Coming from a Muslim family and being raised in Syria and Iran, I am all too aware of politicians and influencers such as Abdul El-Sayed, Zohran Mamdani and others who carry that same formative identity. Americans should be clear-eyed: Islamist politicians and influencers in the United States will never place their first loyalty with America. It will not happen. Do not even think about it.
The first reality is that when you grow up under Islamist religion, teachings and doctrine, as I did, your identity is not your nationality. It is not “American” or “German” or any other geographic label. It is entirely the particular version of Sharia and Islamic doctrine you were taught. That is where all allegiance is rooted. Everything else — citizenship papers, the Constitution, the flag — is secondary, to be used to protect and expand this primary identity.
The second reality is the doctrine of exclusive truth we were taught. We were raised to believe our path is the only correct one and that everyone else is on the wrong path, destined for hell because they are not favored by Allah.
Shia Islam was presented as the final, perfect religion; all others as incomplete or corrupted. This premise produces a sharp view of the world as “us versus them.” We were taught that a person who does not affirm the shahada… before the end of his days, or who never believed it in the first place, does not enter heaven. This teaching instills in one a sense of moral superiority: we are the good; everyone else, unless he converts, is deficient.
From this vantage point, America, which predominantly does not adhere to these beliefs, is the realm of the wrong path, the infidel way.
To look at such suffering [on 9/11] and declare it “deserved” requires a depth of inhumanity, a contempt for the victims as human beings with feelings, passions and wishes, just as they have. Such a statement is possible only when these victims are first reclassified as people on the wrong path, people who do not merit ordinary human sympathy, or even as less than people at all: merely objects.
Historically, the pattern begins with promises of a better life: socialism, free necessities such as water and electricity, benefits such as housing for the poor, women’s rights, full religious and ethnic rights, and so on, just as the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, promised the people of Iran. When power is secured, the actual program is revealed.
The loyalty of these individuals remains solely to Islamist rule and their version of Sharia. It will never transfer to America…. America, by embodying the opposite [values], becomes an existential affront to the identity itself. Hatred follows automatically.
These individuals also show little gratitude or appreciation. The same voices that say America deserved 9/11 or that gain influence and prosper in America rarely acknowledge that America gave their family a home, the freedom to criticize anything without going to prison, and the generous chance to move up…. Instead of being grateful to America and Americans, the host society is owed no gratitude: nothing. Everything is filtered through the same Islamist identity: this life and the next depend on fidelity to it. America is never a priority.
It is an opulence to speak freely — to have the complete liberty to write these words or to remain silent — that only America affords.
Coming from a Muslim family and being raised in Syria and Iran, I am all too aware of politicians and influencers such as Abdul El-Sayed, Zohran Mamdani and others who carry that same formative identity.
Americans should be clear-eyed: Islamist politicians and influencers in the United States will never place their first loyalty with America. It will not happen. Do not even think about it.
For some, the feeling goes further into genuine hatred of America, Western civilization and the freedom individuals have to choose how they live. The pursuit of office and influence is driven by the aim of advancing their core identity, not of strengthening the nation that granted them the opportunity.
The first reality is that when you grow up under Islamist religion, teachings and doctrine, as I did, your identity is not your nationality. It is not “American” or “German” or any other geographic label. It is entirely the particular version of Sharia and Islamic doctrine you were taught. That is where all allegiance is rooted. Everything else — citizenship papers, the Constitution, the flag — is secondary, to be used to protect and expand this primary identity.
The second reality is the doctrine of exclusive truth we were taught. We were raised to believe our path is the only correct one and that everyone else is on the wrong path, destined for hell because they are not favored by Allah.
Shia Islam was presented as the final, perfect religion; all others as incomplete or corrupted. This premise produces a sharp view of the world as “us versus them.” We were taught that a person who does not affirm the shahada — “Ashhadu an la ilahaillallah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasulullah, wa ashhadu anna ʿAliyyan waliyyu Allāh” (“I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and I bear witness that Ali is the wali (friend/guardian) of Allah”) — before the end of his days, or who never believed it in the first place, does not enter heaven. This teaching instills in one a sense of moral superiority: we are the good; everyone else, unless he converts, is deficient.
From this vantage point, America, which predominantly does not adhere to these beliefs, is the realm of the wrong path, the infidel way.
That worldview is what underlies statements such as the claim that America “deserved” 9/11. Hasan Piker, the influential streamer who has campaigned alongside candidates including El-Sayed, said “America deserved 9/11, dude. Fuck it, I’m saying it.”
Please pause for a minute and consider the human reality of that day: people trapped on upper floors of burning towers, choosing to leap to their death rather than be consumed by fire, falling through the air while others below watched in horror. To look at such suffering and declare it “deserved” requires a depth of inhumanity, a contempt for the victims as human beings with feelings, passions and wishes, just as they have. Such a statement is possible only when these victims are first reclassified as people on the wrong path, people who do not merit ordinary human sympathy, or even as less than people at all: merely objects.
Many who hold such views will not advertise them while they are still accumulating power. Historically, the pattern begins with promises of a better life: socialism, free necessities such as water and electricity, benefits such as housing for the poor, women’s rights, full religious and ethnic rights, and so on, just as the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, promised the people of Iran. When power is secured, the actual program is revealed. Lies and deception, called taqiyya, in the service of imposing their preferred version of Islamism and sharia, are treated as desirable.
The loyalty of these individuals remains solely to Islamist rule and their version of Sharia. It will never transfer to America. The conflict is inevitable and built-in. It means that American values such as freedom of speech, equal rights for women, freedom of religion (or from religion), and the right to leave a faith without penalty directly contradict core elements of the identity they carry. In the Islamic framework, a woman’s testimony or inheritance is worth half that of a man; the only fully legitimate religion is their own; apostasy is punishable by death and criticism of their religion is a capital offense. Freedom of expression and conscience as Americans understand them do not exist. America, by embodying the opposite, becomes an existential affront to the identity itself. Hatred follows automatically.
These individuals also show little gratitude or appreciation. The same voices that say America deserved 9/11 or that gain influence and prosper in America rarely acknowledge that America gave their family a home, the freedom to criticize anything without going to prison, and the generous chance to move up. In their countries of origin, criticism of rulers or doctrine can cost you your liberty or life. Yet the narrative remains that only their Islamist beliefs and ideology delivered success. Instead of being grateful to America and Americans, the host society is owed no gratitude: nothing. Everything is filtered through the same Islamist identity: this life and the next depend on fidelity to it. America is never a priority.
As someone who has been immersed in both worlds, I owe America everything. I owe America my life. I would not be able to write this article without America. There is no other country where you can enjoy what you want and be who you want the way you can in America. It is an opulence to speak freely — to have the complete liberty to write these words or to remain silent — that only America affords. It would be totally ungrateful — and in fact a form of seething hatred — not to see that gift and to criticize Americans while ignoring the unique freedom this country gives.
In short, do not vote for candidates whose core ideological and religious identity is built in opposition to American values and whose conception of themselves is built around Islamism, which rejects free speech, equal civic standing, religious freedom and the liberty to leave a religion. For them, America is not home in any deep sense. It is an obstacle.
The occasional eruption of phrases such as “America deserved 9/11” is not an aberration; it is an unveiling of a hate for America and of an extremely different hierarchy of loyalties. Voters who want America to prosper and remain first should at least be aware of that alternative and cast their votes with appreciation.
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