HOUSTON, Texas – The final stages of the U.S. midterm elections are marked by rising Islamophobia, especially against Muslim candidates such as Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
While this climate of bigotry may be emerging as a national problem, it has been years in the making in Texas, where state politicians have promoted rhetoric and policies that Muslim voters say stigmatize their very existence.
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Even if there are no Muslim candidates on the statewide ballot, Muslim voters say the stakes in the election are very local.
“Honestly, I feel it most through my children,” said Samir Najam, a Houston lawyer who attended a Fall Festival celebration at a local Islamic center with his family days before the Nov. 3 vote.
“As adults, we get to choose who we hang out with,” the 45-year-old said. “But kids, you’ve got families that all go to school together and watch certain news stories, and kids are going to say things that are offensive.”
Muslims make up less than 2% of Texas’ population, but community organizers hope a significant increase in turnout could weaken the state’s electoral strength. Many Muslim voters, regardless of party, told Al Jazeera they wanted to send a message that they would not be treated as anyone’s political boogeyman.
“Muslims are excluded. They are discriminated against everywhere,” said Emraan Ghazi, president of the Islamic Association of Greater Houston, which manages more than 30 mosques in the sprawling metropolis.
The association has significantly expanded its voter registration efforts this year, with religious leaders spreading the message during Friday services. Ghazi said ISGH does not endorse any particular candidate, but instead encourages its members to vote according to their conscience.
“We want politicians and officials to understand that they need to consider Muslims before making any decisions against them,” he said.
“Don’t sharia my Texas.”
Some voters said it was not difficult to understand the harsh rationale for “othering” another group for political gain. But the escalation in rhetoric and policy in Republican-majority states is alarming.
“Honestly, it’s been hell,” said Maryam Ahmed, a 42-year-old doctor. “Within the past two years, I’ve gotten to the point where I’m generally considering leaving the United States.”
“I have a child and I don’t want him to be considered a terrorist,” Ahmed added. “I’ve already had to deal with that. I don’t want the same thing to happen to my child.”
Messages from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the state’s Republican Party rallied around the notion that “Sharia,” an amorphous term for Islamic customs and customs that are codified in government in some countries, poses an imminent threat to Texans.
“We’re not waiting for Washington, D.C.,” Abbott said at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas last month. “We will completely ban Islamic law in Texas.”
Sen. Ted Cruz echoed similar sentiments at the same event, saying, “Sharia law is fundamentally inconsistent with the Constitution and we need to come together and stop it now.”
In June, the state Republican Party adopted an official platform titled “Don’t Make Sharia My Texas,” promising “criminal penalties, civil service, military, and law enforcement disqualification, denaturalization, and deportation” for its supporters.
The Texas Legislature launched the Sharia-Free Texas Caucus in March, and it has since gained 38 members in the 150-seat chamber. The incident comes just months after two U.S. congressmen from Texas, Chip Roy and Keith Self, launched the Sharia-Free America Caucus in Congress, which grew to 68 members.
Rights advocates and residents said the emphasis on Islamic law was disconcerting and disconcerting. Texas, or any jurisdiction in the United States for that matter, has not enacted any form of Islamic law.
“The reality is, no one hates everyone as much as they make themselves believe,” said Sara Davas, a 33-year-old internist who recently moved to Houston. “And no one in American history has imposed anything like Islamic law on the government.”
“You can’t do that,” she added. “That’s how we practice.”
Observers say state authorities have distorted some unique cases, including an investigation into a company that tried to build a predominantly Muslim housing development in North Texas and an organization that oversees voluntary arbitration of Islam, similar to Christian and Jewish practices.
The Bridge Initiative, an Islamophobia tracking group based at Georgetown University, said state politicians are increasingly pointing to “everyday expressions of Muslim civil life” when claiming violations of Islamic law.
The group said in a report released in February that this includes “public participation, demographic growth…involvement in community development.” “In effect, they are framing Muslims’ active civic engagement, and sometimes their mere presence, as evidence of a broader threat.”
“It hurt a lot.”
The political climate has not spared Texas’ prominent Republican Muslims, with the situation reaching a climax during the Texas Republican Party convention in June.
In one instance, outgoing Republican Chairman Abraham George told two Muslim delegates that they should leave the party, The Texas Tribune reported. In another example, a state senator told the panel that Muslims are “required by Islamic law to lie” in order to fly under the radar.
Those targeted for harassment included the son of Tarek Hussein, a party representative who founded the Houston office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the early 2000s.
Governor Abbott, who is facing an emerging challenge from Democratic Rep. Gina Hinojosa, is seeking to designate CAIR Texas a “foreign terrorist organization” (a label typically applied by the federal government).
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running a close Senate race against Democrat James Talarico, later sued CAIR to stop it from operating in the state. In response, CAIR Texas sued Abbott on constitutional grounds of freedom of speech and expression.
A Muslim Republican who attended the event told Al Jazeera that the experience was “very hurtful.”
“I’ve been associated with Republicans for a long time,” said the attendee, who asked that his name not be published for fear of further harassment. “I identify with their business values and family values.”
Although he remains involved in local Republican politics, he said he plans to drop some Republican candidates from his vote.
Other conservative Muslims “may not be able to vote outside of the Republican Party, but they may skip voting for some candidates,” he said.
“If you haven’t voted yet, please raise your hand.”
Local organizers said it’s difficult to translate community disappointment into statewide political action.
Sania Rahim, an activist with the Peace, Relief and Equity Coalition, said Muslims are very diverse both in Houston and across the state, with no one ethnic group predominant.
“You can’t just go on an Arabic radio station and tell people about voting, because the majority of people don’t speak Arabic,” she says.
Muslim voters in the region are typically more involved in local politics than in statewide elections, she said.
Still, critics say the high school curriculum recently approved by the Texas State Board of Education focuses disproportionately on the concept of “radical Islam,” and false depictions of the Prophet Muhammad are a particularly galvanizing issue.
Samiha Rizvi, the group’s civic engagement organizer who staffed CAIR Action’s table at the Islamic Center’s Fall Fest in Houston, winced as she described the difficulty of overcoming what she called the “model immigrant” mentality.
“I think the problem we’re facing right now is that many leaders think the best way to get through what’s happening to us is to keep our heads down and remain silent,” she said. “They may be telling people to vote, but they are not speaking in the court of public opinion on many of these issues.”
She grabbed a microphone and raised her voice above the din of bounce houses, petting zoos and food stalls.
“Raise your hand if you have voted yet,” she said. “Raise your hand if you are registered to vote but have not yet voted.”
“The way we can make a difference, the way we can make our state safe for families, is by voting in this election,” Rizvi said. “There are clear choices.”
