CAIR-Ohio Hires Official from IU Initiative That Trained Hamas “Sham Charity”
CINCINNATI – Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) – Ohio announced Thursday that it hired Abdul Samad Amjad as their Director of Government & Community Relations, who previously worked at the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative (MPI) at Indiana University (IU). Amjad, who used the name Abdul Samad professionally during his tenure at IU, served as MPI’s associate director until the initiative was closed by the university in late July following an internal investigation.
In March, the Treasury Department designated Hayat Yolu, an Istanbul-based nonprofit, as a “sham charity” that raised money “in direct support of Hamas’ military wing,” the al-Qassam Brigades.
“Hamas continues to finance its military wing by exploiting sham charities to support terrorist operations,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. “The Treasury Department will not allow Hamas to misuse the charitable sector for its violent aims, and we will continue to target these networks wherever they operate.”
The relationship between MPI and Hayat Yolu was revealed later that month in a Washington Free Beacon report. MPI conducted two training programs involving Hayat Yolu – in July 2025 and January 2026. IU placed MPI under review following the revelations and permanently closed the initiative in late July. The programs involving Hayat Yolu were led by MPI director Shariq Siddiqui, but Samad worked closely with Siddiqui during his tenure there – often serving as his right hand man.
Samad also had a documented working relationship with Islamic Relief USA, which funded portions of MPI’s research and sponsored a February 2025 report he coauthored following a joint symposium at the charity’s Virginia headquarters. Islamic Relief USA later said federal officials warned that its tax-exempt status could be jeopardized unless it severed ties with Islamic Relief Worldwide, an affiliate the House Ways and Means Committee alleged to have connections to terrorist entities, including Hamas. After suspending that relationship in October 2025, Islamic Relief USA filed a federal lawsuit in March seeking to formally separate from the global organization.
Historically, CAIR Ohio’s Director of Government & Community Relations has overseen CAIR’s activities at the State House as well as its youth leadership programs – including its high school advocacy course, Muslim Youth Leadership Program, as well as its college program, Summer Internship Development Program.
Many Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) leaders come from these programs — including Laila Shaikh, who founded SJP at the University of Cincinnati her first year on the main campus and received awards from the organization for her work after October 7th — which includes a four hour lockdown for Hillel students by SJP UC and recently leading the chant “Free Palestine until all the Zionists are dead”.
Samad’s appointment follows another controversial leadership hire by CAIR-Ohio. In June 2024, the organization selected Khalid Turaani to lead its Central and Southern Ohio offices. Turaani later participated in an October 2025 online forum alongside Majed al-Zeer, whom the Treasury Department had identified as a senior Hamas representative in Germany. Turaani told The Free Press that he had no interaction with al-Zeer and attended the event as a Palestinian American. In February, the Anti-Defamation League condemned Turaani after he told an Ohio Senate committee that Israel operated the world’s largest human-skin bank by “literally skinning” dead Palestinians. Samad now joins Turaani’s operation as its Director of Community and Government Engagement.
