^{Will preventing American Muslims from studying overseas stop or spread extremism?}

An article appearing in a Philadelphia newspaper is ripe with all the action, intrigue & danger of a Hollywood James Bond film. The story chronicles the adventures of 3 Philly area Muslims who left their jobs and families in search of higher Islamic education. However, their spiritual trip overseas proved perilous once they ran into local Yemeni authorities and were arrested with no charge and no hope of getting out. Some might say, "all of this just to study a religion?" Of course, degrees in Islamic and religious Studies can be obtained in local Universities, but these certificates often lack the 'street cred' needed to reach young Muslim converts in the inner-city. Another problem is that these university studies are often seen as useless to some because they fail to employ the only methodological approach that many young converts accept: the Salafi methodology. 1

There are a number of camps that teach and promote the Salafi way in Yemen. The most popular of them being the camp of Shaikh Muqbil bin Haadee Al-Waadi’ee, a famous hadeeth scholar and reformer who has become a legend in Yemen. After his passing, the camp is now run by his students and welcomes Muslims from all over the world to study free of charge as long as they can manage their own living costs. This no doubt is an attractive feature for American converts who are of modest means and fail to gain acceptance to some of the most selective and prestigious schools such as the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia. Plus the more austere and unaffected surroundings feed the nostalgia of the students for the golden ages of knowledge and piety.

Even though students have been coming to the camps since the nineties and is still today a popular destination for many young students of knowledge, lately it has become more difficult to go. With the USS Cole and 9/11 attacks, plus the revelation that the so-called 'American Taliban' John Walker Lindh spent time in Yemen before heading to Afghanistan, a sinister cloud of suspicion has been thrown over the camps. Yemen has become a frequently named hot-spot for allegedly breeding terrorists and extremists and Americans have been dissuaded from traveling there for any non-essential reasons.

Now the Philly newspaper is bringing a new twist to the narrative; enlisting American Salafis to tell others not to go to Yemen. This, along with the outrageous difficulties and restrictions that have been placed on overseas university applicants leave us wondering: Is this the unfolding of a larger campaign to dissuade young American Muslims from studying Islam abroad?

In the coming weeks, the think tank plans to launch a full investigation and uncover the truth on this alleged plot to disconnect American Muslims from qualified Islamic scholarship. God willing.

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1 The Salafi methodology is a simple yet intricate approach to interpretation of the core Islamic texts of the Quran and the Sunnah (prophetic traditions of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). It simply demands that this interpretation be done in accordance with the understanding of the pious predecessor Muslims who accompanied and learned directly from Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and their direct students.