Baladullah

Baladullah was an African-American Muslim enclave in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California. It was founded in the mid-1990s, inspired by Shaykh Gilani, and closed in 2002.

History
Baladullah is located in California
Baladullah
Baladullah
Location of former Baladullah enclave

The 440-acre (180 ha) parcel which became Baladulla was once part of a 3,400-acre (1,400 ha) property owned by Synanon, a cult originally established as a drug rehabilitation program.[1] The Tulare County property was one of a few remote rehabilitation centers the group utilized. The parcel sits on California 245, just a mile past the small, unincorporated community of Badger, California in the mountains near Sequoia National Forest.[1] During their time on the property in the 1960s, Synanon built a landing strip and a shooting range. The site was also used as a Baptist youth camp.[2]

The name Baladulla is variously translated to "City of God" or "Allah's City," the latter of which appeared on a sign above the entry gate. The enclave was founded in 1989 by Khadijah Ghafur, a Muslim convert and also an educator in the Fresno area, along with her husband Khadijah Baqi. Ghafur, born as Deanna Moton, was raised in Selma, Alabama and at age 14 she was arrested during a civil rights demonstration there.[1] Ghafur studied and followed the teachings of Shaykh Gilani, a Pakistani cleric who founded the tax-exempt Muslims of America in 1980. When asked about her motivation to start Baladullah, Ghafur said "Sheikh Jilani urged urban Muslims to abandon what he called the 'welfare mentality,' move out of inner-city ghettos and set self-sustaining communities of Muslim families in rural areas."[3] Ghafur and Baqi leased the site and soon there were several dozen people living in the cabins. However, problems arose including neighbors hearing gunfire on the property and numerous building and safety code violations. By 1993, the group had fallen months behind on the rent but they maintained residence there.[2]

In 1998, Ghafur utilized her background as an educator and impressed Fresno school officials with her plans for a charter school serving low-income families.[2] Ghafur opened the first Gateway Academy charter school in Fresno in 2000 and in less than a year, Ghafur had built an empire of a dozen campuses around the state.[2] Local authorities began a probe into Gateway schools, assessing that they were deeply in debt, failed to keep adequate records and allowed the teaching of religion in two of its 11 branches.[1] Balaullah came under even more scrutiny when a 20-year old resident shot and killed a Fresno County Sheriff's Deputy investigating a burglary call.[4]

The September 11 attacks occurred shortly after the shooting of the Sheriff's Deputy and ignited even more scrutiny of Muslim organizations in the United States. Another Baladullah resident, James Hobson, was arrested in 2001 at the Gateway Academy in Fresno for his part in smuggling guns between South Carolina and New York.[5] In 2002, in the midst of numerous investigations, the community was described as dissolving, with "everything must go" signs being posted.[6] The Gateway school charter was revoked and Ghafur was ultimately convicted of stealing money from the program.

Population estimates of the enclave ranged from 100 to 400 people.[7] The property was purchased by a development organization in 2004 and is now a resort.[8]

References
  1. Overend, William (February 21, 2002). "Muslim Hamlet Blames Sept. 11 for New Scrutiny". LA Times. Fresno. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  2. Webby, Sean; Bailey, Brandon (February 3, 2002). "Cleric's followers have hopscotched around California". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved August 2, 2022. Shortly after, Khadijah Baqi leased a former Baptist youth camp in the Central Sierra. Property manager Polly Doyle remembers that the tenant wanted to use the site as a shelter for disadvantaged children and their families. Soon there were several dozen people living in the cabins. But problems arose: Neighbors reported hearing gunfire on the property and local land-use officials found numerous violations of building and safety codes. By 1993, the group had fallen months behind on the rent and the owner filed to evict them
  3. Bailey, Brandon; Webby, Sean (February 11, 2007). "Isolated enclave". San Jose Mercury News. Fresno. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  4. Olson, Dean T. (2012). Tactical Counterterrorism. Charles C. Thomas. p. 55. ISBN 9780398087234. Erik Telen was shot and killed investigating a burglary call at a local residence at approximately 7:00 p.m., August 21, 2001. His killer was Jamaat al-Fuqra member 20-year-old Ramadan Abdur-Rauf Abdullah of Binghamton, New York. On September 18, 2003, a section of California State Highway 168 was dedicated to Telen. In May 2007, the newly constructed Mill Creek bridge on Dunlap Road in Fresno County was designated Erik Telen Memorial Bridge
  5. Emerson, Steven (September 25, 2009). Jihad Incorporated. Prometheus. p. 280. ISBN 9781615920556. Ghafur served as a member of the board of directors of Jilani's Quaranic Open University. The school was located on the premises of Baladullah (City Of God) - a one-thousand-acre MOA settlement that she established around 1989 near Fresno, California, which also was GateWay's main headquarters. Baladullah was the immediate destination for at least two of Jilani's followers who arrived in California. Soon after its founding, neighbors began to complain of hearing loud gunfire on the property. The commune was targeted by local authorities after Ramadan Abdullah, a Jilani follower and Quaranic Open University student, was charged with the August 2001 murder of a Fresno County sheriff's deputy. Another Baladullah resident was James Hobson, who was arrested in 2001 at the GateWay Academy in Fresno for his part in smuggling guns between South Carolina and New York
  6. "Militant Muslims seek Virginia base". Washington Times. July 2, 2002. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  7. Egan, Timothy (April 5, 2002). "Failures Raise Questions for Charter Schools". New York Times. Archived from the original on August 3, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  8. Ellis, Reggie (September 9, 2022). "Former Synanon compound to become site for vacation rentals". The Sun Gazette. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
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