Oz Could Be the First Muslim U.S. Senator, but Some Muslim Americans Are Ambivalent
(Photo: Reuters)
In June, voters elected a Muslim American as the first Muslim elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, the third Muslim in the U.S. Senate, and the first Muslim American in governor’s office in a single election. It was a historic first in American history, but it also came at a time when the Muslim American community is confronted with many questions about the role and purpose of American Muslims, many of whom have been vocal about being suspicious of American Muslims, not just because of their ethnicity, but also because of their religion. It raises questions about whether or not Muslims in America should be considered citizens, and what that means for national politics in the U.S.
A lot of questions have been raised about whether or not Muslims and Americans can form the same community, and whether or not Muslim Americans should be considered citizens at all. How is it possible that U.S. Muslims live in this country, yet there is no Muslim government or law, especially in the context of American political life, wherein federal and state laws have created a framework for national governance. The Muslim community of the U.S. has been under attack for their religion since the founding of this nation, but the question of citizenship was a particular and intense topic of discussion that has dominated Muslim American life during the past decade.
The Muslim American community has long faced many questions about why they have not achieved more from the nation they were blessed to live in, and a lot of the community’s frustrations have been directed toward government policies at the federal and state level that have affected their ability to achieve more.
A common reason given for why Muslims in America haven’t been able to achieve more is that they do not consider themselves citizens. According to a report by the Council on Foreign Relations, there has long been a lack of a uniform application of citizenship among American Muslims, which has prevented them from achieving full citizenship.
Some Muslims are critical of the fact that Muslim Americans, who were considered a particular and unique group of people in the past, are now part of the larger American community. The question of citizenship has been a divisive topic among American Muslims, and it has been an issue that has often led to the community being the recipient of threats and criticism from