Adeel Malik
His opponents seized on Islamophobic attacks in the final weeks of the campaign. But Muslim Americans say his perseverance has given them newfound hope and optimism, as reported by The Washington Post.
In the closing days of New York City’s mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani released an ad entirely in Arabic.
“I might look like your brother-in-law from Damascus, but my Arabic needs some work,” he joked, before launching into his familiar pitch about affordability while tapping into cultural touchstones, such as mint tea and a plate of knafeh, a Palestinian dessert.
“I’m from you, and for you.”
For a community that has often felt excluded from politics, Mamdani’s direct appeal captured the excitement, hope and catharsis that his mayoral campaign — and victory Tuesday — has offered Muslim and Arab Americans nationwide. The city whose police department once surveilled mosques, restaurants and students is now weeks away from swearing in its first Muslim mayor.
“To see someone named Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim American immigrant, on the cusp of becoming the mayor of a city like New York in the age of Trump,” said Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action, a Muslim American advocacy group, “tells us that you can’t draw sweeping conclusions about the country. Voters are up for grabs and they’re prioritizing their daily lives and well-being.”
Abdullah Hammoud, who became the first Muslim mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, said Mamdani’s campaign has inspired and energized millions of people around the country.
“This idea that this brilliant young man who happens to be Brown, happens to be Muslim, could become the mayor of [New York City], lets us know there is no ceiling — the ceiling which we impose on ourselves,” Hammoud said.
“So many of us in the community are watching with heads held high that someone who looks like us, sounds like us, whether you’re Muslim or not, could be representing the largest city in the nation. What a remarkable American story this is.”
In another first on Tuesday, Ghazala Hashmi won the Virginia lieutenant governor’s race, becoming the first Muslim woman to win a statewide election in the United States.
Yet Mamdani’s campaign also surfaced the contradictions of a city that prides itself on its diversity, but where many have seized on his faith as a liability. That was evident in the backlash to his Arabic language ad, as well as the Islamophobic attacks that dominated the campaign’s final weeks.
Shortly after Mamdani released the ad, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) wrote on X: “Just a couple decades after 9/11, the leading candidate for NYC mayor is campaigning in Arabic. The humiliation is the point.”
Mamdani’s main rival, former New York governor Andrew M. Cuomo, seized on Islamophobic attacks and innuendo to paint the assembly member as unfit to lead New York. During an interview on a radio show, Cuomo laughed along with the host when he suggested Mamdani would side with the 9/11 terrorists as mayor if another such attack occurred.
Cuomo’s campaign also released a racist AI-generated video showing Mamdani running through Manhattan and eating rice with his hands along with criminals, including a Black shoplifter wearing a kaffiyeh, backing Mamdani. The clip was deleted from Cuomo’s official social media account soon afterward, but it was re-uploaded by a reporter and viewed more than a million times. The campaign said it was inadvertently posted by a junior staffer and was neither finished nor approved.
Mamdani, who is of Indian descent but was born in Uganda and moved to the U.S. at age 7 before becoming a naturalized citizen, has leaned into his background to appeal to New Yorkers who have long felt disenfranchised. But he has mostly sought to do so by tapping into shared cultural experiences with a sense of humor.
One of his first viral videos used halal carts to demonstrate rising prices in New York — a phenomenon Mamdani dubbed “halalflation.” He has visited restaurants across the city and eaten with his hands, which his opponents have seized on to depict him as un-American and uncivilized.
Many Muslim New Yorkers say Mamdani’s embrace of his faith and upbringing have given them a newfound sense of belonging in the city. Imam Khalid Latif, who has campaigned extensively for Mamdani, wrote a post on Oct. 17 — the day before the two shared a birthday — about what his candidacy has meant for Muslims in New York and beyond.
“Remember that the arc you’re bending toward justice isn’t yours to bend alone. You are part of a lineage — of people who believed deeply, spoke bravely, and lived intentionally. Lean on that,”
Latif wrote. “Keep showing them who we are by showing them who you are.”
Muslims making multiple Duas at this news include –
We ask Allah to guide Zohran to be a leader that leads through justice, compassion and by the truth of his faith and principles.
