U.S. media is reporting that Siraj Wahhaj will be the “Grand Imam” for a program to be held at the upcoming Democratic National Convention. According to a Washington Times report:
A storm is headed toward Florida, and there may be another one en route to Charlotte. The first is a hurricane, the second an issues forum that may include as many as 20,000 participants. Either way, there is an ill wind blowing for each city. The Democratic National Convention is endorsing a political platform for the organizers of a program called the ‘Jumah at the DNC.’ It begins with a jummah prayer on Friday, August 31 and ends on September 2, On the surface it appears that the event, organized by the Bureau of Indigenous Muslim Affairs (BIMA), is cultural fun for the whole family whose only political focus is Muslims’ right to assembly, but it is much more than that. The DNC lists the assembly as an ‘official function’ and claims that the leaders of the program are typical of the DNC community. The group is hardly ‘mainstream,’ being represented by Siraj Wahhaj, who will be the ‘Grand Imam’ for the gathering. Wahhaj rose to prominence on the Muslim speaking circuit after he became the first Muslim to give an invocation to the United States Congress. Following 9/11, his fame as a moderate Muslim increased when he stated, ‘I now feel responsible to preach, actually to go on a jihad against extremism.’ The reality of Wahhaj’s efforts is not as moderate as the image he projects, however.”
Read the rest here.
Siraj Wahajj is an American Islamic convert tied to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He has held various positions in the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the American Muslim Council, and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), all part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and he is a frequent speaker at U.S. Brotherhood events. A post from 2008 reported that Wahajj was behind a planned New York subway ad campaign to explaining the meaning of Islam and sponsored by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), another part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.