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Home Front: WoT
Michigan imam celebrated Graham’s death, prayed for Trump to die before El-Sayed win
2026-08-09
MEMRI video at the link.
[Jpost] A prominent Shi’ite holy man in Michigan celebrated the death of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham
...soft-spoken senator from South Carolina, former best buddy of John Maverick McCain. Since McCain's demise, Graham has become more outspoken, more Republican and more of a supporter of President Trump. The speech he gave in support of Brett Kavanaugh was downright manly and really cheesed off the Dems...
and asked worshippers to pray for US President Donald Trump
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons...
’s death, later urging Moslems to elect Abdul El-Sayed,
…more fully Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, though the Egyptian version is probably longer still, he is the child of Moslem Egyptian immigrants, an epidemiologist who graduated from medical school on a Soros scholarship — but has no medical license — and a PhD in public health. He was the VP of his college Muslim Students Association, the youth branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America, then started his political career as a Bernie Bro, joined four national labour unions, pronounces Israel an evil rogue state, and refused to condemn Iran’s slain supreme leader. All in all, he epitomizes the new red-green DSA…
who last week won the Democratic nomination for the state’s Senate seat.

Mohammad Baqer Qazwini made the remarks during a July 17 Friday sermon at the Islamic Institute of America in Dearborn Heights, according to footage published Friday by the Middle East Media Research Institute. MEMRI identified the original source as the institute’s YouTube channel. The remarks in the clip were delivered in English.

Qazwini told worshippers he had awakened to "very good news" following Graham’s death and that Allah had taken the senator’s soul to hell.

He blamed Graham for what he called the "genocide in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
" and for the deaths of civilians in Leb
...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade....
, and he described the senator’s death as "a slap" from Allah that Graham had not anticipated.

Qazwini then turned to Trump.

He asked worshippers to raise their hands and pray that Allah would also take "the friend of Lindsey Graham," referring to the president, according to the footage. Qazwini said Allah could bring about sudden miracles and ended the passage by calling for victory for Islam and Moslems.

IMAM SAID MUSLIMS HAD RESPONSIBILITY TO ELECT EL-SAYED
Graham, 71, died on July 11 from an aortic dissection caused by cardiovascular disease. The South Carolina Republican had become one of Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress and a close Trump ally, advocating military assistance for Israel and a hard line against Iran.

After his death, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Graham one of Israel’s greatest friends and said the senator understood that "the security of Israel and America are inseparable." President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and other Israeli officials also paid tribute to him.

The political significance of Qazwini’s remarks increased two weeks later when he publicly backed Sayed ahead of Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary.

In his July 31 sermon, Qazwini said Moslem men and women had a responsibility to elect Sayed because he was a Moslem and would support issues important to Moslems in the US, according to MEMRI’s account of the sermon.

Four days later, Michigan voters went to the polls.

Sayed, a 41-year-old physician and former bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit
... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang...
health director, narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens, securing the Democratic nomination. He will face Republican former congressman Mike Rogers in November in a race that could help determine control of the Senate.

If he wins, Sayed would become the first Moslem elected to the US Senate.

Qazwini is based at the Islamic Institute of America and studied at the Shi’ite seminary in Qom, Iran, for 10 years,
…an agent of Iran or just a fellow traveller?
according to his biography at al-Hujjah Islamic Seminary. He also holds a sociology degree from the University of Michigan.

His endorsement came alongside a broader effort by leaders at the Islamic institute to mobilize support for Sayed.

His father, Hassan Qazwini, who founded the Islamic Institute of America in 2015, repeatedly urged worshippers to back Sayed during sermons in the final days of the primary, according to footage reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.

During a July 24 sermon, Hassan Qazwini described voting for Sayed as a "moral responsibility" and a "religious duty," while accusing the pro-Israel lobby of attempting to influence Michigan voters.

In a July 31 sermon, he told worshippers that their votes represented a powerful tool and urged them to "deal the Zionist a bigger blow" by voting against Stevens, whom he portrayed as serving Israeli interests. The Islamic institute and Sayed’s campaign did not respond to the Free Beacon’s requests for comment for its August 3 report.

The two holy mans’ support for Sayed followed the candidate’s own appearance at the institute weeks earlier.

EL-SAYED APPEARED AT ISLAMIC INSTITUTE OPENING
Sayed attended the June 6 dedication of the Islamic Institute’s new campus in Dearborn Heights, joining Rep. Rashida Tlaib
...the very first ever Paleostinian-American ever sworn into Congress in 2019. She is a member of The Squad and consistently votes against the U.S. national interest. She's a Dem, naturally, from a safe district you wouldn't want to live in (Michigan's 12th congressional district). She wants the country to be kinda like Gaza only without any Jews for neighbors...
, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun and other political and religious figures.

Local Arab-American media reported that Sayed spoke about the responsibility of mosques to feed the hungry, assist vulnerable people, promote justice, and strengthen their communities.

