The Imam and Me: Tim Walz and his Love Affair with the Imam Asad Zaman (Judean Rose)

Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

Tim Walz just can’t seem to get enough of the imam Asad Zaman of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota (MAS Minnesota). We should examine why Walz is a fan of the cleric of an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. Does the man who may become vice president of America share the philosophy and goals of the Muslim Brotherhood? Or is the association of Walz with the imam—an avowed, Hitler-loving, Hamas-loving antisemite who wants to eradicate the Jews—completely innocent?

To give the devil his due, Walz may be using his relationship with Asad Zaman only to curry favor with his Muslim constituency. But it’s awfully difficult to overlook the implications of the more than $100,000 Walz has contributed to MAS Minnesota. Walz must want something for that cash payout, unless of course, he deeply admires Zaman’s worldview.

It was Gabe Kaminsky, investigative reporter at the Washington Examiner who brought the affiliation between Tim Walz and Asad Zaman, to light:

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, on at least five occasions as governor of Minnesota, hosted a Muslim cleric who celebrated Hamas‘s Oct. 7 attack last year on Israel and promoted a film popular among Neo-Nazis that glorifies Adolf Hitler, the Washington Examiner found.

The imam, Asad Zaman of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, joined other Muslim leaders in May 2023 for a meeting about mosque security with Walz’s gubernatorial office in Minnesota. Zaman also spoke at a May 2020 event to call for peaceful protests with the governor during the riots in Minnesota sparked after George Floyd’s death. In April 2019, the cleric delivered an invocation before Walz’s state address — just months after Zaman called for an end to a government shutdown at a press conference with Walz in January 2019.

Zaman, moreover, attended a May 2019 event that Walz hosted for Ramadan, social media posts show.

 

 

For the first time ever, we will have chaplains of 3 different faiths deliver the invocation at #MNSOTS tomorrow. I am humbled to welcome Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman, Imam Asad Zaman, and Bishop Patricia Lull – three faith leaders who truly understand the meaning of #OneMinnesota.

— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) April 2, 2019

More from the Washington Examiner about the worldview of Walz’s friend, the cleric Zaman (emphasis added):

Zaman, who is from Bangladesh, said on Oct. 7 of last year that he “stands in solidarity with Palestinians against Israeli attacks.” That day, which saw 1,200 Israelis murdered by Hamas terrorists, he also shared an image of a Palestinian flag on Facebook in response to a post by Yusuf Abdi Abdulle, director of the Islamic Association of North America, declaring that “Palestine has the right to defend itself.” The Biden-Harris administration, Abdulle wrote in the post, was “on the wrong side of history” in “supporting the extremist Zionist regime and its illegal settlements.” 

Asad Zaman’s loyalty to “Palestinians” should be translated as “loyalty to Hamas,” since he once shared a Hamas press release. The occasion? The 2016 hanging of Motiur Rahman Nizami, a Bangladeshi Islamic leader, after he was convicted of genocide, rape and torture.

One of Asad Zaman’s favorite things, of course, is Hitler. Zaman even shared a link to the website of the pro-Hitler film, The Greatest Story Never Told.

Here is a text from the website of this 6-hour documentary on Hitler:

Since the mid-20th century, the world has only ever heard one side of an incredible story. The story of a boy from an ordinary family whose ambition it was to become an artist, but who instead became a drifter.

His destiny however was not to drift into the awaiting oblivion, but to rise to the greatest heights of power, eventually to become one of the most influential men who ever lived.

Now for the first time, here is a documented account of a story many believe to be…

The Greatest Story NEVER Told!

Learn the untold story about the most reviled man in history. Adolf Hitler, The Greatest Story Never Told is a 6-hour Documentary by TruthWillOut Films.

This ground-breaking documentary chronicles the rise of Germany from defeat in World War I, to communist attempts to take over Germany; hyperinflation during the Weimar Republic, widespread unemployment and misery, and Adolf Hitler’s rise to power.

