Trump's Anti-Muslim Talk Encourages Hate Crimes

While I am not a huge fan of politics, it is distressing to see that Donald Trump’s recent remarks about Muslims will lead to an increase in violent hate crimes in America. Airing anti-Muslim sentiments is offensive. In Canada, a mosque in Peterborough, Ontario, was set on fire and two Muslim women in Toronto were accosted, abused and beaten. Is this where Mr. Trump intends to lead America?

Despite the fact that the First Amendment to the Constitution promises every American freedom of religion, Mr. Trump states that there is a “Muslim problem.” There are, at present, at least 784 hate groups in the United States of America, but they are all okay. Instead, a religion is being vilified-Islam, and it is a religion, not a hate group. As a presidential candidate, he should be aware of the First Amendment. It is so tremendously disappointing that this is his rallying cry to get into the White House.

When Trump identifies a “Muslim problem,” he is objectifying every Muslim in the country. If I am a Muslim, that makes me part of the “Muslim problem.”. When Hitler identified the Jews as Germany’s “problem,” Germany followed up by trying to get rid of “the problem.”

In a 2011 interview, Mr. Trump attacked the Qur’an, the Muslim Holy Book. He told his audience that “There is a lot of hate in the Qur’an.”

As a Christian who converted to Islam, it makes me wonder if Mr. Trump has even read the Qur’an, because it is very clear about ethical and moral behavior: The Qur’an says, “Surely, God loves those who are equitable (60:9).” But perhaps Mr. Trump missed that page? Then he should have noticed that the Qur’an states: “God does not love corruption (2:205).” But if he missed that page, then surely he noticed that the Qur’an says: “So compete with each other in doing good” (5:49) or “Indeed, Allah enjoins justice, and the doing of good to others; and giving like kindred; and forbids indecency, and manifest evil, and wrongful transgression (16:91).” Did he really miss all of these?

But Mr. Trump insists, complete with dramatic pauses, that “There is something there [in the Qur’an] that teaches a very negative vibe.” It is a religious book. All religions teach man to be compassionate to his fellow man. It is the ultimate achievement, which is why all prophets are revered for their compassion, even under extreme duress.

The Holy Qur’an’s purpose, according to the author, God, is: “We prescribed a clear spiritual law” (5:49). In summary, the Qur’an teaches us to behave with justice, good works and decency, while God abhors transgression, evil and corruption, which appears, to me, to create a fairly clear dividing line illustrating what Muslims should and should not do.

Recently, “Trump told Yahoo News that he would consider requiring Muslim-Americans to register with a government database, or worse, mandating that they carry special identification cards that note their faith.

Dean Obeidallah, former attorney, told CNN that Mr. Trump’s latest suggestion that “Requiring Muslims to carry special religious ID cards is degrading.”

But Mr. Trump states again that “there’s tremendous hatred out there that I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Is he ignorant of American history? Reagan trained Osama bin Laden to fight in Afghanistan against the Russians, yet when America invaded Iraq to fight Saddam Hussein, they lost Osama bin Laden as an ally. The death toll from the Iraq war is between 405,000 and one million, depending on who is doing the calculations. The death toll is not winning any fans of America in the Muslim world. ISIS was indirectly created by America, but Mr. Trump wants to blame the Qur’an and Islam for the negative feelings in the world?

Neither is the Talmud responsible for what Jeffrey Dahmer did, nor is the Catholic faith responsible for what Timothy McVeigh did. And after their reign of terror, no one declared that either of these religions to be “the problem.” So why is Mr. Trump allowed to encourage an atmosphere where hatred against Muslims is likely to flourish?

As a Muslim, I abhor what happened in San Bernardino, California. I cannot understand how Mr. Farooq could convince a woman, his wife, the mother of his child, to slaughter innocent people. They had everything to live for and they chose death. It is incomprehensible.

But we all need a president who is willing to live by the United States Constitution. Religions exhort us to be better than our base selves, so the forefathers of this country were right to respect all religions. United we stand, divided, we fall into chaos.