El-Sayed’s ISNA appearance draws scrutiny over controversial speakers

Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is facing questions about his appearance at an Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention after the organization removed a Pakistani cleric from its lineup following scrutiny of his past remarks about Hitler, Jews and jihad.

Mufti Tariq Masood had been scheduled to speak at ISNA's annual convention last week in Detroit alongside El-Sayed.

The Washington Free Beacon first reported that ISNA had quietly pulled Masood from its list of speakers last month.

This came after his past comments, including remarks appearing to praise Hitler's persecution of the Jews and defending child marriage , sparked backlash against ISNA.

Dr.

Andrew Bostom, who reviewed one of Masood's sermons, told Fox News Digital that the cleric "basically said that the Quran had foreshadowed Hitler 1,400 years ago." FATWAS, HOLY WARS AND SOCIALISM: INSIDE THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE WHERE EL-SAYED DREW A HERO’S WELCOME Bostom said that Masood's remarks should not be looked at in isolation, but rather within a larger pattern of antisemitic themes that have appeared in writings of some Muslim scholars.

He cited Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, the late Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University in Egypt, who he said was "the near papal equivalent for Sunni Islam," in terms of his influence.

The controversy over Masood prompted the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) to ask Secretary of State Marco Rubio to deny or review any visa issued to the cleric.

"Masood is a racist, Jew-hate-mongering, anti-American, anti-British, conspiracy-promoting, murder- and terror-inciter.

Masood even praises Hitler’s genocide of Jews as doing the right thing, similar to the Quran’s instructions," ZOA National President Morton Klein wrote in his Aug.

19 letter to Rubio.

At the time, Bostom said it was unclear whether Masood had already entered the U.S. or still planned to attend the convention, even if he had been removed from the list of speakers.

TIM SCOTT GOES SCORCHED EARTH ON EL-SAYED: 'HE'S FOR HAMAS, BUT HE'S AGAINST AMERICA' While Masood ultimately did not speak at the convention, his removal from the lineup did not resolve questions about the event's speakers or El-Sayed's decision to participate.

At the conference, El-Sayed appeared on a panel with far-left Young Turks founder Cenk Uygur and controversial New Jersey-based cleric Zaid Shakir, according to ISNA's itinerary .