It also reveals a personal side of Adolf Hitler: who he was, his family background, his artwork and struggles in Vienna and what motivated him to come to power.

There’s so much hidden history to recount; FDR Pearl Harbor conspiracy, Soviet brutality, betrayal and treachery on all sides. Do we really know the true cost of war? Do we really possess all the facts?

Watch this series and uncover the real root causes of World War II. Do your own research and decide what you choose to believe. Think differently.

The Washington Examiner explains that the 2013 movie is popular among antisemites, citing an Anti-Defamation League spokesperson. “Imam Zaman has a troubling history of playing into classic anti-Jewish themes and justifying violence against Israel.

“He also has justified violence against Israel, including from terror groups. Given his hurtful remarks post-Oct. 7, and absent any recognition of the pain he has caused the Jewish community, we urge all public officials and leaders to avoid meeting with him in the future. Those who have met with Imam Zaman should clarify that they don’t agree with his toxic views about Jews and the Jewish state.”

After a terror attack, it is always meaningful to see who rushes to support the Jewish State; and all the more so after the slaughter of October 7. On that black day, Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) was quick to offer sympathy and support to Israel and the Israeli people. At the other end of the scale was Asad Zaman, who asked Porter if she were willing to “reaffirm the right of Palestinians to defend themselves.”

@RepKatiePorter. Do you also condemn Israel’s attacks on Palestinian civilians and children? Do you also stand with the Palestinian people? Do you also reaffirm the right of Palestinians to defend themselves?

— Imam Asad Zaman (@ImamAsadZaman) October 8, 2023

Beyond Porter, there is Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Ken Martin, who wrote on social media that he was “beyond heartbroken” to hear about Israeli acquaintances “brutally killed or kidnapped” on Oct. 7. Of course, Zaman was there to respond with the threat that his group would be shunned by the Muslim community, that it “cannot be joined at the hip to apartheid Israel and still hope to court the Muslim vote.”

Ken. Did you visit Gaza? Did you visit any Palestinians living under apartheid in the West Bank?

The DFL cannot be joined at the hip to apartheid Israel and still hope to court the Muslim vote.

When can we see a similar expression of grief over Palestinian children suffering?

— Imam Asad Zaman (@ImamAsadZaman) October 10, 2023

The Zaman way is to twist the truth, equating Hamas terror to Israel defending itself. Because this is how they roll at the Muslim Brotherhood offshoot known as the Muslim American Society of Minnesota. On October 7, MAS Minnesota issued a statement that it “reaffirms its unwavering support for the Palestinian people in their struggle against the Israeli occupation.” We don’t wonder that MAS Minnesota expresses its support for Hamas, a fellow branch of the Muslim Brotherhood; but why has the Walz administration forked over more than $100,000 in funding to MAS Minnesota?

Sam Westrop, a terrorism researcher and analyst at the Middle East Forum think tank, told the Washington Examiner that Walz’s ties with Zaman suggests that the Harris-Walz cabinet will be filled with anti-Israel extremists.

“It is astounding that with all the available public reporting and information about the iniquities of Imam Asad Zaman and MAS Minnesota that Gov. Walz has repeatedly given public platforms and taxpayer money to this extremist,” said Westrop.

“Across the country, Islamists hungry for government support will surely welcome Walz as vice president.”

Note that the Muslim American Society has been described by federal prosecutors as being “founded as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States.” In the United Arab Emirates, the Muslim Brotherhood was designated as a terrorist group in 2014. There was a brouhaha in 2019 when a video surfaced online of children at an event held by MAS Philadelphia calling to murder Jews.

“We will chop off their heads, and we will liberate the sorrowful and exalted Al-Aqsa Mosque,” recite two young girls, reading from a prepared text.

 How does Tim Walz describe his pal, the pro-Hitler movie fan Asad Zaman? Walz calls Zaman a “master teacher” who offers Walz lessons whenever they spend time together.

