by the UN for its role in funneling fighters and money to the Afghan resistance in Peshawar, Pakistan. Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, who was killed in 1989, was also Osama bin Laden’s mentor and the historical leader of Hamas.

In a declaration made by FBI agent Brent E. Potter submitted to the immigration and district court, Haddad’s terrorist connections were outlined. The declaration says that GRF communicated with Osama bin Laden’s personal secretary, Wadih el Hage, between 1995 and 1997. Wadih el Hage is currently serving a life sentence for the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings.

The U.S. Treasury department also alleges that GRF received money from Mamoun Darkazanli and Muhammed Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi, two Syrians who were indicted for distributing money to al Qaeda. Zouaydi gave $130,000 to GRF’s Belgium office.

Haddad served as a fundraiser for CAIR, an organization that has constantly been connected to terrorist and extremist organizations and individuals. After 9/11, CAIR accepted donations through Haddad’s Global Relief Foundation.

Dr. Abd al-Rahman al-Nuaimi, who is on the Board of Trustees of the Global Anti-Aggression Campaign with Rabih Haddad, was designated in 2013 as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States Department of Treasury. He is accused of funneling money to al Qaeda representatives in Iraq and Syria, Al-Shabaab in Somalia, and a Yemeni charity tied to Abd al-Wahhab Muhammad Abd al-Rahman al-Humayqani, who funneled the money to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Nuaimi and Haddad both currently serve on the board of GAAC together.