Left-wing New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani spent part of his campaign week celebrating alongside a Brooklyn imam long accused of extremist ties — including links to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and calls for “jihad” in New York.
The Democratic frontrunner, who has described himself as a socialist, posed beaming next to Imam Siraj Wahhaj at the cleric’s Bedford-Stuyvesant mosque, Masjid At-Taqwa. Mamdani shared the smiling photo on X the day after the first mayoral debate.
Councilman Yusef Salaam of Manhattan, a member of the exonerated Central Park Five, appeared in the picture as well.
“Today at Masjid At-Taqwa, I had the pleasure of meeting with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century,” Mamdani posted.
He added, “A beautiful Jummah,” referring to the traditional Friday prayer.
Wahhaj, 75, who also leads the Muslim Alliance in North America, was named by federal prosecutors as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center that killed six people. He publicly defended the perpetrators, accusing the FBI and CIA of being the “real terrorists.”
The imam has consistently denied any involvement in terrorism.
During the trials that followed the bombing, Wahhaj took the stand to defend Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the “blind sheikh” from Egypt who led a radical Islamic network, describing him as a “respected scholar.”
According to a foreign intelligence assessment obtained by The Post, Wahhaj — born Jeffrey Kearse — once delivered a sermon urging followers to form an army of 10,000 men to carry out a “gun-free jihad” through the streets of New York.
“I pray one day Allah will bless us to raise an army, and I’m serious about this,” he said, telling his audience, “don’t pick up a gun, no. Just march. March through the city of New York.”
“Let them hear your voice. Let them hear it at night. Let them hear it 24 hours, until the whole city can’t sleep.”
“We were very close, recently. We had made intention to raise an army of 10,000 men in New York City,” Wahhaj said.
“Muslim men to go fight in the way of subhanahu wa ta’ala,” he added, using a phrase that means “glory be to Allah.”
The intelligence document stated that “the evidence demonstrates that Mamdani’s political trajectory has not only been supported by activist movements but also reinforced by endorsements and alliances noted in figures with a documented history of extremist views and activities, posing a direct national security threat to New York City and the U.S.”
The same report highlighted Wahhaj’s anti-gay rhetoric, noting that he once condemned homosexuality as “a disease of this society.”
“And you know, brothers and sisters, you know what the punishment is, if a man is found with another man?” he once said, according to a sermon first exposed by Islamic Watch in 2017. “The Prophet Mohammad said the one who does it and the one to whom it is done to, kill them both.”
The report added that Wahhaj discouraged physical violence against LGBTQ people, urging his followers instead to “invite them to Islam and make them feel uncomfortable.”
“The fact that Mamdani stands with this imam is disqualifying,” Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa declared.
“New York needs a mayor who protects New Yorkers from terrorism, not embraces terrorists.”
In 2018, Wahhaj again made headlines when three of his children were arrested in New Mexico after authorities discovered 11 minors living in squalid conditions in a makeshift desert compound.
Prosecutors said one of the children claimed that Wahhaj’s son was training two boys to wage war against non-believers, teaching them hand-to-hand combat and rapid reloading drills.
Investigators concluded that Wahhaj had homeschooled his family and likely influenced the radical ideology of the group.
Wahhaj, however, insisted he was the one who alerted police to his son’s behavior, which led to the arrests. His children were sentenced to life in prison last year.
Andrew Cuomo, the onetime governor now running for mayor as an independent, blasted Mamdani for publicly aligning himself with Wahhaj despite the imam’s extremist record and history of anti-gay remarks — and for doing so shortly after posing with Ugandan Deputy Prime Minister Rebecca, who championed some of the world’s harshest anti-LGBT legislation.
“[Mamdani] is proud to be standing with an unindicted co-conspirator in the 93 World Trade Center terror attack that killed New Yorkers?” Cuomo told The Post.
“The same person who preaches radical hate toward the LBGTQ community, just weeks after Mamdani was caught posing with a family-friend Ugandan politician who passed a law sentencing gay people to jail for life? When people tell you who they are, you should believe them — and Zohran, wipe that smile off your face.”
The intelligence report also identified Wahhaj as a mentor to activist Linda Sarsour, the Brooklyn-based Palestinian-American organizer known for her anti-Israel rhetoric.
Sarsour, a close ally of Mamdani, has been a key figure in his mayoral campaign.
{Matzav.com}