“I would like to first of all say thank you to imam,” Walz said at the MAS Minnesota 2018 event, standing next to now Lieutenant Governor of the Gopher State, Peggy Flanagan:

“I am a teacher, so when I see a master teacher, I know it. Over the time we’ve spent together, one of the things I’ve had the privilege of is seeing the things in life through the eye of a master teacher, to try and get the understanding. It was imam talking [saying that] ‘in those times is where we find who we are, in those times is where we really see.’

“That brings me to the second lesson that imam taught me,” said Walz, going on to accuse Congress of feeding on “fear more than hope” and “division.”

EXCLUSIVE: Tim Walz—in footage unearthed by @dcexaminer—called Hitler-promoting imam Asad Zaman a “master teacher” who offered Walz lessons over the time they “spent together"

The footage further contradicts the Harris campaign’s claim Walz has no personal relationship w/ Zaman pic.twitter.com/F1lKcJyzI1

— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) August 13, 2024

Ben Shapiro spoke with Gabe Kaminsky after his exposé of Walz’s friendship with Zaman. During the interview, Kaminsky said that MAS Minnesota had been deemed a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot as far back as 2008, in a terrorism financing case.

“But this individual, Asad Zaman, has a controversial history on social media, on his Facebook page. He has, in one case, promoted a pro-Hitler movie, a movie that glorifies Adolf Hitler. On Oct. 7, when 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered in the Jewish state, his immediate response was to say that Palestinians had a right to resist, a right to defend themselves. And this individual has promoted other conspiracy theories on his social media history.”

Fox News also asked for clarification from the Harris campaign regarding Walz’s links to the imam. The Harris-Walz campaign responded to Chicago-based correspondent Mike Tobin by lying, telling him that "Gov. Walz does not have a relationship with [Zaman],” though Walz has hosted Asad Zaman on numerous occasions.

For the first time ever, we will have chaplains of 3 different faiths deliver the invocation at #MNSOTS tomorrow. I am humbled to welcome Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman, Imam Asad Zaman, and Bishop Patricia Lull – three faith leaders who truly understand the meaning of #OneMinnesota.

— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) April 2, 2019

The campaign also said that Walz "strongly condemns Hamas terrorism.”

Fox's Tobin expressed his concerns:

We start to see more appearances with Zaman and Gov. Walz in 2019, January, April and May. At one point, Zaman delivers an invocation to the state of the state address.

He appeared with Gov. Walz in May of 2020, calling for calm in the George Floyd riots, and again in 2023 following a string of vandalism at mosques.

Sam Westrop of The Middle East Forum says Gov. Walz has been willfully ignorant of Zaman’s radicalism because he relies on the Arab or Muslim voting bloc and cannot do anything that would make him appear Islamophobic.

Westrop said, “This is a serious problem. Under a Walz-Harris ticket, given Walz's ability to embrace really just the worst kind of radicals within the Muslim community, one can only imagine this will be replicated at the White House level. Walz clearly doesn't want to know about the extremists he embraces.”

Even the Dem-friendly CNN wants to know what’s up with Walz and the imam. They got the same response from the Harris campaign’s Lauren Hitt, who told CNN that Walz and Zaman do not have a “personal relationship.”

“The Governor and he do not have a personal relationship.”

Is Hitt getting around what is now known by all, by qualifying the nature of the Walz Zaman relationship? It’s not “personal.” Does Hitt mean they’re not gay, they’re only friends?

Hitt, still sticking to the script, blah-blah-blahed the same thing she’d said to everyone else who’d inquired. “Governor Walz strongly condemns Hamas terrorism,” said Hitt to CNN.

Zaman separately told CNN that he does not have a “personal relationship” with Walz. Pressed by CNN about his antisemitic social media posts, he said that sometimes he shares links “without fully looking at them.” 

