Muslims in public office are not a threat to America; the attacks on them are - by Zainab Chaudry

 A dangerous line is increasingly being crossed in American politics. A litmus test is taking hold that labels the faith of 2 billion people as grounds for suspicion, treats Muslim public service as a threat, and paints Muslim participation in our democracy as something to fear.

This test deserves to be unequivocally rejected by everyone who believes religion should never be a deciding factor in who gets to serve in society. 

Recently, powerful elected officials have escalated troubling rhetoric that portrays Muslim Americans as inherently disloyal or un-patriotic. This isn’t because of anything they’ve done, but because of their names, their ethnicity and how they worship.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) recently called Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim American who received his medical degree from Columbia University and is former public health official, a “terrorist.”

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) took it even further, describing “every single Muslim holding public office in America” as a threat to national security.

President Donald Trump declared that “jihadists” are “being elected all over the place.”

This requires a swift and strong response regardless of which candidate or party one supports, because demonizing Americans based on faith is a fundamental civil-rights issue regardless of which political party engages in it or which candidate is targeted by it.

Rather than focusing on political stances or policy agendas, these officials resorted to character assassinations of individuals they deemed “un-American” simply because they’re Muslim.

What we’re witnessing undermines the principles of religious freedom and equal citizenship in the Constitution.

America has administered this loyalty test before. African Americans exercising newly won political power during the Reconstruction era were portrayed as “dangerous” and “unfit” for self-governance. Japanese Americans were branded “potential saboteurs.” Catholics were accused of treason.

The histories and consequences vary, but the tactic is disturbingly familiar.

Cast a minority community as a Trojan horse, mischaracterize its civic participation as a threat, and suddenly discrimination can be branded, labeled, packaged and sold as “defending” America. This has emboldened Islamophobia from the highest offices in the land.

For decades, Muslim communities have been advised to participate, vote, volunteer, serve the greater good and believe in American democracy. Muslim Americans are doing exactly that by serving on school boards and city councils, in state legislatures, Congress and elsewhere. This civic participation is the very expression of citizenship that American democracy encourages.

But some have made it clear that they’re only comfortable with Muslim participation so long as it remains politically invisible. Cast your ballots, but don’t appear on them. Work in government, but don’t exercise meaningful influence. Embrace democracy, but don’t become too successful at practicing it. These double standards need to end.

Article VI of the Constitution prohibits religious tests for public office, and the First Amendment protects religious freedom. It’s worth noting that neither contains faith-based exceptions. Rightfully so.

No American should have to renounce his or her religious identity to serve in public office.

Elected officials across the political spectrum should unequivocally condemn anti-Muslim rhetoric, including when it comes from members of their own party. Bigotry deserves to be identified and named.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, continues to document unprecedented waves of anti-Muslim hate. Its 2026 report revealed a record 8,683 anti-Muslim discrimination complaints nationwide during 2025 — the highest single-year total recorded since tracking began in 1996.

Hate and discrimination shape the environment in which ordinary people live, worship, serve, work and send their children to school. Speaking out against it has an impact. Americans should speak out, and answer attempts at political intimidation with more civic participation.

Register to vote, help register eligible voters, and participate in school-board meetings and town halls. Learn how government works. Apply for boards and commissions. Volunteer in your community. Reject the premise that Muslim participation somehow endangers or diminishes America when it wholly enriches it.

Like everyone else, Muslim public officials will get it both right and wrong. They deserve to be treated equally and praised, criticized or held accountable fairly. What they shouldn’t be required to do is give up their identity or wait for permission and approval to participate in our democracy.

The Constitution is the law of our land. It doesn’t ask Muslims to prove whether we belong here. It’s no one else’s right to do so either.

Zainab Chaudry is director of the Maryland office for Council on American-Islamic Relations.