Left-wing Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed's imam delivered an "absentee funeral prayer" for the late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, hailing the terrorist as a "heroic martyr," "symbol of jihad," and "righteous man" who "wanted to liberate Palestine" and "sought nothing more than that," a Washington Free Beacon review found.
Abdelhamid Algizawi of the Muslim Community Association of Ann Arbor, the mosque where El-Sayed frequently prays, eulogized Haniyeh during a sermon delivered in both English and Arabic on Aug. 2, 2024, two days after Haniyeh died from an explosive device smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying. He lauded the chief architect of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel as a "heroic martyr" and "symbol of patriotism" and asked God to "place him among the martyrs and the righteous."
"He is a symbol of jihad, a symbol of struggle, a symbol of patriotism, and a symbol of devotion," Algizawi said of Haniyeh, according to a video recording of his remarks posted online. The Free Beacon obtained a transcription of the Arabic portions from an independent translator.
"No one loves him except someone who loves God and his Messenger, and no one hates him except an enemy of Islam. He is a righteous man, one of the righteous," Algizawi continued. "He wanted to liberate Palestine, his land and his homeland. He sought nothing more than that. Yet despite this, the unjust and wicked killed him. … We ask Almighty God to grant him a place in Paradise. O God, place him among the martyrs and the righteous."
News of the sermon comes as El-Sayed faces scrutiny over his attendance at the mosque, where Algizawi has also railed against homosexuality and Jewish influence in the education system, the Free Beacon reported. While many Muslims, including El-Sayed, pray at several different mosques, El-Sayed typically prays at the MCA of Ann Arbor, according to a source familiar with the situation. It is unclear whether El-Sayed was present for the eulogy, but Algizawi has spoken about the candidate personally, using his pulpit to celebrate El-Sayed's primary victory, which he called a "very big victory for the Muslims, Hamdillah, and for the Ummah, and for the Islamic nation." The Muslim community, he said, had an "obligation" to vote for El-Sayed in November to "change the society."
Algizawi has also used his sermons to criticize gays. In 2022, he said Muslims must reject the "fashion" of homosexuality because it is "against human nature" and "cannot bring stability to life."
"Here in America—in America, there is, you know, it became a fashion these days: homosexuality and LGBTQ and something like that becomes a fashion everywhere. And even this has reached the Muslim community, and people ask what the [sic] Islamic stand on that … Islam as a religion refuse," Algizawi said. "Why? Because there is purposes for marriage … This relationship cannot bring stability to your life … We are looking for children when we get married. People cannot give children from this relationship. You understand?"
"So this is against human nature, by the way," he continued. "Also, Muslims cannot compromise their religion. We cannot say: 'Hey, because I am a Muslim, I'm American, we are living in America, we have…' No, we cannot compromise our religion."
Algizawi acknowledged that his views are controversial among young Muslims, recounting an exchange with a student who asked him whether he could be gay in paradise. Students "go crazy" when they hear his response because "they are looking for the highest level of pleasure."
Algizawi's sermons are also at odds with El-Sayed's message on the campaign trail. Last June, during Pride Month, El-Sayed declared, "This month and every month, I stand with the LGBTQ+ community in their struggle for equal rights and dignity. I'll always fight for an America where all of us can live and thrive as we are." Roughly a year later, in August, El-Sayed defended his support for sex change surgeries for minors by likening the procedure to circumcision.
El-Sayed's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the MCA of Ann Arbor, El-Sayed attends the Islamic Center of Detroit and the Wayne State University Islamic Center of Detroit, according to the source familiar with his practices. Imam Imran Salha of the Islamic Center of Detroit has justified Hezbollah's attacks on Israel, posting to social media in September 2024 that "We can condemn atrocities of Hezb in Syria while also recognizing that they *are* making sacrifices for the sake of Palestine and frustrating the illegal zionist regime in unprecedented ways esp with recent hits."
He continued: "Anybody who continues to claim that Hezb is 'just hitting random trees' is using an old talking point that is just false. These unfair criticisms actually do a disservice to our legitimate criticisms of Hezb because it shows an unwillingness to recognize fact as fact."
