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Stephen Paster

alleged member of the Jamaat ul-Fuqra

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 6, 2026
Entity authorityQ28113209
Source-derived summary

Stephen Paul Paster (born November 1948) is an American from Bronx, New York who has been widely alleged to be a member of the Jamaat ul-Fuqra.

On July 29, 1983, Paster planted and exploded three pipe bombs at the Hotel Rajneesh, a Portland, Oregon hotel then owned by followers of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. The attack caused $180,000 in damages to the property and severely injured Paster. Though Paster was arrested for the attack, he fled Oregon after being released on bail posted by his wife. The following June he was arrested in Englewood, Colorado and returned to Oregon to face trial for arson. Convicted, Paster was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for his role in the bombing but was released after serving four years.

Following his release from prison, Paster moved to Lahore, Pakistan and allegedly began teaching "advanced training courses" in guerilla warfare.

In addition to the Portland attack, Paster was a leading suspect in two 1984 bombings of Hindu and Vedanta religious sites in Seattle.

Paster is a convert from Judaism to Islam.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Stephen Paster” is alleged member of the Jamaat ul-Fuqra. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Stephen, Paster and alleged, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1948, 1983, 1984—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1949-01-01. For this dossier, Stephen, Paster and alleged is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “alleged member of the Jamaat ul-Fuqra” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28113209. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1948, 1983 and 1984.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Stephen Paster”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Stephen Paster primary sources, Stephen Paster archive and Stephen research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Stephen Paster”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Stephen Paster” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.