Report: Islamists interfere in U.S. elections
by Editorial Board · The Washington TimesOPINION:
Islamist organizations that have finagled tax-exempt status appear to be interfering in U.S. elections and could be the reason Abdul El-Sayed is Michigan’s Democratic nominee for Senate, according to an investigation by the Middle East Forum.
“Weaponized Charity: Islamist Nonprofit Electioneering in America,” released Sept. 24, details how various extremist Muslim groups — including the terrorist-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Organization of North America — openly urged voters to cast their ballots for Mr. El-Sayed, in direct violation of the law.
Tax-exempt groups are prohibited from participating or intervening in political campaigns of any sort.
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Yet Mr. El-Sayed’s “lead of 13,792 votes” in the Aug. 4 Michigan primary “came on the heels of extensive electioneering” across Michigan mosques, the report said.
In June, Iranian-born Imam Mohammed Ali Elahi welcomed Mr. El-Sayed at the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights during a religious service, saying, “I’m going to vote for this man!” and “Voting is as wajib [religiously required] as prayer … everybody vote and let us vote for Brother Abdul El-Sayed,” according to the report.
Imam Husham Al-Husainy — who was removed from President Trump’s 2025 inauguration lineup after complaints about his well-documented extremism — called for the defeat of “the Zionist lowlives” and told congregants at his Dearborn mosque, the Karbalaa Islamic Educational Center, that an election victory for Mr. El-Sayed would constitute a “victory to God.”
On July 24, in a speech at IONA in Warren, Michigan, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad delivered a sermon in which he said, “There is an election on Aug. 4. … The Muslim community in Michigan … you have made history. Continue to make history!”
Just a few days later, at the Muslim Educational Community Center of America in Canton, Sayed Mohammed Qazwini told worshippers that it was “mandatory to go and to elect brother Abdul El-Sayed because at least we know he’s a Muslim, he will support Muslim issues here in this country.”
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Over Labor Day weekend, at its annual convention, the Islamic Society of North America hosted Mr. El-Sayed as a speaker and allowed his campaign to erect an exhibitor booth “soliciting donations and volunteers.”
After Mr. El-Sayed spoke, Azhar Azeez, ISNA’s chief executive, told the convention audience: “As an organization, we don’t endorse any political party or candidate. But [the] American Muslim community is very smart, very wise. They know exactly what decision they should take.”
CAIR has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the governors of Texas and Florida. In 2009, the FBI cut off all contact with the organization on the grounds that it was a front for Hamas.
CAIR and ISNA were named as unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development case, in which what was once the biggest Muslim charity in the U.S. and five of its leaders were convicted of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas.
IONA has a track record of hosting speakers who spew antisemitic rhetoric, such as Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR’s Michigan chapter.
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As of this month, CAIR and IONA are on the IRS’s auto-revocation list for failure to file a “Form 990-series return or notice for three consecutive years.” Yet both groups still appear to be enjoying tax-exempt status as 501(c)(3) nonprofits.
That must end. The IRS must be held accountable and do its job. Radical imams and groups with terrorist links have no business influencing the outcomes of American elections, and the extent to which they already have — while getting tax breaks — must be investigated, now.
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