A prominent cleric with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood stated that the political ascensions of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed are "blessings" resulting from the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Ali al-Qaradaghi, secretary general of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, made these remarks at a conference in Turkey in August, according to a report by MEMRI TV.
Al-Qaradaghi reportedly said, "If not for the Al-Aqsa Flood and if the Zionists were not put to shame, what is happening in Europe and America would not be happening." The phrase "Al-Aqsa Flood" is the official military code name used by Hamas for the Oct. 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 Israeli civilians.
The International Union of Muslim Scholars is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization described by the nonprofit Counter Extremism Project as radical. The union was founded by Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, who was widely considered the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood for decades, according to George Washington University's Program on Extremism. In 2017, the governments of Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates accused the IUMS of using religious rhetoric as a cover for facilitating terrorist activities, though the group has denied these allegations.
Al-Qaradaghi asserted that the political successes of Mamdani and El-Sayed would not have occurred without the Hamas invasion of Israel. "Mamdani would not have become governor of New York State [sic] and Abdulraham El-Sayed would not have defeated a campaign worth $73 million," he was quoted as saying. "These are the blessings of the Al Aqsa flood."
Mamdani, who became mayor of New York City in January, campaigned on a platform that included a promise to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a power he later stated he did not possess. He also defended the slogan "Globalize the Intifada," a reference to Palestinian uprisings that involved significant violence against Israeli civilians.
El-Sayed, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, has also campaigned as a critic of Israel and has pledged to end U.S. military aid to the country.