Mick Hartley

If I lived in New York I think I’d be a little concerned:

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani attended Friday prayers at the Al-Khoei Islamic Center in Queens, NY, on the first Friday of Ramadan, February 20, 2026. Iman Dakmak-Rakka, principal of the Al-Iman School, affiliated with the Al-Khoei Center, and a representative of the Al-Khoei Foundation, thanked Mamdani for his work on behalf of “all of humanity and all the residents of New York.” During the following prayer service, the imam prayed that Allah make them among those who await the Mahdi and are martyred before him, adding that through the hands of the Mahdi “comes the relief for the believers and the killing of the infidels by your sword.”

The Al-Khoei Foundation has maintained financial ties with the Alavi Foundation, which U.S. federal courts and prosecutors have identified as a front for the Government of Iran and its state-owned Bank Melli. The Al-Khoei Foundation has publicly defended the Alavi Foundation against these accusations. In November 2023, Imam Fadhel al-Sahlani, an official representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani in North America, said that Hamas has made a “big difference” not only in the Arab Muslim world, but for the whole world.