The lengthy profile of Imam Suhaib Webb, “Show of faith " [Washington Post Magazine, Jan. 22], dismissed my organization’s legitimate criticisms of Webb and his former Boston mosque’s extremism. The article noted we “allege” Webb was anti-Semitic and homophobic but dismissed our research without further consideration.
We do not merely “allege” Webb’s bigotry. We have proved it. Videos of sermons we uncovered show Webb preaching that “effeminate” men are “cursed” and that he “understands” Muslims who “have animosity” toward “the Jews.”
In 2001, according to FBI surveillance documents, Webb appeared alongside al-Qaeda operative Anwar al-Awlaki to raise £$100,000 for Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, who was convicted of shooting two U.S. police officers and killing one of them.
And if all this were not enough to discourage a puff piece, Webb also spent three years as the imam of the Islamic Society of Boston. There he was involved with the tarbiya program, an educational course in which radical Islamist texts are taught to youths from Boston’s historically moderate Muslim community.
The Post may paint Webb as the cool Snapchatting imam, but we and our moderate Muslim allies know that beneath the pose, Webb has a history of peddling hate. Boston’s Muslim community was left a lot worse off for his time here. How will the District fare?