Imam Luqman Ahmad Mosque Without Borders

THE VERDICT ON NEW YORK MAYOR ELECT, ZOHRAN MAMDANI, BY IMAM LUQMAN AHMAD

THE VERDICT ON ZOHRAN MAMDANI

He calls himself a Democratic Socialist, President Trump and others call him a communist. But hold up! Before you reach a verdict on Mamdani, be aware that he’s not the first Muslim leader to advocate socialism, or aspects of it.

As far back as Abu Tharr al-Ghafari the companion of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, before socialism was officially invented, he advocated for the equal distribution of wealth and was against the wanton accumulation of wealth. In more recent times there was the 19th century Islamic reformist Jamal ad-Deen al-Afghani (pictured below) who died in 1897, he argued for Islamic principles that embodied socialism, charity and shared responsibility.

Then there was was Ali Shariati (d. 1977), from Iran who fused Shia theology with anti-colonial and socialist thought and was a staunch critic of capitalism. More recently there was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (d. 1979) from Pakistan who founded the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). He was a Muslim who adopted Islamic socialism in their party’s manifesto. He was the President of Pakistan who nationalized key industries. He was executed by hanging. Later, his daughter Benazir Bhutto, became president of Pakistan.

There was Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, a name everybody knows. His country was stable and debt free at the time of his death. He outlined his version of “Islamic Socialism” in the “Green Book,” fusing Islam, Arabism, and socialism. His policies on wealth redistribution and independence from the capitalist West is one of the reasons he was assassinated and his country rendered to near rubble.

Ubaidullah Sindhi of British India was another Muslim leader who advocated socialism. He was a Deobandi scholar who entertained communist ideas and drew parallels between Islam and communism on wealth distribution. That is well-known.

Ghulam Ahmed Perwez was a Quran teacher in India and Pakistan and a reputed scholar of Islam. He advocated for a socialistic interpretation of the Qur’an regarding property and distribution of wealth and lastly there was Muhammed Nakhshab of Iran who is credited with the first synthesis between Shi’ism and European socialism, focusing on social equality and justice. So Mamdani is not the first Muslim leader to advocate socialism and certainly won’t be the last.

While some figures, like Ali Shariati, engaged deeply with Marxist thought, and others, like the founders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, had Maoist (communist) origins, they typically distinguished their views from orthodox Marxism, particularly its atheistic and materialist foundations. Islam of course, is antithetical to atheism.

Democratic Socialism is different from Islamic Socialism, and admittedly I am not an expert on either. Thus, the verdict on Mamdani is that I don’t have a verdict. At the end of the day, Mamdani is a politician. He’s not an Imam, or an Islamic scholar and doesn’t pretend to be one. He does however proclaim himself a Muslim and I accept him as a Muslim. As the first Muslim mayor of New York, he will have his challenges. Let’s see where that takes him. Let’s see where it takes the City of New York. In the final analysis I’ll let Allah sub’haanahu wa ta’ala be his judge.