Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed (otherwise known as Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed) is, as we have seen repeatedly demonstrated, a creature of the loony left. In that he walks something of a tightrope, between the loony leftism and his being Muslim, which aligns him with some of the most vicious and intolerant people on the planet. That's an odd state of affairs for a Democrat; the Democrat Party, after all, loves to style itself the party of tolerance and acceptance. Right?
Perhaps as a step or two along that tightrope, El-Sayed will be speaking at the Islamic Society of North America's (ISNA) 63rd annual convention in Detroit in September, and a partial guest list for that event, brought to us by the Washington Free Beacon in a piece published Friday, has on it some real winners; and yes, in case you were wondering, that was sarcasm.
The convention features a rogues' gallery of notorious Muslim figures who've engaged in Holocaust denial and the persecution of Christians and have also been unindicted co-conspirators in terror plots, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. But one speaker stands out for his particularly noxious record: Tariq Masood, an influential Pakistani cleric who is also on the ISNA roster.
So, who is this goblin, and why are we concerned about him in particular?
According to multiple Pakistani media reports, Masood in 2021 admitted in a sermon that he forced his 13-year-old niece into marriage, and advised his followers to do the same with their young female relatives. Masood also said it was a husband's decision whether or not his wife can go to college or must remain a housewife, citing Sharia, or Islamic religious law. In 2024, Canadian activists urged the government to block Masood's visa to the country over his "pedophilic rhetoric."
Masood has also promoted inflammatory views about Jews.
In a 2024 sermon titled "The Final Humiliation of the Jews," Masood said, according to translations of the event, that Jews' "cunning minds" had worked to bring the world under their control.
"The Quran condemns Jews," Masood said, while adding that "not all Jews are the same." He nevertheless claimed that the amount of "evil and turmoil" among Jews was unmatched by any other community in the world.
Lovely sort of fellow. (Yes, that's sarcasm again.)
This is the problem gatherings like this always seem to have: They produce the nuttiest of the nuts, and this convention includes not only pedophiles but also Holocaust deniers, advocates for genocide, not, mind you, the phony genocide the Left is bleating about in places like Gaza, but an actual genocide, and more.
Here are a few other stars of this show:
Other speakers include Siraj Wahhaj, a New York-based imam who was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Texas-based imam Yasir Qadhi, who will appear on several panels over the weekend, has called the Holocaust a "hoax" and said that Adolf Hitler "never intended to mass-destroy the Jews." Hussam Ayloush, an official with the pro-Hamas Council on American-Islamic Relations, will speak on a panel about civic participation. After Oct. 7, Ayloush said that "Israel should be attacked," and that if "you want to pick up arms and defend your people and your land, that is a legitimate right."
Notice that we aren't hearing much from the legacy media over this. Now, apply the shoe-on-the-other-foot rule, and imagine it was a Republican candidate appearing at a similarly odious conference of pedophiles and Holocaust deniers. The hue and cry from the legacy media would be audible on Neptune, but now? Crickets.
These are the people, mind you, who are conquering Europe and are already well on their way to taking over big swathes of some American cities, and in places like Dearborn, Michigan, which a Michgander friend of mine informs me locals are calling "Dearbornistan," they have already succeeded.
Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate for the United States Senate, breaks bread with these people.
Now, El-Sayed's people are already working to downplay his connection to these people, issuing a disclaimer to the Free Beacon on Saturday, but as the saying goes, that dog just ain't gonna hunt.
"Abdul is not affiliated with and does not endorse any other participant of the conference," a spokeswoman for El-Sayed told the Free Beacon. "He is scheduled to participate in a different panel at the ISNA conference to speak on unity and commitment to justice in public service. "
Uh huh.
There's an old saying that applies: You can judge a man by the company he keeps. In this Islamic Society of North America's (ISNA) event, Abdul El-Sayed is keeping company with some very, very undesirable people, and his trying to whitewash the appearance is the worst sort of weak sauce.
Editor's Note: This article was edited for clarity post-publication.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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