Muslims add a new edge to American politics
It’s the hate directed towards Islam that has motivated so many from the community to enter the political arena
The Muslims are coming! For some Americans — those who support a travel ban, a wall along the Mexican border and increased restrictions on refugees, all while holding on to the ridiculous belief that the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims hate America, despite the fact that it’s home to nearly 3.5 million of us — that statement probably inspires fear.
But it’s true: Nearly 100 Muslim political hopefuls have filed to run for elected office this year in America. Only a dozen or so had run in 2016.
In July, the Associated Press had interviewed Muslim candidates about this record number. The reporting revealed that it’s precisely the bigotry and hate that has been directed toward Islam — including in remarks and tweets by United States President Donald Trump — that has motivated so many Muslims to enter the political arena, where they now stand poised to advance policies that directly reflect their faith and also benefit all of their constituents.
Rashida Tlaib of Detroit, a former state representative and a daughter of Palestinian immigrants, would be the nation’s first Muslim woman in Congress. Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American and refugee from Kenya, is predicted to win this month, replacing Rep. Keith Ellison in Minnesota. A majority of Muslim candidates are not running with their religion on their sleeves, but instead as Democrats promoting progressive platforms.
“It is important that people recognise I am someone who is a public servant working to create a better society, who just happens to be a Muslim refugee,” Omar told me. While she represents a district that is mostly Christian and white, she believes her constituents don’t care about her religion or identity as much as they do about whether she’ll champion their causes in Washington.
These Muslim veterans and upstarts aren’t the first to demonstrate that deeply held religious beliefs can inspire a commitment to social justice. But at a time when the hypocrisy of many who claim to represent the Christian religious right is especially glaring, they provide the latest reminder that being devout doesn’t have to — and shouldn’t — go hand in hand with attacks on women, minorities and poor people.
“It’s not about just being out there and flaunting your faith,” Tlaib told CNN in an August interview. “I always tell people that I’m exposing Islam in such a pivotal way, an impactful way, through public service.” Omar beat her closest Democratic rival by more than 20,000 votes while calling for the cancelling of student debt, raising the minimum wage and increasing the number of refugees admitted to this country.
“It is part of my Islamic teaching to make sure we are charitable,” Omar told me. “A huge part of the Islamic faith is that you can’t sleep with a full belly if your neighbours and those around you aren’t sleeping with a full belly.”
Abdul Al Sayed — who recently lost his race for the Michigan governor’s nomination, but started a Political Action Committee to support liberal candidates — echoed the sentiment. Al Sayed calls himself “openly, honestly and unapologetically Muslim”.
Nonetheless, both Omar and Al Sayed said critics have tried to use their religion against them. “Islamophobia comes with the territory,” Al Sayed said. They’ve each been hounded by the far-right activist Laura Loomer, who has been travelling the country “investigating” Muslim candidates running for office.
Hana Ali, seeking a seat in the Tennessee legislature, is taking a cue from Kennedy. She told me she’s running as a Democratic, a proud Tennessean and an American who also happens to be Muslim. In Tennessee, she has seen firsthand the damage of the opioid crisis and the dire consequences of her state’s failure to expand Medicaid.
Muslims are here, they’re running for office, and a few are going to Washington, where they’ll do something many members of Congress have failed to do for a long time: serve God by serving people.