Opinion ID: 2295861
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Islamic Center

Text: On March 9, 1977, at 12:30 p. m., approximately one and a half hours after the takeover at B'nai B'rith, appellants Rahman, Rahim, and Al Qawee entered the Islamic Center and seized eleven hostages. Each of the three was armed with a firearm and a machete. They entered the office area and grabbed Mushk Ara, a secretary, by the neck. They forced Miss Ara and Mrs. Fauzia Bayoumi, a bookkeeper, into the adjacent office of Miss Von Goetz, secretary to the director of the Center. Miss Von Goetz heard shouting, turned to flee, but was seized from behind. She testified that a hand was clapped over my mouth and I was dragged off my feet. . . . Appellants forced the three women into a corner of the office. One appellant went upstairs to get Mrs. Rauf, the director's wife, and brought her down from her apartment. Dr. Mohammad Rauf, director of the Islamic Center, testified that as he was returning to his office after midday prayers, someone grabbed the collar of his shirt and pointed a rifle at his back. Appellants compelled Dr. Rauf to stand with the other hostages. Shortly thereafter a gunman brought Rauf's wife down from their apartment. Dr. Rauf asked the gunmen, Who are you? One of them replied, You know Hamaas? You know the children who were unfortunately killed? They accused Rauf of misinterpreting Islam in this country. Rauf then saw appellants load their guns. The three appellants collected a total of eleven hostages. Some were employees of the Center; others were visitors. The gunmen took the women into one office and held the men in Dr. Rauf's office, where they bound their feet and hands.
Dr. Rauf was the focus of the takeover at the Islamic Center. Shortly after appellants had taken their hostages, Rahman dialed a phone number from memory and reported, We are now in complete control of the Islamic Center and we are holding [eleven] hostage including Rauf. One of the appellants pulled Dr. Rauf over to the phone and told him to speak. Rauf testified that it was Brother Hamaas on the phone. Khaalis accused Rauf of playing a game against him, blamed Rauf for not doing enough to stop the showing of the movie of Mohammad's life, and accused Rauf of supporting the X's (Khaalis and his men referred to the Black Muslim group headed by Wallace Mohammad in Chicago as the X's). Throughout the siege, appellants at the Islamic Center made demands identical to those being made by Khaalis at B'nai B'rith. They demanded that the movie, Mohammad, Messenger of God, cease to be shown, and that the murderers of Khaalis' family be taken from prison and brought before Hamaas. The hostages were constantly threatened: if the demands were not met, heads would roll. Dr. Rauf personally was threatened with death a number of times. He testified that he was told he would be very lucky to leave this building with my head over my shoulders, and I heard it said more than once that if any move should be made, Rauf's head would roll out of the window. On one occasion, when appellants thought the police might storm the building, Rauf was told to stand up and was held by the neck. A rifle was placed on his back. One of the appellants said that if anything happened, Rauf's head would be chopped off or would be blown off. On another occasion, Rauf's legs were untied and he was brought to the entrance of the building with a rifle at his back. One of the appellants looked through the peephole of the door and said, [I]f there was any foul play . . . Rauf's head would be chopped off first. . . . It was only then that Rauf realized that a box of food had been brought to the door for the hostages. Dr. Rauf was forced to sit in a chair until late in the second evening of the siege, when he was permitted to lie down on the floor. This occurred after he had been told by one of the appellants that Brother Hamaas had decided not to kill Rauf's wife. The hostages were given food and allowed to go to the bathroom, under guard. Two of the women were released before the end of the siege. [9]
Khaalis spoke with Dr. Rauf more than once over the phone. On the second call, Khaalis asked Dr. Rauf to call the ambassadors of Muslim governments, both in Washington and the United Nations, to use their offices to stop showing of the film.. . . Reverend Robert Tesdell, a visitor held hostage at the Center, testified that appellants were very threatening to Dr. Rauf; they warned that he would die unless he saw that those phone calls were made. Dr. Rauf attempted to reach the ambassador of Afghanistan, but he was out of town. Rauf explained the situation to the second-ranking official and asked him to call the other ambassadors  to do something very quickly to get the film stopped. Rauf also called the Consulate General at the United Nations and requested him to call the ambassadors to the United Nations to seek their help in getting the film stopped. This official later called back to report that the showing of the film had been stopped. Tesdell and others testified that calls from overseas newsmen, local persons, members of the hostages' families, and the police began pouring in. Appellants instructed the news media and others to call the number at the B'nai B'rith headquarters to get answers to their questions from Mr. Hamaas.
On Friday, March 11, at approximately 2 a. m., appellants Rahman, Rahim, and Al Qawee were arrested. The hostages were released, 37 hours after the takeover. A police search of the area of the Center where the hostages had been held yielded a loaded revolver, a rifle, a .12 gauge shotgun, knives, machetes, chains and padlocks, a throwing star, a bayonet, and more than 300 rounds of live ammunition for the three firearms.