Mansour Al-Hadj, a Washington, D.C.,-based researcher on Muslim political movements and extremism, warns of radical forces backing Zohran Mamdani's bid to be mayor of New York City. (Mansour Al-Hadj)
Mamdani’s God Squad includes about a few dozen key players who specialize in painting any critique as an attack on their faith, accusing critics of Islamophobia even as many of them have engaged in strident rhetoric against the U.S., Israel and capitalism.
The Original Imam: America is "filthy and sick"
Mamdani set off a firestorm on Oct. 7 when he walked into Masjid At-Taqwa in Brooklyn and later posted a photo of himself beaming beside the mosque’s imam, or prayer leader, Siraj Wahhaj.
Mehdi Hasan speaks onstage during the Crooked Media - Lovett or Leave It: Live on Tour, on April 25, 2024 in Washington, DC (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Crooked Media)
Hasan’s own record includes sermons likening non-Muslims to "animals" and comparing gay people to "sexual deviants." He has said his views have become more progressive since then.
After a series of plane crashes earlier this year, Hasan wrote on social media, "Make American Planes Crash Again."
He deleted the message amid criticism and said, "I deleted this sarcastic quote-tweet because MAGA and Islamophobic folks are clipping it out of context and trying to ridiculously suggest I’m inciting violence. I was obviously mocking the MAGA slogan ‘Make America… Again’ slogan and highlighting the shocking number of plane crashes under Trump and the FAA cuts. But this tweet was in poor taste, poorly worded, and has allowed people in bad faith to call me a terrorist…"
Yasir Qadhi, a high-profile American imam and founder of the AlMaghrib Institute and MuslimMatters.com, selling the puritanical Salafi interpretation of Islam, literally wrote the book on "Understanding Salafism." Recently, he posted a two-part thread on X endorsing the idea of Mamdani’s win as a "civilizational victory."
Imam Khalid Latif, shown here speaking at Lincoln Center in 2022, is the chaplain at the Islamic Center of New York City. He endorsed Mamdani earlier this year. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld) (Getty Images)
In 2012, Latif led a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia that included Omar Mateen, who would later murder 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the deadliest anti-LGBTQ attack in U.S. history. He has denied radicalizing Mateen and he hasn’t faced the same type of allegations that surround other imams.
After the backlash to Mamdani’s meeting with Wahhaj, he posted: "Happy birthday to my brother Zohran… Keep showing them who we are by showing them who you are."
He invoked the divine to bless Mamdani’s mission, revealing the fusion of religion and politics for the Mamdani God Squad: "May your 34th year be one of clarity, courage, and closeness — to your purpose, your people, and your Creator," ending with the Arabic word for amen, "Ameen."
On Monday, Latif posted a sassy video from the Muslim Democratic Club of New York with a narration, "The name is Mamdani, M-a-m-d-a-n-i," with Latif mouthing the part where the narration turns to, "You should learn how to say it."
That day, Latif delivered a speech to support Mamdani, pivoting to allege Mamdani was now a victim of "anti-Black racism," saying, "Anti-Muslim sentiment is always" a symbol of "anti-Black racism."
In a glowing portrait, The New York Times called Palestinian American political organizer Linda Sarsour a "Brooklyn home girl in a hijab." Over almost a decade, she has been a political mentor to Mamdani, inviting him into the Muslim Democratic Club of New York, which she cofounded. She later endorsed his race for the New York General Assembly, which he won.
Activist Linda Sarsour speaks earlier this year at the Lights for Liberty vigil held in protest of the Trump admionistration's ICE actions. (Photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images) ((Photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)Imga)
All the while, she has been a polarizing figure, once saying about two critics, author and ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali and activist Brigitte Gabriel, "I wish I could take their vagina away - they don’t deserve to be women." Ali is a survivor of female genital mutilation, a practice that involves cutting the clitoris of a young girl with the idea that it will inhibit sexual promiscuity.
As a co-founder of the Women’s March, Sarsour stepped down amid criticism for alleged ant-semitism and not welcoming Jewish feminists who support the state of Israel, or "Zionists."
At a rally on Sunday night with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Imam Latif told 13,000 people: "This is our city. This is our moment."
Some Muslims beg to differ.
"It’s not our moment," said Al-Hadj.
"Across the boroughs, the Mamdani God Squad is banging a drumbeat of grievance after grievance, from Staten Island to Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Long Island," he said. "Across the city’s Muslim institutions, you hear the same drumbeat: They smeared us. They silenced us. They fear us.".
He added, "In that rising volume, something is lost: Muslim pluralism. The God Squad does not speak for every Muslim in New York—nor for every Shia, every Sunni, every immigrant family, or every second-generation kid trying to thread faith and freedom. It speaks for a coalition committed to illiberal ends, with socialist capture of city politics on the one hand and puritanical religious rhetoric on the other. They insist that to oppose them is to betray the community, so they actually push their own tyranny."
Win or lose next week, Al-Hadj said, the Mamdani God Squad had actualized the words that had gotten Almontaser into so much trouble years ago: "Intifada NYC."
Asra Q. Nomani is the author of "Woke Army: The Left-Green Alliance That Is Undermining America’s Freedom," and the founder of the Pearl Project, a nonprofit journalism initiative. She is co-founder of the Clarity Coalition and Muslim Reform Movement, opposing Islamic extremism and advocating for Muslim reform. She can be reached at asra@asranomani.com and @AsraNomani on X.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mamdanis-god-squad-clerics-activists-political-operatives-who-have-his-back