Asad Zaman
Template:TOCnestleft Asad Zaman
Ellison supporters
Key supporters in the 2006 Keith Ellison Congressional campaign included Dr. Josie Johnson, Dan McGrath of Take Action Minnesota, Larry Weiss and Pam Costain, John Stiles, Shayna Berkowitz, Carla Kjellberg and Dick Kaspari from the National Lawyers Guild, Vic Rosenthal and Frank Hornstein helped organized the Jewish community, Donna Cassutt of the DFL helped out as did Muslims Asad Zaman, Ziad Amre, Makram El-Amin.
Labor officials such as Javier Morillo from SEIU, Bill McCarthy of the Central Labor Council, and Eliot Seide from AFSCME were also invoved.[1]
Dave Colling was campaign manager.[2] Jim Linefelter was communications director.
Other supporters included Karen Northcott, Liz Brookins, Todd Jones, Michael Guest, Kathleen Murphy, and Rev. Ian Bethel.[3]
Pilgrimage to Mecca
In December 2008 Keith Ellison made his Haj pilgrimage to Mecca. He first travelled to Medina where he stayed for several days. meeting up with his friend Asad Zaman and other pilgrims from Minnesota.
After Mecca, Ellison was invited to a reception at the King's residence, for 60 to 70 people from Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, China,and Chad. North Carolina state legislator Larry Shaw was also there. Ellison chatted with a member of the Iranian parliament.[4]
Financial connections
Tax records show the group that paid Ellison's expenses, the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, received nearly $900,000 in taxpayer money in 2006 and 2007 from a rental arrangement for Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA), an Inver Grove Heights charter school.
The man who accompanied Ellison to Mecca, Asad Zaman, was executive director of the TiZA school, a political contributor of Ellison's and was president of the Muslim American Society until August, when the Mecca trip was planned.
TiZA has been sued by the American Civil Liberties Union and probed by state officials for allegedly promoting Islam, which would violate the church and state separation required of public schools -- including charter schools.
The school received state funding to pay rent to the Muslim American Society Property Holding Corp., a nonprofit spinoff of the Muslim American Society that owned the building. The corporation then turned over $879,000 to the Muslim society as a grant.