Painful anti-Muslim rhetoric continues apace

Since founding the Interfaith Institute of Long Island in 2015, I have worked to promote understanding among people of different faiths and backgrounds and to strengthen the civic bonds that make our nation stronger. As a Muslim, an immigrant and an American, I am privileged to serve my fellow citizens through medicine, education, research and interfaith collaboration.

So I was shocked and deeply disappointed to receive a five-page letter from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at my home warning of supposed threats to our nation and citing Zohran Mamdani's election as mayor of New York City as a wake-up call. His letter referred to "the barbarians behind 9/11” as seeing "their vision of an Islamic Republic of America" advancing, and urged that this alleged movement be stopped in New York State. He praised Secure America Now, a rabidly Islamophobic organization. More recently, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, in his campaign against Gov. Kathy Hochul, criticized her for wearing a headscarf in visiting a mosque. He called her "Hijab Hochul."

Such language is inflammatory, divisive and dangerous. It casts suspicion on an entire faith community and implies that Muslim civic participation is a threat to the United States. This is especially painful coming from leaders of the Republican Party — the party of Lincoln — which attracted me decades ago because of its emphasis on family values, individual responsibility, civic duty and limited government.

American Muslims have too often been targets of political attacks that portray our faith as alien or suspect. In 2006, during a difficult congressional campaign, Rep. Peter King vilified Muslims and labeled me an extremist. He later held congressional hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims.

Similar rhetoric has continued in national politics, as public figures have warned of "creeping Sharia," spoken broadly of "Muslim terrorists," or suggested religious tests for entry into the United States. Such language is heard as an attack on all Muslims and becomes a gift to extremist recruiters who falsely claim that America is at war with Islam. In Texas, Republican candidates are using scare tactics about sharia, as if it is an oppressive plan for Muslim dominance of everyone. But State Rep. Salman Bhojani, the first Muslim elected to the Texas Legislature, reminded us that sharia is an "ethical and moral framework that governs your personal conduct."

Fear of Muslims has affected public officials and candidates for office, like Mayor Mamdani and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan. Both have strongly criticized the actions of the Israeli military in Gaza as genocidal. Vice President JD Vance called El-Sayed "very, very evil." The Republican National Committee chairman said El-Sayed would have been friends with the 9/11 attackers.

Thinking back to the attacks of 9/11, I remember with admiration the day President George W. Bush visited the Islamic Center of Washington afterward. Standing with Muslim community leaders, he said, "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam." He made clear that America's struggle was against violence and evil, not against Islam or Muslims. Despite his statement, Islamophobia spread.

Cruz's letter urged me to share a petition to Hochul demanding that "no immigrants, citizens, or visitors" to New York receive any "special privileges, rights, or immunities." I reject that premise. American Muslims, immigrants and minority communities are not asking for special privileges. We are asking for equal dignity, equal protection and the same constitutional rights guaranteed to every person in this country.

This guest essay reflects the views of Dr. Faroque A. Khan, of Jericho, chairman of the Interfaith Institute of Long Island.