“People, myself included, will sometimes pass along social media items without fully looking at them. I support organizations, leaders and efforts to bring greater justice, equality and wellbeing to all people whether Muslim or Jewish, Christian or Hindu, believer or atheist. Desiring harm to people is against my faith and my personal convictions,” said the imam to CNN.

Asad Zaman isn’t the only terrorist with whom Tim Walz has fraternized. There’s also Hatem Bazian, an antisemitic academic. Bazian has been an ever-abundant and dependable source of antisemitic propaganda in the wake of October 7. Naturally, this is someone Walz wants to cultivate. In fact, Walz cozied up to Bazian the Jew-hater for a photo opp in 2019, at a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) event. The views of CAIR and Bazain were transparent even then. 

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CAIR, much like MAS, was labeled by federal prosecutors an unindicted co-conspirator of Hamas in a terror finance case from 2008. In 2017, Bazian was compelled to apologize for posting an antisemitic meme depicting a Jewish man with the caption, "Mom look! I is chosen! I can now kill, rape, smuggle organs & steal the land of Palestinians Yay #Ashke-Nazi."

Walz posed for photos with this man, Hatem Bazian. What does this say about Walz? By now we know. He likes hanging out with known antisemites. And giving them money.

Meanwhile, you won’t get any kind of admission from the Harris campaign about the vice presidential candidate and his close associations with terrorists. When questioned, all they do is lie. Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition was blunt not only about Walz’s relationship with Asad Zaman, but how the Harris campaign responds when confronted with the evidence:

It is an outrage to the American Jewish community that Tim Walz would champion Hitler-promoting cleric Asad Zaman of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota. On Oct. 7, 2023, as Israel was suffering the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, Mr. Zaman disgustingly asserted that he ‘stands in solidarity with Palestinians against Israeli attacks.’ Appallingly, under Tim Walz, Minnesota has awarded over $100,000 in funding to Zaman’s Israel-hating organization.”

At a time of spiking antisemitism here at home and as Israel faces an existential war for survival, it is essential for the American Jewish community to have confidence in our leaders—and it is clear that we cannot trust Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Their priorities are not our priorities, and the American people will reject their radicalism and extremism in November.

Does anyone else get weird, creepy vibes from Tampon Tim? pic.twitter.com/nFrtacDtoc

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 13, 2024

Beyond the stolen valor issue and more, the American public has begun to notice Tampon Tim's affinity for terrorists. Florida Senator Rick Scott spoke out about Walz hosting a Hamas-affiliated terrorist who celebrated October 7 on some five occasions, saying that Harris/Walz is the “pro Hamas ticket.”

As Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz — on at least 5 occasions — hosted a Muslim cleric who celebrated Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

Harris/Walz is the pro-Hamas ticket. https://t.co/1uL3ElxU54

— Rick Scott (@ScottforFlorida) August 9, 2024

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) meanwhile questioned the response of the Harris team: “Why did Tim Walz lie about his obviously friendly relationship with a Minnesota Muslim cleric who promoted Hamas and Hitler?

“Weird—and disqualifying.”

Why did Tim Walz lie about his obviously friendly relationship with a Minnesota Muslim cleric who promoted Hamas & Hitler?

Weird — and disqualifying. https://t.co/5V2CThKazR

— Anthony P. D'Esposito (@ANTHONYDESPO) August 13, 2024

Many are the accusers who call Donald Trump “Orange Hitler” with no proof. There’s just a call that goes out to the echo chamber, and the media and its audiences, fall in. Meantime, in Walz we have a potential VP who has the very bad habit of legit hanging out with genuine Hitler fans. Donald Trump told Elon Musk that any Jew who votes for Harris should have his head examined; and in truth, an examination of the facts about Walz and his Muslim cronies can lead to only one conclusion: Walz is a terrorist sympathizer.

If you vote for Harris, you’re voting for Walz.

And if you vote for Walz, you’re voting for Jews to die. 

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