The Washington Free Beacon reported that Sayed called attending the opening an "honor and a privilege," praised the new mosque, and congratulated Hassan Qazwini.

Sayed also used his remarks to criticize US support for Israel and accuse Israel of committing genocide with American taxpayer support.

The new Islamic Institute of America complex, built on seven acres in Dearborn Heights, cost approximately $16 million and includes a mosque accommodating over 1,100 worshippers, educational facilities, youth programs, and community spaces.

The Free Beacon has previously documented a series of inflammatory remarks by Hassan Qazwini, including statements concerning Israel, Iran, and Hezbollah.

Sen. Bernie Sanders

...The only first openly Socialist member of the U.S. Senate. Sanders was Representative-for-Life from Vermont until moving to the Senate for the rest of his life in 2006, assuming the seat vacated by Jim Jeffords. He ran for the 2016 nomination for president, to be cheated out of it by Hillary Clinton, then went back to being an Independent socialist, waiting for 2020 to roll around...
’s 2020 presidential campaign publicly denounced what it called Qazwini’s "antisemitic conspiracy theories" and "toxic" rhetoric after the imam appeared at a Sanders campaign event.

There is no indication in the material published by MEMRI that Sayed participated in, knew about, or endorsed Mohammad Baqer Qazwini’s July 17 comments about Graham and Trump.

Sayed has repeatedly rejected accusations that his criticism of Israel reflects hostility toward Jews.

The Jerusalem Post did not locate a public response from Sayed specifically addressing those newly published remarks.

EL-SAYED REJECTS ACCUSATIONS OF ANTISEMITISM
After winning the primary, Qazwini directly appealed to Jewish voters, calling them his "sisters and brothers" and pledging to protect their safety. His campaign has centered its Israel policy on opposition to unconditional US military assistance, a position he has said should also apply to countries such as Egypt, Pakistain, Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
, Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
, and the United Arab Emirates.

Earlier this year, after Jewish Insider reported that a campaign donor had posted antisemitic material online, Sayed’s campaign refunded the donation and said he "condemns any and all antisemitic or racist comments made, no matter who or where they come from."

He also condemned a March attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, saying Jewish Americans had the right to worship safely and declaring that there was "no room for antisemitism in America."

His handling of that attack nevertheless drew criticism from Michigan Jewish leaders after Sayed later discussed the attacker’s family losses in Lebanon and said that "hurt people hurt people."

Temple Israel Rabbi Jen Lader called that framing "offensive" and argued that an attack on a Michigan synagogue could not be explained through Israeli actions overseas.

Sayed subsequently told JTA that nothing justified the attack and said he would always defend the rights of his "Jewish sisters and brothers."
The right to be dhimmi, to pay jizya, to experience the joys of Dar al Harb — the House of War — until America surrenders, those rights?
Michigan Democratic state Rep. Noah Arbit, whose district includes West Bloomfield and who grew up attending Temple Israel, was even more critical at the time, accusing Sayed of having "done more than most to stoke and inflame hatred against Jews."

Those comments preceded the newly released footage of Mohammad Baqer Qazwini.

TRUMP, REPUBLICANS TARGET EL-SAYED
Sayed’s views on Israel have already emerged as a major line of Republican attack following his primary victory.

Trump wrote on social media Wednesday that Sayed was a "Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel" and described his nomination as good news for Republicans. Sayed does not identify as a Communist and has rejected allegations of antisemitism.

Rogers, his Republican opponent, said the November contest presented voters with a choice between "common sense or complete insanity," while Republican campaign organizations have described Sayed as one of the most radical Senate nominees in the country.

The Democratic primary had already become one of the country’s most expensive and closely watched battles over Israel policy.

Stevens benefited from tens of millions of dollars in outside spending from a pro-Israel super PAC, while Sayed repeatedly used that spending to cast himself as a grassroots candidate challenging powerful political interests.

Sayed’s victory has now moved that argument into a general election in a state Trump carried in 2024 and that Democrats
...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy, white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects...
likely need to hold if they hope to regain control of the Senate.
Related:
Michigan: 2026-08-08 University of Michigan to HIDE grades from students and scrub them from transcripts due to a 'mental health crisis'
Michigan: 2026-08-08 US Army offering defense firms 'concierge access' to test weapons at military ranges
Michigan: 2026-08-07 First time in 100+ years, American Association of University Profs endorsed a candidate - El Seyad
Related:
Abdul El-Sayed 08/07/2026 First time in 100+ years, American Association of University Profs endorsed a candidate - El Seyad
Abdul El-Sayed 08/07/2026 How the new generation of left-wing US media is powering progressive candidates
Abdul El-Sayed 08/05/2026 It's Election Day in the Midwest, and There Are Some Whack Jobs on the Ballot


Related:
Islamic Institute of America: 2017-05-24 New US Islamic institute prioritizes outreach, education
Islamic Institute of America: 2016-10-15 Online threats for new Dearborn mosque
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