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Left-wing New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is seen smiling, standing hand-in-hand with an Imam, Siraj Wahhaj, 75, who has historical ties as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and known for inflammatory anti-LGBTQ remarks.Councilman Yusef Salaam (D-Manhattan), a member of the Central Park 5 elected in November 2023, was also present in the image. “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 wrote on X about the Friday encounter.
“A beautiful Jummah,” he added, referring to the weekly prayer.
Who is Wahhaj?
Prosecutors have identified Wahhaj as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the 1993 WTC bombing, which resulted in six fatalities. Wahhaj has publicly defended the plotters of the attack against the FBI and CIA, labeling them as the “real terrorists,” New York Post reportedThough Wahhaj has denied any terrorist affiliations, he has a history of extremist rhetoric. He previously testified in support of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, an Egyptian terrorist leader, during trials in the early 2000s.
The imam has faced legal issues in the past, including the 2018 arrest of three of his children for maintaining deplorable living conditions in the New Mexico desert. One of the victims told prosecutors Wahhaj’s namesake son was training a 13-year-old and his teenage brother to fight against non-believers through techniques including rapid reloads and hand-to-hand combat. The intelligence report claimed Wahhaj homeschooled his children and likely shaped the extremist ideology of the busted terror cell.
However, Wahhaj has insisted he was the one who called the police on his sick son and two daughters, leading to their arrest. They were sentenced to life imprisonment last year. Wahhaj has also derided the LGBTQ community as “a disease of this society,” the report found. He once preached during a sermon first reported by Islamist Watch in 2017, “And you know, brothers and sisters, you know what the punishment is, if a man is found with another man? The Prophet Mohammad said the one who does it and the one to whom it is done to, kill them both.”
He discouraged his followers from open violence against the LGBTQ community, suggesting instead they “invite them to Islam and make them feel uncomfortable.
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Whhaj urges followers to participate in gun-free jihad and 'march through New York city'
In a sermon in the early 2000s, Wahhaj, born Jeffrey Kearse, called for a gun-free jihad on New York City, advocating for the recruitment of 10,000 men to march through the city to disrupt it.“I pray one day Allah will bless us to raise an army, and I’m serious about this,” Wahhaj stated, urging followers, “don’t pick up a gun, no.
Just march. March through the city of New York.” He further added, “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,” the imam added, using a phrase that roughly translates to “glory be to Allah.”
Republicans slam Mamdani’s association with Wahhaj
Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa criticised Mamdani’s association with Wahhaj, stating, “The fact that Mamdani stands with this imam is disqualifying. New York needs a mayor who protects New Yorkers from terrorism, not embraces terrorists.” Ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent for mayor, also condemned Mamdani’s actions, questioning his judgement in associating with individuals linked to terrorism and anti-LGBTQ sentiments.“[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 Saturday. “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 imam is a mentor to Brooklyn-based Muslim activist Linda Sarsour, according to the intelligence report. The Israel-hating, Palestinian-American firebrand is one of Mamdani’s mentors and has played a significant role in his mayoral campaign. After news of the meeting broke, Vice President JD Vance criticised Mamdani on X: “I’ve been reliably informed that Democrats are opposed to any kind of political violence, so I look forward to them universally condemning Zohran Mamdani for campaigning with an unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorist plot that killed 6 New Yorkers.”
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