PHILADELPHIA -- Federal agents raided a northeast Philadelphia mosque Thursday and now they are questioning the prayer leader for the mosque, who is from Egypt.

Armed with a warrant, federal agents arrested Imam Mohamed Ghorab while he and his wife were dropping off their daughter at school Thursday morning.

His wife was surprised by the action.

"All I can remember (is they said), 'Your hands up, your hands up.' We were asking questions, nobody was talking to us. My husband was taken right away," said Meriem Moumen.

Just moments after the arrest, federal agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Internal Revenue Service raided the home and the mosque of which Ghorab is in charge. Witnesses said nearly 100 agents stormed the area.

Moumen said agents searched everywhere in her house while they questioned her.

"He was asking me about weapons, and he asked me about my name, and I said, 'Meriem.' He said, 'No, that's not your name,'" Moumen remembered.

On the search warrant obtained by NBC 10 News, there was no mention of weapons. The warrant called for confiscating all financial records and passport information.

Ghorab's attorney told NBC 10 News that today's action was not the first time his client has been taken into federal custody. He was arrested about a year ago for having an expired visa.