Mubarak Ali Shah Gilani (Mubrik Ali Shah Jilani) is a Hanafi Sufi cleric from Pakistan and founder of the Muslims of the Americas organization.[1] He is "the sixth Sultan Ul Faqr", and with full titles his name appears as "Imam El-Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Jilani El-Hashimi, al-Hasani wal-Husaini".[2]
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In 1978, Gilani published An introduction to Quranic psychology,[3] which detailed his theories about using the Qur'an (Koran) and religious observance to cure certain mental disorders. This was followed up by his An introduction to psychiatry: based on teaching of the Holy Quran and also contains results of scientific demonstration of curing incurable mental diseases in the Psychiatric Institute, Taif, Saudi Arabia, 1976-1977[4] published in 1981.
Muslims of the Americas was founded in 1980 by Gilani on a trip to New York. Among other projects it has model communities in the Town of Hancock, New York, called Islamberg, and in York County, South Carolina, called Holy Islamville.
In 1983 he published his translation of the Rauza-tus-Safa, an influential 15th Century history on the origins of Islam.[5]
Daniel Pearl was on his way to interview Gilani when he was abducted. Pearl wanted to interview him regarding a suspected connection between Gilani and the "Shoe Bomber" Richard Reid.[6][7] Gilani was questioned in Pakistan concerning the abduction[8] but subsequently released.
In a 2002 interview Gilani said that he believed the jinn to be a greater danger to America than terrorism:
Human beings can be made to do things against their will. They can be made to commit crimes. They can made to go and kill people. You know? And all your missiles, all your rockets, space ships go up. And electronics, they can be damaged, influenced, and misdirected through the agencies of jinn beings.[9]