By Rakhi Bose
A”Tonight, we can turn Inshallah (God willing) to Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God)”.
Hearing these words from the victorious US Senate candidate from Michigan, Abdul El Sayed, may have been a moment of catharsis for countless American Muslims. The shopkeepers who were attacked after 9/11. The kid who was bullied in school. The woman who was targeted for her Hijab. The teenager who saw people looking like him and his family being vilified in films and video games. People who were subjected to so many loyalty tests that it became second nature for them. People who were, and still are, told to ‘stay in their place’ sometimes explicitly, sometimes implicitly.
It is cathartic also because over the past two months, many of them had been made to relive the same traumatic moments through the Islamophobic attacks on Abdul El Sayed during the campaign.
“Jihadist Leprechaun”, “Terrorist”, “Fit For Guantanamo Bay”
Here’s a sample of the comments Abdul El Sayed had to face from top Republicans. We are not even talking about the barrage of hate online and TV or dog-whistle attacks.
“Twenty-five years later (since 9/11), Michigan needs to stand up and fight to stop a jihadist from walking into the Capitol” (President Donald Trump)
“He would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate.” (Trump)
“Are you for America, or are you for these terrorist groups overseas?” (Mike Rogers, El Sayed’s rival in the Senate race)
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.
