Zohran Mamdani’s imam pal Siraj Wahhaj has a history of vile homophobic comments — and he’s only the latest person with similar beliefs the young mayoral candidate has been spending time with.
Wahhaj, a prominent 75-year-old Brooklyn imam, once called on followers to intimidate the LGBT community into becoming straight and joining Islam — and invoked violent rhetoric about murdering gay people while doing it.
“This is a disease of this society,” Wahhaj said in a sermon first revealed in 2017, advising followers to “defend against these homosexuals.”
“No matter how much the American government and the Canadian government legislated in their law that it is acceptable, it will never be acceptable by the Muslims,” said Wahhaj, who Mamdani visited in Brooklyn on Friday before posting a photo of the pair smiling together.
“And you know brothers and sisters, you know what the punishment is if a man is found with another man?” Wahhaj added. “The Prophet Mohammad said the one who does it and the one whom it is done to, kill them both.”
Wahhaj said people shouldn’t kill gays and didn’t have the right to “go get sticks and start running outside looking for homosexuals” — but that scaring them into changing their ways was perfectly OK in his view.
“You go to them and invite them to Islam and make them feel uncomfortable, but don’t beat them up,” he said.
Despite those comments, Mamdani called the prominent Imam “a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century” in a post on X after meeting with him on Friday.
Mamdani hasn’t returned requests for comment on Wahhaj’s homophobic comments — despite characterizing himself as a supporter of the LGBTQ community for years.
But Wahhaj isn’t the first outspoken anti-LGBT personality Mamdani has been seen gladhanding with.
In July, he was photographed visiting and mugging with Ugandan Deputy Prime Minister and Rebecca Kadaga during a July meeting after he clinched a Democratic primary election victory.
Kadaga was speaker of the Ugandan Parliament in 2012 when she referred to draconian anti-gay legislation she was pursuing as a “Christmas gift” for her people — and helped push the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act over a decade later in 2024.
That bill, which Kadaga helped “architect,” can send same-sex couples to prison for life — and initially sought to impose the death penalty before it was revised.
Mamdani’s camp, however, said he had no idea about her reprehensible beliefs when they ran into each other at an airport and she asked for a photo.
“Zohran’s belief in universal human rights extends to all people, and he has put forward the most comprehensive plan of any candidate to protect LGBTQ+ New Yorkers,” a spokesperson for Mamdani said at the time.
“As Mayor, he will continue his record of action and values to make this a city where trans New Yorkers are cherished, our queer neighbors are celebrated, and each and every New Yorker can be the fullest version of themselves,” they added.
Mamdani’s mayoral opponent, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said such assurances weren’t enough after photo-ops with both Kadaga and now Wahhaj.
“When people tell you who they are, you should believe them — and Zohran, wipe that smile off your face,” Cuomo, who is running as an independent, told The Post on Saturday.
Wahhaj did not respond to a request for comment.
The post Zohran Mamdani’s imam ally Siraj Wahhaj has history of vile anti-gay views: ‘Disease of this society’ appeared first on New York Post.
