Post-Election: Talking Points and Thinking Points

[These points are designed for those Muslims who voted for Trump, for Harris, or for a third party about what they must do next.]

Assalamu Alaikum

With our hearts beating in love and grief for our brothers and sisters suffering in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, this presidential election was quite an emotional exercise for us. 

Now that they are over, the question remains how Muslims, who make up just one percent of the American population, can empower ourselves to increase our influence in American society, as well as on its domestic and foreign policies.

Jewish Americans perhaps faced the same question when, during the Holocaust, the U.S. refused to allow 900 Jewish children who had fled Germany to land on American soil. The SS St. Louis was forced to turn back, where Nazis reportedly killed 30 to 50 percent of those children. American Jews then focused on their empowerment by investing their time and money in politics, media, human services, and coalitions with like-minded groups.

The genocide in Palestine has brought several new players to the Muslim community. Young Muslims in alliance with young Jews and progressives rose up; a large number of political action committees (PACs) have popped up across America; Islamic scholars and Imams issued partisan statements to sway Muslims to vote in one direction or the other.  

While voting is critical for empowerment, the journey doesn’t end at the polls. Real empowerment lies in the commitment to engage, develop relationships, develop networks, and serve every day, ensuring that we shape the future collectively and meaningfully. It will also require the Muslim community to follow Prophet Muhammad’s success strategies since he lived as part of a small minority almost all his life. May God's peace and blessings be upon him. 

Thinking Points:

For Muslim Trump Voters:

President-elect Donald Trump promised to end the war in the Middle East. Those who voted for him now must make sure he keeps this promise. 

Trump won Dearborn, Michigan the nation’s largest Arab-majority city with 42.5% of the votes. Harris took 36% and Stein over 18%. In 2000, 70% of Muslims voted for President George W. Bush. However,  they abandoned the Republican ship in droves during the war on terror, when the FBI knocked on at least 500,000 Muslim doors in the United States. Muslims were unable to develop lasting relationships within the Republican party. We recommend that those who voted for Trump invest more in the party for long-term benefit. Here are some ways to do this:

• Organize, organize, and organize. It is not enough to vote. Muslim support for the Republican party is scattered. They need to develop their network. 
• One in three people of color voted for Trump. Muslims need to develop their relationship with these potential allies to gradually wean the party away from its white nationalist base. It can be your lasting contribution to move America forward. 
• Show up at the local Republican party meetings regularly. 
• If you are a donor, figure out who else donated to Trump and network with them. 
• Dialogue within the Republican party is critical to limit his unchecked powers. 
• Assumptions that the Republican party is inherently anti-Muslim need to be corrected. Many Muslims find a common cause with Republicans including moral conservatism, family values, and freedom of speech. Muslims who engaged with the party were able to have conversations resulting in wins for our community. 

[Example: It was during the first Trump administration when, in 2018, a Republican-led House passed a resolution that recognized that Rohingya Muslims were facing genocide. American Muslim human rights organization Justice for All worked with Christian evangelicals on that cause and during that time, $1.2 billion was allocated for Rohingya refugees.] 

• Can Muslim supporters of Trump ensure that, unlike the last Trump administration, when he did not appoint any Muslims to the government, this time it is different? President Joe Biden appointed the largest number of Muslims in his administration. 
• You need to ensure that Trump does not appoint Islamophobes like Stephen Miller who crafted the Muslim Ban and is now pushing for deporting millions of undocumented immigrants.
• I know that this is not at all an easy task. However, Sabr (patience and perseverance) and Tawakkul (trust in God) are essential. You need to start by taking one small step in this direction since you voted for it. 
• Strengthen yourself spiritually for the task ahead and remind yourself of your intentions in not just voting for this party, but committing to work for the greater good under its banner. 

P.S. Ensure that President-Elect Trump goes back to visit The Great Commoner, the Halal cafe he visited in Dearborn, Michigan to drum up support. 

For Muslims Who Voted For The Democratic Party 

Congratulations on getting a fourth Muslim into Congress: Representative-elect Lateefah Simon, a Democrat, will represent California’s District 12. Your to-do’s for the next four years will be to:

• Organize, organize, and organize
• Almost all elected Muslims are Democrats. All three Muslims, now four, who are in Congress are Democrats and won with about 70% of the votes. 
• The three Muslims in Congress were the only ones to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. However, within three weeks they were able to get over 20 Congresspersons to join them. Early this year 90 Democrats - and no Republicans - came together calling for a ceasefire. Enhance your networking within the party, Blacks, Latinos, and others who fought with you and for you against the Muslim ban
• All politics is local. So run for your local elections. Run for the local party office. Run for seats in your district’s school board, public library, county, and wherever else you can serve your community. This will strengthen not only Muslim community engagement, presence, and participation; it will also expand the Democratic party’s base in a way that is more representative of Americans of all backgrounds, religious, ethnic, and other. 
• Republicans and Democrats have switched the presidency and Congress many times in the last 50 years. So don’t abandon the relationships and alliances you have developed in the Democratic party. Build on them. 
• Sabr -perseverance, endurance, and patience - will be needed. Strengthen yourself spiritually. 

And For Third-Party Voters

Don’t get frustrated with low support for the third party. If you wanted to defeat “Genocide Joe” you achieved that. But if you wanted to get the five percent of votes necessary for federal funding, this is going to require more work. And you should not give up this goal. A third party is necessary for America to broaden the options for the electorate.

However, this cannot be achieved if you distance yourself from politics now that the election is over. In Canada, a third party, the NDP, holds such power that they essentially dictate when the country’s next elections will be. The NDP is also responsible for the country’s universal healthcare system even though it has never won an electoral majority.

In Europe, third parties have helped democracy in a significant way. They can create another check and balance in the political system. Although all efforts in the last 50 years have failed to create a viable third-party option in the United States this does not mean it is not a goal to pursue. Now is the best time to do that. Some ways you can do that:

• Organize, organize, organize.
• Attend Green party meetings at the local level. 
• Establish a Green party within your city, county, or state if it does not exist. 
• Plan now to run for a local office. Many Green party members have won elections in the past

You know this well: Nothing comes free in America. We invest too little in our own empowerment but expect a lot. Although the roots of Islam in America go back centuries, our empowerment process is relatively new. We face a well-organized and well-funded Israeli lobby in the United States when it comes to American support for Israel. If we want to change this, we have to make much more of an effort outside of federal elections. 

This is going to take time and resources. More importantly, it will take that Sabr and Tawakkul that is part of the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet. It will also take wisdom and careful strategizing. 

We will continue to address the topic of Muslim empowerment in the coming days. In the meantime, please keep the Ummah in the U.S. and abroad in your prayers, and make Dua that God Almighty guides us on how we need to move forward to use this trust and power God has given us in the best way for all of humanity. 

p.s. Please do share with others so it reaches more Muslims.