Masjid At Taqwa

He supports the implementation of Sharia (Islamic law) governance, including its criminal punishments. “Islam is better than democracy.  Allah will cause his deen [Islam as a complete way of life], Islam to prevail over every kind of system, and you know what?  It will happen,” he has preached.[3]

He has also said:

“If Allah says 100 strikes, 100 strikes it is. If Allah says cut off their hand, you cut off their hand. If Allah says stone them to death, through the Prophet Muhammad, then you stone them to death, because it’s the obedience of Allah and his messenger—nothing personal.”[4]

“If only Muslims were clever politically, they could take over the United States and replace its constitutional government with a caliphate. If we were united and strong, we’d elect our own emir and give allegiance to him. Take my word, if eight million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us,” Wahhaj said in 1992.[5]

“As long as you remember that if you get involved in politics, you have to be very careful that your leader is for Allah.  You don’t get involved in politics because it’s the American thing to do.  You get involved in politics because politics are a weapon to use in the cause of Islam,” he said in 1991.[6]

“The trap we fall into is having a premature discussion about Sharia when we are not there yet,” he said in 2011.[7]

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a Muslim activist against radical Islam, recalls attending a Wahhaj lecture at a convention in 1995 and hearing him talk about replacing the U.S. Constitution with Sharia (Islamic) law.[8]

Wahhaj also has said that “America is the most wicked government on the face of the planet Earth” and that the U.S. is a “garbage can” that he prays “crumbles.”[9]

He preaches that “what began as a legitimate fight against terrorism, and every Muslim would join that fight against terrorism … has now become an attack on Islam.”[10] After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, he gave a sermon asking the question, “Who are the real terrorists?” He named three entities: The U.S. government, big business and the media.[11]

“America is one of the greatest terrorist nations on this earth but you know, they hide it with magic. They pretend to be so nice,” he said in the same lecture.

He accused President Clinton of conspiring to “stop the rise of these Muslims” and blasted the U.S. for putting soldiers in Somalia, accusing Sudan of sponsoring terrorism, “destroy[ing]” Iraq and being hostile to Libya. He also criticized the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement as a “brilliant move by the Jews” and preached that the U.S. government was sending agent provocateurs into mosques in the country and around the world.[12]

He has also preached in support of violent jihad:

“We don’t need to arm the people with 9mms and Uzis. You need to arm them with righteousness first. And once you arm them with righteousness first, then you can arm them,” he said. “I will never tell people, ‘Don’t be violent.’ That’s not the Islamic way,” he said.[13]

Here are some other quotes from Wahhaj:

“If we go to war, brothers and sisters—and one day we will, believe me—that’s why you’re commanded [to fight in] jihad.”[14]

“Some Muslims have lost the desire to fight … Muslims have become soft. And they love the soft life. And they hate death. And that is why all over the world Muslims are getting their butts kicked—except those Muslims who fight back like in Afghanistan.”[15]

Wahhaj has been a Vice President of the Islamic Society of North America since 1997 and was a member of the North American Islamic Trust’s Board of Advisors from 1989 to 1993.[16] He has also been on the national board of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.[17]  Wahhaj is also the Amir of the Muslim Alliance in North America’s Executive Committee[18] and a frequent speaker for Muslim-front organizations — at their events and fundraisers.

In September 2013, the NYPD justified its surveillance of Masjid at-Taqwa by pointing to evidence of terrorist and criminal activity there. The assistant imam is suspected of using the mosque to raise money for terrorist groups.

The mosque allegedly has a “gun club” and its security team and some attendees have illegally procured weapons. The security team has been taught how to disarm law enforcement officers and the mosque’s martial arts classes have been attended by individuals convicted on terrorism charges.

The mosque has organized paintball trips and survival training. At least one was attended by Farooque Ahmed, who pled guilty to trying to bomb the Washington D.C. metro. During one paintball exercise, the security team leader called his teammates “jihad warriors” and ordered them to “form up, jihad assassins.”[19]

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