Michigan Imam Who Refused To Call Hezbollah a Terrorist Organization Scrubbed Last Minute From Inauguration Line Up
Husham Al-Husainy, who has been described by a Middle East watchdog group as a ‘radical antisemitic, pro-Hezbollah’ Imam, was notably absent from Monday’s lineup.
A Michigan-based Imam with a “history of extremism” who was tapped to deliver a benediction at President Trump’s inauguration, appears to have been scrapped from the lineup.
Husham Al-Husainy, who oversees the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center at Dearborn, Michigan, was notably absent from a printed schedule of events for the 60th inaugural ceremony shared online by Congressman William Timmons on Monday morning. However, three other religious leaders, including the president of Yeshiva University, Rabbi Ari Berman, Senior Pastor Lorenzo Sewell of the 180 Church at Detroit, and Reverend Father Frank Mann of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, remained on the lineup.
Mr. Trump’s choice of Mr. Al-Husainy stirred controversy due to the Imam’s checkered history with pro-extremist ideology. According to Middle East watchdog group, Middle East Forum, Mr. Al-Husainy attended a “pro-Hezbollah rally” at Dearborn in 2006 and even held a picture of the erstwhile Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, while on stage. A year later, the Imam refused to call Hezbollah a terrorist organization. As a result, the Middle East Forum classifies him as a “radical anti-Semitic, pro-Hezbollah Shia imam.”
Over the course of his campaign, Mr. Trump called on Muslim religious figures, including Mr. Al-Husainy, to help rally undecided Arab Americans in an effort to secure the key swing state of Michigan, which boasts a significant Arab population. Dearborn, Michigan boasts the largest Muslim population in the country.
The Iraqi-American religious leader has been an outspoken supporter of Mr. Trump since his first term in office. This past election cycle, Mr. Al-Husainy told reporters that he endorsed the 45th president because “because I found him closer to the Bible and Torah and the Quran” as opposed to the former vice president, Kamala Harris, who he said would result in “the boys will turn to girls and the girls will turn to a boy.” Mr. Al-Husainy would have been the first Muslim leader to speak at an American presidential inauguration.
