As the Biden administration sought to promote the Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine to minority communities, it awarded thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds to a mosque known for deep ties to the Islamic terrorist group Hamas, according to government websites.
Since 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has granted $340,000 in grants to Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque as part of federal efforts to address "vaccine hesitancy and health inequities" in minority groups.
Dar al-Hijrah spokesman Saif Rahman said publicly that the mosque is "proud" of federal and state grants it has obtained. It is currently unknown whether the mosque used the funds to raise awareness about the COVID-19 vaccine. An annual report from the mosque in 2021 showed that it used a $100,000 grant to make five street banners, 20-yard signs, nine videos and host several vaccine clinics.
Following Hamas's terrorist attack against Israel, the various imams of Dar al-Hijrah have propagated anti-Israel speech.
Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque is based in Falls Church, Virginia, and has used the money to host vaccine clinics and post yard signs and banners promoting the COVID-19 vaccine. Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque has allegedly funded members of Hamas, working closely with Islamic Relief USA, whose British-based parent organization has allegedly funded Hamas and linked to other jihadist terrorist groups.
One of the mosque leaders, an Egyptian-born imam named Shaker Elsayed, preached in 2017 in favor of female genital mutilation, which he claimed was effective at curbing "hypersexuality" in girls.
Dar al-Hijrah's links to terrorists go far back. Anwar Al-Awlaki, an Al-Qaeda organizer, served as lead imam at the mosque during the September 11 attacks. According to reports, three of the 9/11 hijackers attended Al-Awlaki's sermons. Other terrorists who attended Al-Awlaki's sermons include United States Army Major Nidal Hasan, who murdered 13 soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009.
In 2005, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a member of Dar Al-Hijrah, was convicted by the US Justice Department of conspiring to assassinate President George W. Bush. In 2004, Former Mosque board member Abdulhaleem al-Ashqar was convicted on charges that he funded Hamas. Ismail Elbarasse, the mosque's co-founder, was accused of sending $735,000 to a Hamas terrorist operative in that same year.
