We can all agree that 2016 was a tough year, but these Muslim men made it a little bit better. We compiled a list of the individuals that inspired us this year.
Riz Ahmed
The British actor and rapper graduated with a Politics, Philosophy and Economics degree from Oxford University before starring in independent films such as The Four Lions and The Road to Guantanamo. Most recently, you may have seen him in Rogue One, the latest Star Wars film where he played Bodhi Rock, the former Imperial cargo pilot who defects the Rebels under the influence of Galen. His presence in the public eye has given him the chance to speak out about being racially profiled at airports and his experiences as a minority actor.
Rami Anis
The Syrian swimmer represented the small Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and broke his personal record in the 100m freestyle. He has always been a good swimmer and was bound to be picked for the Syrian team in 2012, however as the civil war in Syria escalated in 2011, he left the city to join his brother in Turkey. Originally from Aleppo, he did not know then that he would not be coming back as he packed only a small bag with enough clothes for a few weeks. He ended up staying in Turkey for four years before seeking asylum in Belgium. He said: “In the 2020 Olympics, I hope to be able to swim under my own flag.”
White Helmets
Also known as the Syria Civil Defense, the White Helmets are volunteers that operate in the rebel-controlled areas of Syria during the Syrian Civil War. They have given their lives to save thousands of people by pulling civilians out of the rubble and carrying them to safety. They have been often targeted for helping civilians and many died during their rescue operations.
Abdullah Hammoud
This year, Abdullah Hammous was the first Arab American Muslim to win a seat in the State House of Representatives in Dearborn, Michigan. During the primaries, he faced a lot of discrimination from the community members for being a Muslim. When the first campaign flyer was set out announcing Hammoud’s candidacy, it came back ripped up in the mail, with a note attached saying: “No more Arabs, no more Muslims. Go back to your country.” However, the 26 year-old campaigned hard about healthcare, the environment, education and transportation, and he won the seat.
Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Khan, became the first Muslim Mayor of London earlier on this year. He grew up in a council flat, with a humble family setting and often recalls his father’s hard work of being a bus driver for over 25 years and his mother’s job as a seamstress. At university, he studied Law and worked as a solicitor specialising in human rights.
He joined the Labour party in 1994, as the Councillor for the London Borough of Wansworth, before eventually being elected MP for Tooting in 2005. Khan is the city’s first ethnic minority mayor and he has already introduced reforms to limit charges on London’s public transport and focused on uniting the city’s diverse communities.
Mo Farah
With nine global titles, Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah is the most successful British track athlete in the history of the modern Olympic Games. He won gold for the 5,000m and 10,000m in 2012 and 2016. Farah’s most iconic moment was when he overcame a mid-race fall in the 10,000m race and still won in 27 minutes and five seconds. Farah was on the Queen’s New Year Honours List and awarded the knighthood for his services to athletics.
Hamdi Ulukaya
Hamdi Ulukaya is a businessman who founded Chobani, the number one selling strained Greek-style yoghurt in the United States. He took a risk in purchasing an outdated yoghurt factory in upstate New York in 2005, a region that was renowned for its dairy industry. With no prior experience in the business, he has created a yoghurt empire, with factories in several states. It was valued at $1 billion in annual sales in less than five years after its launch. In 2016, Ulukaya announced that he would be giving 10% shares of the company to his employees.
Mehdi Hasan
Mostly known for presenting Al Jazeera English, Mehdi Hasan is a British political journalist, broadcaster and author. He is the political editor of the UK version of the Huffington Post and he co-wrote Ed Miliband’s biography. This year, Mehdi has helped tackle the xenophobic narrative during the American elections, where Muslims were targeted for their faith.
Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle is an African-American Muslim, who hosted Saturday Night Live’s first show after Donald Trump was elected. He gave an important speech about Trump’s victory by saying: “I’m going to give him a chance, and we, the historically disenfranchised, demand that he give us one, too.” Jokingly, he added that America “finally elected an Internet troll as President.” Chappelle made it clear that despite Trump’s victory, the American people should not be giving him a free pass for bigotry and sexism.
For eight years, a black man with a Kenyan father whose middle name was Hussein and who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia ran the US as president and commander-in-chief. And, all this while, nearly one-third of the country thought he was a Muslim. Instead of being a cause for concern, this gives me a small sense of joy.
Barack Obama’s skin color, his Arabic middle name, his alleged Muslim-ness did not deter American voters from making him the second-most powerful, influential person in the nation. (First place is forever occupied by Oprah.) Instead, millions of Americans voluntarily voted for a man who was widely believed to be Muslim.
Obama’s characteristics made him an enduring symbol, a beacon for millions of kids, like I once was. Our “ethnic otherness” made us question whether or not America would ever accept us as something more than a sidekick, the token minority, the “best ethnic friend” and instead invite us to take center stage and embrace the spotlight as the leading protagonist of the American narrative.
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Even when some Republicans deliberately, and consistently, vacated all sense of shame and decency by pushing the “birther” conspiracy – claiming President Obama was illegitimate because he wasn’t born in the US – the American people still gave him the popular vote in 2008 and 2012. How remarkable is that?
Obama always made clear he was a Christian, but never distanced himself from Muslims in response to spurious rumors about his faith. His first major interviewwas given to Al-Arabiya in 2009. A few months after becoming president, he gave a speech at Cairo University, intended to repair and restart relations with Muslim-majority communities reeling from the reckless, unnecessary wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Then, in his final year as president, he finally stepped into an American mosquefor the first time, thereby beating the mosque attendance record of many Muslims I know. Recently, he ended the odious Nseers program that was used by the Bush administration to deport over 13,000 immigrants, overwhelmingly Muslim and Arab men.
This is not an audit of Obama’s presidency, his flawed domestic and foreign policies, his strengths and blunders, his failed promises or his enduring victories. Rather, it is an appreciation that in my lifetime I was able to see a majority of America rise above our poisoned legacy of racism to embrace such a man as its leader.
Of course, the death rattle of white supremacy lashed back with ferocious anger. We’re about to witness a democratic transition of power from an eloquent, dignified politician to a short-tempered, thin-skinned, temperamental, anti-Muslim vulgarian who can muster petty, insulting tweets against civil rights icon John Lewis, his own intelligence agencies and the musical Hamilton, but whose tiny fingers can’t type 140 characters to criticize Vladimir Putin.
Some say this is proof that racism is embedded with the DNA of America, one that will never forgive itself the sin of electing a black, “Muslim man” as president, and never forget to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
But, if you’re paying close attention, the country is evolving and slowly, but surely, embracing and flaunting its new multicolored skin. During this past election, Ilhan Omar, a black, Muslim, female refugee who wears hijab, became the first Somali American-elected official.
Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, has emerged as one of the leading progressive candidates to chair the Democratic National Committee. Khizr and Ghazala Khan, Gold Star parents and Pakistani immigrants, body-slammed Trump with the constitution and were embraced by veterans across the US.
The American dream might become a living nightmare for many under Trump’s presidency, but for eight years a black man with a “foreign” name who many thought was Muslim was elected twice, to help make that dream a reality for millions still grasping for its fruition.
The bad hombres, the nasty women, the marginalized, the forgotten, the ethnics, and those trolled by Trump will keep fighting for it. Just like we always have. Just like we always will. And, who knows, maybe the next president will actually be a Muslim.