Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal was a member of a terrorist group dubbed the

Portland Seven The Portland Seven was a group of American Muslims from the Portland, Oregon area arrested in October 2002 as part of an FBI operation attempting to close down a terrorist cell. The seven were attempting to join al Qaeda forces in their fight aga ...

, some members of which attempted to travel to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

shortly after

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

in order to aid the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

. In October 2002, Bilal was indicted and shortly thereafter arrested in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. In 2003, he was sentenced to eight years on gun charges and for conspiracy to aid the

in fighting the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

coalition force A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

Muhammad Bilal and the Portland Seven

Patrice Lumumba Ford Patrice Lumumba Ford has been accused of membership in a terrorist group dubbed the Portland Seven, members of which attempted to travel to Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 in order to aid the Taliban. He refused to cooperate with the government and w ...

, Jeffrey Leon Battle, October Martinique Lewis (Battle's ex-wife), Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal, his brother

Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal was a member of a terrorist group dubbed the Portland Seven, some members of which attempted to travel to Afghanistan shortly after the September 2001 attack on the World Trade Center (9/11) to aid the Taliban. He was indicted an ...

, Maher "Mike" Hawash, and

Habis Abdulla al Saoub Habis Abdulla al Saoub, Abu Tarek, (November 19, 1965 – October 2003) was a Jordanian national and member of the Portland Seven, and later a member of an al Qaeda cell. In February 2003, he was added to the FBI Seeking Information - War on Terr ...

made up the original seven members wanted by the FBI. According to the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

, in plea agreements Muhammad and Ahemed Bilal admitted to engaging in martial arts and firearms in order to prepare themselves for

jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...

or elsewhere: On September 29, 2001, Battle, Ford and al Saoub were discovered while engaged in shooting practice in a gravel pit in

Skamania County Skamania County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,036. The county seat and largest incorporated city is Stevenson, although the Carson River Valley CDP is more populous. The ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. Also present was Ali Khalid Steitiye, who did not become an indicted member of the Portland Seven on terrorism charges, but who was separately charged with other crimes. According to the indictment, on October 17, 2001, Battle and al Saoub flew out of

Portland International Airport Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city li ...

en route to

. On October 20, 2001, Ford and the two Bilals also took the same route out of the United States. M. Bilal returned to the U.S. on or about December 24, 2001. The six male members of the group travelled to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in early 2002, with the intent of entering Afghanistan to aid the Taliban. Lacking visas and other documentation, they were turned back, and all but al Saoub then returned again to the United States. On Thursday, October 3, 2002, a federal grand jury in

United States District Court for the District of Oregon The United States District Court for the District of Oregon (in case citations, D. Ore. or D. Or.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of Oregon. It was created in 1859 when the sta ...

, at Portland, Oregon, indicted Battle, Ford, the two Bilals, al Saoub and Lewis. On October 4, 2002, the FBI in Portland, Oregon announced the arrest of four of those original six on charges of aiding and, in some cases, trying to join Al-Qaida fighters. Battle, Ford and Lewis were all arrested that morning in Portland. Muhammad Bilal was arrested at the same time by the FBI in

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...

Sentencing

Ford and Battle are each serving eighteen-year sentences. Lewis was sentenced to three years in a federal prison camp. Ahmed Bilal got ten years. Hawash was sentenced to seven years. Muhammad was sentenced to eight years and was released from prison on September 22, 2009. Muhammad Bilal's lawyer, Andrew Bates, described Bilal as an ""ordinary young man" and a "gentle soul" whose mission to Afghanistan was a "misadventure.""

References

External links

The Oregonian's news archive"Recordings reveal Portland Seven's brutal mindset" article with pictures of Bilal brothers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilal, Muhammad Ibrahim 20th-century births Living people American Islamists Year of birth missing (living people)