A disbeliever. A transgressor. An enemy of his people who is complicit in the genocide of Palestinians. A future denizen of hellfire alongside the Pharaoh and Yazid.
These are just some of the lovely slurs and allegations levied by some Muslims against fellow Muslim Americans who are voting for Vice President Harris.
But these WhatsApp messages, Facebook posts, and tweets, although painful to read, also reflect a righteous rage and humiliation so many Muslim and Arab Americans feel over the Biden Administration’s complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. Why would any self-respecting Muslim support Kamala Harris, who wouldn’t even allow a Palestinian American Democratic representative three minutes of stage time at the Democratic National Convention? This is the same Harris campaign that recently apologized for removing a Muslim community leader and former Democratic candidate for Congress from her Michigan rally. It’s similar to what happened in 2008 when staffers from the Obama campaign also kicked out two hijabi Muslim women from his Michigan rally fearing the optics would hurt him with swing state voters.
There are valid questions and concerns from informed Muslim friends of mine who vote Democrat and understand the threat of another Donald Trump presidency. I agree with them that the Biden Administration has been complicit in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s war crimes and that Kamala Harris has insulted us by refusing to embrace our communities and listen to our legitimate grievances. However, I cannot allow my anger and frustration to blind me to the dangers and harm that will be unleashed both at home and abroad with another Trump presidency. We’ve been here before. In 2008, Democrats treated us like Boo Radley and kept us at arm’s length. Still, a majority of Muslims voted for Democrats and President Obama to end the failed, bloody presidency of the Bush Administration.
I agree with the reasoning of 25 Islamic religious leaders who signed a letter endorsing Kamala Harris citing Muslims have “a responsibility, an Amana, not to place our community harm’s way.” That sentiment was echoed last week by more than 100 Arizona Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and progressive Democrats and community leaders encouraging Muslims and Arabs to vote for Kamala Harris. “In our view, it is crystal clear that allowing fascist Donald Trump to become President again would be the worst possible outcome for the Palestinian people. A Trump win would be an extreme danger to Muslims in our country, all immigrants, and the American pro-Palestine movement,” they wrote in a signed letter.
“But we must punish President Biden and Kamala Harris for Gaza,” I hear in response. Some Muslim American religious leaders and imams have signed a letter advocating our communities to vote for a third-party candidate, such as Jill Stein, instead of Trump or Harris. "We may not know what the future holds, but we know this: we will not taint our hands by voting for or supporting an administration that has brought so much bloodshed upon our brothers and sisters," they write. Stein and her Vice Presidential candidate Butch Ware, a Muslim, are aggressively courting disaffected Muslim and Arab voters over Gaza. In swing states, a vote for Stein, who will receive zero electoral votes, is a failed and self-destructive short-term strategy that will only help Donald Trump.
I recall a similar situation in the 2000 election where some sincere Muslims, predominantly from Arab and South Asian communities, decided to vote for George W. Bush. Republicans capitalized on Democrats’ indifference to our communities, courted our leaders, and promised to end the use of “secret evidence” that disproportionately affected Muslims and Arabs. The “Muslim vote” was credited by conservative activist Grover Norquist as helping Bush win Florida and thus the election. Subsequently, innocent Muslims abroad became the victims of the Bush Administration’s “War on Terror” in the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. The worst Islamophobes were emboldened, Muslim American communities were surveilled, and our identity is still being used by Trump and Republicans to demonize and disparage Barack Hussein Obama, the first Black president who is not and has never been a Muslim.
In 2016, even though a majority of Muslims voted Democrat, some Muslims decided not to vote for Hillary Clinton because they believed “both sides” were corrupt. After entering the Oval Office, Trump attempted to push the Muslim Ban within a week. Recently, a few Muslim Americans publicly endorsed Trump at his Michigan rally despite Trump recommitting to a Muslim Ban.
When I talk to Muslims who said they will vote for Trump, they cite a variety of unconvincing reasons, mainly that he is better for the economy and will stop killing Muslims, ignoring that he was responsible for dropping the MOAB in Afghanistan and betraying Kurdish forces in Syria. They are also conveniently ignoring Trump's claim that he speaks to Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu on a near daily basis and recently said he “should do what he wants to do” with regards to striking Iran. Unfortunately, some are motivated by homophobia and are taken by MAGA’s attacks on DEI initiatives and fearmongering against transgender communities.
I’d like these Muslim voters to look at the now-viral CNN clip of former J.D. Vance staffer Ryan Girdusky telling Muslim American journalist and host Mehdi Hasan, “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” when Hasan said he supports Palestinians. That’s what MAGA and Trump’s insiders think of us. Just listen to J.D. Vance who went on Joe Rogan’s podcast last Thursday and repeated the “anti-sharia” conspiracies which were rampant in 2010 and 2012. He falsely alleged Muslims in Minnesota have taken over local governments and that the UK will become “Islamist” due to Muslim immigrants, which is just a remix of the ongoing white supremacist “replacement theory.” Despite all this open hatred, Trump is willing to cynically exploit people’s anger, ignorance, and Democratic political incompetence. Unlike Kamala Harris, Trump just went to Dearborn, Michigan, and visited some Muslim and Arab communities. Thankfully, the Muslim-American mayor and many top leaders refused to meet him.
All of this reveals that Muslim Americans aren’t a monolith. The internal pressure, boycotting, and emotional blackmail by some Muslims to bully others into not voting or voting for a third party only weaken and divide our communities that are already under assault from hatemongers and bigots, such as Donald Trump who famously said, “I think Islam hates us.” Last time I checked, Islam doesn’t speak, but Muslims do. In Islam, there is no compulsion in religion.
As such, there should be no compulsion to vote, or not vote, in an American election. At the very least, voting for a certain candidate should not be the sole litmus test for your inclusion into one of the most vibrant and successful religious communities in America that will continue growing, arguing, and learning how to build and flex our diverse voices and strengths regardless of who wins the 2024 election.
With that being said, I’ll be casting my vote for Kamala Harris.
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