Last year, we warned that then-mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was a radical Muslim, a follower of Twelver sect of Shia Islam. But did you know that Iran’s leaders, including the recently deceased Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are seen as the spiritual leaders of this sect?

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From The National Pulse:

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) is a follower of the Twelver sect of Shia Islam. This sect counts Iran’s now-deceased Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and the country’s surviving ayatollahs as spiritual leaders, owed religious taxes like khums and zakat by ordinary Twelvers.

Iqbal Akhtar, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Florida International University, has noted: “The Mamdani family… is part of the Twelver community… whose Twelfth Imam is believed to be hidden from the world and only emerges in times of crisis. Twelvers believe he will help usher in an age of peace during end times.”

Though this Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, is said to have disappeared into hiding in 874 AD, the Ayatollahs of Iran have taken up the mantle of leadership for the Twelver community.

The Twelver sect is explicitly tied to Iran. In fact, Robert Spencer, head of JihadWatch, reportedly described the sect as the “official religion of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” according to the Pulse. This is likely because, as the Pulse notes, Ruhollah Khomeini, the first Supreme Leader of Iran, declared himself to be the spiritual leader of the Twelver sect in 1979.

Mayor Mamdani’s family is also explicitly tied to both this sect and Iran. According to the Iran International website, the Mayor’s aunt was a staunch supported of Khomeini. The Mayor’s father was also a supporter, though seemingly a less zealous one. According to an Iranian University professor who met Mayor Mamdani’s father, his father claimed he was often criticized by his family for not showing “the devotion to Khomeini that I’m supposed to.”

Perhaps these ties to the Iranian regime are what prevented Mayor Mamdani from supporting the U.S. strikes on Iran. The Mayor was quick to condemn the strikes on social media, writing that the attack marks “a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression. Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war.  Americans do not want this.” Mayor Mamdani has since condemned the government of Iran, but he has refused to say whether the Iranian people are better off without the Supreme Leader or not.

It is unclear how deep these ties between Mayor Mamdani, his Muslim faith, and ruling elite in Iran go. Regardless, let’s continue to ask God to soften the Mayor’s heart and lead him to both support our nation and condemn the dangerous Islamic regime in Iran!

What do you think of this? Share your prayers for Mayor Mamdani below.

(Excerpt from The National Pulse. Photo Credit: Metropolitan Transportation Authority – https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaphotos/55026108338/, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=184787257)