A cryptic email, then a confession: How a Muslim group uncovered moles

Two Muslim activists, CAIR says, had been handing over inside information for years to the D.C.-based Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), which extremism trackers consider an anti-Muslim hate group.The trove of documents and recordings included a 2010 meeting of top U.S. Muslim leaders gaming out responses to hostility toward a proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero; a 2015 conversation about stress caused by then-candidate Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric as well as a deadly attack carried out that year by a Muslim couple in San Bernardino, Calif.; and a controversial recording of then-Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) talking about power dynamics in the Middle East.CAIR last month named Romin Iqbal, a longtime Ohio CAIR leader, as one of the informants, and on Wednesday named a second man, Tariq Nelson, 48, who until about a decade ago was an active member of Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va.Iqbal’s attorney, Dave Thomas, declined to comment Tuesday.He was a Muslim group leader. For 13 years, he allegedly spied for an anti-Muslim organization.This is the first reporting of Nelson’s name, the details of the surveillance, and the perspectives of key people involved, including Nelson, the IPT tipster and the leadership at Dar Al-Hijrah, one of the D.C. region’s largest mosques.Since the spying claims became public last month, perhaps the biggest question raised by Muslims: Why?CAIR has not commented on Iqbal’s potential motivation. “ ‘If someone knocks, ask for a warrant.’ These are real conversations when I was 10,” Al-Akhras recalled.‘Welcome to our world’: Muslims see disparities and dangers in Jan. 6 probeDar Al-Hijrah, the Northern Virginia mosque where Nelson prayed and volunteered, was alerted by CAIR to the presence of a mole a few months ago, said Saif Rahman, the director of public and government affairs at Dar Al-Hijrah. The person considers themselves respectful of religion and came to feel Emerson did not respect the Muslim faith.“I felt I was working for a [pro-Israel] lobbying organization and not against terrorism,” the person said.Dar Al-Hijrah, Rahman said, is focusing on Islamic teachings about repentance and forgiveness.