Born as Jeffrey Kearse, Imam Siraj Wahhaj was raised as a Baptist in New York City. * Advisory board member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
* Named as a possible co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
* Advocates the replacement of the U.S. government with an Islamic Caliphate
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Imam Siraj Wahhaj, the founder of the primarily African-American MANA, is a product of the volatile intersection of black nationalism and politicized Islam. A former member of the NOI, Wahhaj often has been portrayed as a "moderate" by the mainstream media. However, his words speak for themselves: "In time, this so-called democracy will crumble, and there will be nothing, and the only thing that will remain will be Islam," Wahhaj has predicted.