Fiqh Council of North America
The Fiqh Council of North America (originally known as ISNA Fiqh Committee) is an association of Muslims who interpret Islamic law on the North American continent. The FCNA was founded in 1986 with the goal of developing legal methodologies for adopting Islamic law to life in the West. According to its website, the Fiqh Council traces its origins back to the Religious Affairs Committee of the then Muslim Student Association of the United States and Canada established in the 1960s. In 1980, after the founding of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Religious  Affairs Committee evolved into the Fiqh Committee of the Islamic Society of North America, and was eventually transformed into the Fiqh Council of North America in 1986. Its 18 members issue religious rulings, resolve disputes, and answer questions relating to the Islamic faith. As outlined in its by-laws, the Council's primary objectives include: "To consider, from a Shari'ah perspective, and offer advice on specific undertakings, transactions, contracts, projects, or proposals, guaranteeing thereby that the dealings of North American Muslims fall within the parameters of what is permitted by the Shari'ah." The Council's opinions are not binding. Executive  Committee and members. "Executive Committee": "Members": Once affiliated to the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood (1973-1977), Mohammed Adam El-Sheikh was a founding member of the Muslim American Society (MAS), which, in his words, was started by ex-Muslim Brotherhood members who felt that "we should cut relations with the [Brotherhood] abroad and regard ourselves as Americans...[who] don't receive an order from any organization abroad". As of 2004, El-Sheikh was serving as the imam of Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center, the same Mosque where Anwar al-Awlaki was once an imam. El-Sheikh stated that the mosque's  sermons never promote terrorism, and that suicide bombings are never legitimate. Jamal Badawi was mentioned among the unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development trial, the largest case of terror financing trial in U.S. history.