Mamdani’s “homecoming” February visit to the sheikh’s mosque followed two other trips across Queens to see Al-Sahlani in January 2025 and July 2025, public records show.
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani (D.) has developed a close relationship with an influential Muslim sheikh in Queens with a history of Holocaust denial, the Washington Free Beacon can reveal.
Mamdani has met with Sheikh Fadhel Al-Sahlani, imam of the Al-Khoei Islamic Center in Jamaica, Queens, on at least three occasions since January 2025—despite the cleric’s past statements casting doubt on the Jewish death toll from the Holocaust and on the Holocaust being reasonable cause for establishing the state of Israel.
“It feels like returning home to be here,” Mamdani said during his most recent known visit to the sheikh’s mosque during Ramadan celebrations in February.