A convention program tells you everything a stump speech tries to hide. This Labor Day weekend in Detroit, Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed will take the stage at the Islamic Society of North America’s 63rd annual convention – and the roster of fellow speakers reads less like a religious gathering than a roll call of radicals.
ISNA was founded as an American arm of the Muslim Brotherhood and named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism funding case. El-Sayed’s father-in-law, Tayeb Jukaku, has sat on ISNA’s founding committee since 2007 and funneled $300,000 into a PAC backing his son-in-law’s campaign. In case you’re wondering – yes, it’s exactly as cozy as it sounds.
But the real story is who else will be behind the microphone.
The company he keeps
Start with cleric Baqir Berry, who offered this during a June sermon:
From Fox News:
We pray to Allah to save our people in South Lebanon from the evil of these Zionists, to support the Muslims and the mujahideen on His path in the East and the West, especially our mujahideen in Palestine, Lebanon, and everywhere. Oh Allah, grant them a mighty victory.
Then there’s Hassan Qazwini, head of the Islamic Institute of America, who appealed to God to “grant victory to our brothers in Iran” – a U.S.-designated state sponsor of terrorism. Even Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign denounced Qazwini for pushing antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Texas imam Yasir Qadhi once called the Holocaust a “hoax” and claimed Hitler “never intended to mass-destroy the Jews.” He later walked those remarks back, for whatever that’s worth. And Siraj Wahhaj, a New York imam named as a possible co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing – though never charged – rounds out the lineup.
Each name worse than the last. But one stands apart.
The hypocrisy no one’s talking about
Pakistani cleric Tariq Masood will also grace the ISNA stage. In 2021, Masood admitted in a sermon that he forced his 13-year-old niece into marriage and advised followers to do the same with their young female relatives. Canadian activists tried to block his visa in 2024 over what they called his “pedophilic rhetoric.”
His convention panel topic? “Avoiding mental illness in youth.” I wish I were making this up.
So let me get this straight. El-Sayed has made a habit of calling President Trump and Republicans “pedophile protectors” over the Jeffrey Epstein files. He’s built a whole brand on moral indignation. And yet he’s choosing – voluntarily, deliberately – to share a convention stage with a man who bragged about child marriage from the pulpit.
His campaign’s response? “Abdul is not affiliated with and does not endorse any other participant of the conference.” That’s not a defense. That’s a press release written by someone hoping you won’t read past the first sentence.
A pattern, not a coincidence
This isn’t an isolated lapse. El-Sayed touted an endorsement from a pastor who praised Louis Farrakhan. He appeared alongside Hasan Piker, who said America “deserved 9/11.” He defended comparing Trump’s role in Jan. 6 to bin Laden’s role in 9/11. Now he’s spending the holiday weekend shoulder to shoulder with Holocaust deniers, terror-case co-conspirators, and a cleric who married off a child.
At some point, the pattern stops being poor vetting and starts being a confession.
Call me old-fashioned, but I believe Michigan voters heading to the polls this November deserve to know exactly who their Democratic Senate nominee chooses to stand beside – because a man’s guest list tells you far more about his values than his campaign ads ever will.
Key Takeaways
- El-Sayed’s ISNA convention roster includes terror co-conspirators, Holocaust deniers, and a child marriage advocate.
- He calls Republicans “pedophile protectors” while sharing a stage with a cleric who married off his 13-year-old niece.
- ISNA has Muslim Brotherhood roots and terror-funding ties – and El-Sayed’s family helped build it.
- A candidate’s associations reveal his values far more than his campaign promises ever could.
Sources: Fox News
