Imam Syed Soharwardy of Calgary, the head of the Calgary-based Islamic Supreme Council of Canada and the founder of Muslims Against Terrorism.
In a testimony in front of the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence on February 2, 2015, Soharwardy said:
Basically they are U.S. organizations that are operating in Canada. One is called AlMaghrib Institute, the other is called AlKauthar Institute. Both work in universities, not in mosques. Both give lectures. Both organize seminars. They are the ones who brainwash these young kids in lectures. Their topic is very normal: We’re going to talk about the life of Prophet Muhammad. We’re going to talk about how to live in a non-Muslim society. When you look on the surface, the topics are very normal No one has a problem. But when you develop an association with them – not everybody develops a long-term relationship, only a few — then the brainwashing begins. The shoe bomber in the United States attended AlMaghrib Institute lectures.
These people are given a very free hand in our universities and colleges. They are organizing lectures and seminars, but nobody will put a sign up that says “I am recruiting for al Qaeda or ISIL or ISIS.” Nobody will come because they know they will be caught. It is happening, and I know 150 Canadians were fighting for ISIL there. Eighty have come back. This is a serious issue. Three young boys from my city were killed fighting for ISIL. I know one of them; he lived in my neighbourhood. That boy was raised in front of me.
So, again, it is the ideology of intolerance. My dear brothers and sisters, they don’t have intolerance towards Christians and Jews; they have intolerance towards Muslims, and that is because of disagreement. The Wahhabi Salafi ideology does not accept any difference of opinion. I have been called infidel. I have been called kafir. I have been called innovator. I have been called deviant imam. The reason is because I disagree with the Wahhabi Salafi ideology on many levels. I am a proud Canadian. I love this country, so I’m supporting an infidel government.