Mohamed Louizi: The Muslim Brotherhood is hiding an immense real estate empire in France and Europe
The author of "Why I left the Muslim Brotherhood," was the first in 2016 to publish an investigation into the real estate holdings of the imam, Hassan Iquioussen, and his family. For him, the Iquioussen case is, in fact, the tree that hides the forest. For decades, the Muslim Brotherhood has been discreetly accumulating real estate, houses, local businesses, apartments, and land. The objective is to build up a "war chest" that would permit them to be financially independent, so as not to further depend on money coming from Gulf countries.
Interview by Ian Hamel
-The Canard enchaine (the Chained Duck-satirical paper) claims that Hassan Iquioussen is subject to the wealth tax and that his assets exceed 1.3 million euros. Do you share that estimate?
- Mohamed Louizi: I think this number is very underestimated. This family not only has real estate assets in northern France. Investigations should also be conducted on the coast of Bordeaux and its region. The reportages published at the time of the announcement of the expulsion of Hassan Iquioussen have shown that he and his children, through a multitude of civil real estate companies (SCI), had built up impressive capital investing in stone, renting dozens of apartments in numerous municipalities in the north. In spite of this fortune, Hassan Iquioussen has succeeded for a long time in presenting the image of an ascetic, living modestly. I recall one of his trips to Villeneuve-d'Ascq: He had arrived in an old, dented car. On the other hand, he was living more than comfortably in a very expensive house.
-But do all these assets really belong to Iquioussen?
-That is the principal question that must be asked. Who really owns all the properties purchased in their names by the Iquioussens and their relatives? In fact, Hassan Iquioussen is nothing more than the tree that hides the forest of the Muslim Brotherhood. At present, we must begin to attack the forest. For at least 30 years in all of Europe, the Brotherhood has been accumulating considerable assets, essentially based on stone. The Muslim Brotherhood is buying apartments, houses, real estate, businesses, and land everywhere. With the complicity of elected officials, whether on the left, center, or right, they are seen being sold assets at laughable prices, often without calls for bids. You would have to list all the acquisitions of the Muslim Brotherhood and publish a sort of "black book" for public opinion to finally realize their strategy. The concept of Tamkine, of which I talk about in "Why I left the Muslim Brotherhood", this global project of domination of the West, of the victory without sharing political power, is not only a mental image. It is a strategy, and this is being realized concretely, year after year.
- Why is there so much complicity by elected officials? We have often mentioned the conclusion by Anne-Lise Dufour-Tonini, the Socialist Party mayor of Denain.
-For a long time, these elected officials, either out of true ignorance or simple calculation, have confused Islam and political Islam. They believed that by showing themselves to be complacent about the Muslim Brotherhood, they would automatically gain their votes in elections. Obviously, this confusion is (perpetuated) by the Brotherhood. The Union of Islamic Organizations in France (UOIF) became Muslims in France in 2017, always seeking to make others believe that they represent all French Muslims.
- Can you define the concept of Tamkine?
- The dream of Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 in Egypt, (was) to recreate an Islamic caliphate dominating all of the Arab-Muslim countries, but also the West. The concept of Tamkine is part of the lexical elements of the fundamental terminology of the expansionist ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, whether in Egypt, or Qatar, or Europe and France. The term, in Arabic, is used here. To attain Tamkine, there are several steps, the first being the propagation of Islam, and the next is selecting the individuals who will carry and transmit the Islamic message. The last step is victory, that is to say, domination, without sharing of political power, so that Sunni Islam dominates the hearts and organizes society according to the laws of Allah and in strict respect for the tradition of the Prophet Mohammed. It is simply the creation of an Islamic state.
-So are there not dozens, if not hundreds of Iquioussens in France?
-Hassan Iquioussen, despite everything, has a profile that is somewhat particular insofar as he is known, where he shows himself. Generally, the Muslim Brotherhood chooses its (lesser-known) people in order to fly under the radar. Discreet members of the Brotherhood or even trusted sympathizers. It is they who appear in the SCI, who are officially the managers in regard to the administrations. But in fact, they are no more than figureheads because the real estate and the businesses, in reality, belong to the Brotherhood. It is almost systematic: Beside each mosque, each school, and each establishment connected to the Muslim Brotherhood, you find not just one SCI, but several that gravitate around (it). It is true for the Verreoes school in Lille, the European Institute for Human Sciences (IESH) in Chateau-Clinon, or Syria Charity, etc.
- But how are all these purchases made? Is it solely through donations by the faithful in the mosques?
-Of course not. All of these operations are done in cash. The use of cash evades all control. The donations are mixed with the money coming from outside, mainly the Gulf countries. I will give you a concrete example: In a mosque, the imam announces a project. He turns to a Muslim, a small businessman, for example, and he says to him in front of the whole assemblage: "You, you can give at least 10,000 or 15,000 euros." The designated person then complies. However, when you know a little about the finances of this grocer, his lifestyle, you know that he is incapable of coming up with such a sum. In fact, he is content to give back to the mosque the money that this same mosque previously gave him in all discretion. For the trouble-because he is himself completely (involved) in a money laundering operation, he will, perhaps, keep a small commission for himself.
- How is it that the (tax police) don't stick their noses into this money laundering?
-There are two periods. Before and after the 2015 attacks. Before 2015, the Muslim Brotherhood had succeeded in that the authorities had equated the Muslim religion with Islamist ideology. The Brotherhood passed as the legitimate interlocutor of power. There had been no investigation in the mosques, as there had been none in the churches, the temples, or the synagogues. The few researchers and journalists who denounced radical Islam were singled out, and presented as extremists, people who saw evil everywhere, as Islamophobes. Certainly, the agencies had already written reports, but the politicians did not want to see them due to certain connections with Arab countries.
-Did the 2015 attacks permit the authorities to (finally) open their eyes?
All of a sudden, faced with the horror of the attacks, the Islamists' belly dance no longer seduced (them). We understood that the Muslim Brotherhood encouraged separatism, and was putting out hateful discourse against the values of France. As for me, I have been able to meet with people who have dared to complain about Iquioussen, who no longer described him as an irreproachable imam, but as a real estate developer, a slumlord, who rents unsanitary residences, (who is) implacable with vulnerable people. An individual a thousand leagues from the ideas he pretended to defend.
- Thanks to a vast real estate stock, is the Brotherhood very rich in Europe?
-Absolutely. The goal is that in the years to come, the Muslim Brotherhood will have no further need of money from Muslim countries, primarily, the Gulf countries in order to develop themselves. Their own resources will suffice. I have no figures, but I suspect that their war chest is already gigantic. Hasson Iquioussen now has the tax authorities on his heels as Le Canard enchaine writes. Controls must be expanded, and the fiscal agencies must question all the figureheads as to the origin of their funds.
-Bio Express
Born in 1978 in Casablanca, Mohamed Louizi is an engineer, with a degree in electrical engineering. Former member of the Attawihid wal'Isah movement and the PJD party in Morocco, then with the UOIF in France. He has notably been president of Muslim Students in France (an organization connected to the (French) branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Lille.
He is notably the author of, "Why I left the Muslim Brotherhood: Enlightened return to apolitical Islam" (Michalon, 2017) and "The Republic at home, Islam at home" (Fauves editions, 2019).
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