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American Muslim reformers are torching political commentator Wajahat Ali after he warned that “the fire will rise” and people will be “radicalized” if Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed loses his Michigan Senate bid, saying his language echoes a “Jihad First” intimidation rhetoric used by religious tyrants before elections in the Middle East.
On Monday, Ali drew fire on X when he wrote: “If, God forbid, Abdul loses, this will be a watershed moment in Democratic politics. The fire will rise. It’s over. People will be radicalized against corporate, pro-Israel Dems. There will be a reckoning. If, when, he wins, it will be a watershed moment. And that reckoning will still come.”
After facing backlash, Ali posted another message Tuesday morning, expressing no regrets and instead scolding critics for alleged bigotry. “Ah, that Islamophobia and anti-Arab bigotry are so pure and naked,” Ali wrote. “People are just coming out in the open about how they’ve always felt. Great. Please, be honest. Just share the ugliness with the world so we can all see.”
Ali didn’t respond to a request for comment from Digital.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 03: (L-R) Shonda Rhimes and Wajahat Ali speak onstage during the BAFTA Honours Shonda Rhimes Presented By Netflix, Delta Air Lines, And Virgin Atlantic at the Midnight Theatre & Hidden Leaf Restaurant on May 03, 2023 in New York City. ((Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for BAFTA))
A Fissure Among Muslims
Reform-minded Muslim leaders aren’t buying Ali’s rhetoric.
The divide with Muslim reformers reflects a broader fissure within American Muslim politics: between establishment organizations and leaders who accept political Islam, or Islamism — the idea that religion should shape government and political life — and reform-minded critics who challenge orthodoxy, reject anti-Israel and anti-Western rhetoric and support secularism, including the separation of mosque and state.
“What Wajahat Ali said on the eve of elections is actually the language we’ve seen Islamists use before elections in countries in the Middle East, including Egypt,” Dalia Ziada, an Egyptian Muslim reformer and critic of political Islamism, told Digital.
“The threat is usually: If you don’t choose us, this will lead to radicalization, and this will lead to violence,” added Ziada, who is Washington, D.C., director at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy. “Maybe we need to expect troubles coming up.”
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Soraya Deen leads prayers during a grand opening celebration for the Qal’bu Maryam women’s mosque in Berkeley, Calif., on Friday, April 14, 2017. Qal’bu Maryam translates as “Maryam’s Heart” and is the first women’s mosque in Northern California. (Kristopher Skinner/MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images)
Soraya Deen, a Muslim reform activist, attorney and co-founder of the Los Angeles Women’s Multifaith Alliance, said Ali’s language shouldn’t be treated as a routine social-media outburst.
“His words are deeply troubling,” Deen told Digital. “His warning that ‘the fire will rise,’ that people will be ‘radicalized,’ and that a ‘reckoning’ is coming deserves serious scrutiny.”
“Losing an election is not a license for radicalization,” added Deen, . “We must reject intimidation, political extremism and the politics of perpetual grievance.”
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‘Jihad First’ Lens
Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a Muslim reformer and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, said Ali’s comments reflect what he describes as a “Jihad First” lens for viewing political conflict.
“Wajahat Ali, like Abdul El-Sayed, proves yet again their decades of anti-American Islamist obsession and the ‘Jihad First’ lens through which they view every cultural, social, military and political conflict,” said Jasser, who is running for Congress as a Republican candidate in Arizona’s 4th Congressional District.
Jasser’s comments were directed at what he described as the political rhetoric surrounding El-Sayed’s campaign. The reformers didn’t accuse Ali of belonging to an Islamist organization. Their criticism focused on language they said resembles tactics used to pressure voters by warning that rejecting a candidate could produce violence or radicalization.
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El-Sayed’s Political Network
Ali’s comments came as El-Sayed’s campaign draws support from a wide network of Muslim advocacy groups, Palestinian activist organizations, progressive groups, labor organizations and political influencers.
A Digital review of campaign endorsements, public statements and voter-mobilization efforts identified 70 Muslim groups and influencers supporting El-Sayed’s political orbit one way or another. The records include formal endorsements, campaign-listed support, voter mobilization and public amplification. Not every organization has the same relationship with the campaign.
They include CAIR Action, Americans for Justice in Palestine Action, Bangladeshi Americans for Political Progress, Emgage Action and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. El-Sayed’s official website includes endorsements from “Muslims for Abdul,” the Yemeni American Michigan Democratic Caucus, the Michigan Bangladeshi American Democratic Caucus and Palestinian American political operative Linda Sarsour’s MPower Action, among others.
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The broader coalition supporting El-Sayed includes Democratic Party organizations and Democratic Socialists of America chapters, as well as online commentators and political figures including Hasan Piker, Linda Sarsour, Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
The organizations and individuals have overlapping priorities, including opposition to U.S. support for Israel, demands for an arms embargo or cease-fire, support for Palestinian activism, criticism of Democratic moderates and efforts to mobilize Muslim and progressive voters.
The coalition’s critics have described it as a “red-green” alliance involving “red” left-wing political organizations and “green” Muslim advocacy groups.
“Their red-green ‘Jihad First’ filter — threatening fire and radicalization — is simply an unmooring of their own dreams to live the jihad of Islamism and destroy the American dream and everything for which it stands,” Jasser said. “Patriotism is not in their vocabulary.”
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A warning about political intimidation
For Ziada, the significance of Ali’s post lies in the suggestion that an election loss could trigger radicalization.
“Muslims like Wajahat Ali are just using the political movement backing Abdul El-Sayed as a staircase to bring them to the power of a chair they want to claim,” Ziada said. “Once they get there, they don’t care what they may have promised. And if they don’t get there, they will turn it into fire.”
Ziada also criticized El-Sayed’s campaign rhetoric about Israel, comparing what she described as repeated attacks on Israel to political tactics used by leaders in the Middle East. Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump announced that he would cut off $4 billion of aid to Israel, one of the network’s demands, designed to isolate the nation.
“The demonization of Israel that we saw very prominently in the campaign of El-Sayed is a tactic that we saw Middle Eastern dictators resorting to every now and then,” Ziada said.
“Whenever they are stuck with economic issues or politics, they just bring up the ‘Israel is bad’ card,” she added. “Again, he is just copying dictators in the Middle East.”
Jasser said the episode should prompt Muslim voters and Democratic leaders to examine the language used by political influencers who claim to speak for Muslim communities.
“Any honest Muslim who reads that post will see ‘Jihad First’ and everyone else be damned, including patriotic Muslims,” Jasser said.
Ali has emerged as a prominent media figure over more than two decades, writing for and appearing on outlets including The Daily Beast, The New York Times, CNN and The Guardian. He also hosted programming for Al Jazeera America.
His political activism began after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when he became involved in campus protests at the University of California, Berkeley. He later worked with Democratic operative Faiz Shakir, who became campaign manager for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, at the Center for American Progress, a nonprofit established by former Clinton administration chief of staff John Podesta.
Ali has continued to weigh in on Israel, Democratic Party strategy and Muslim political activism, regularly drawing fire. Earlier this year, in a broadcast with former MSNBC host Joy Reid, the two decried “weak White mean” in a heated anti-Trump rant.
Most recently, Ali hosted a speaker who criticized Democratic House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries for receiving political contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, calling him an “AIPAC monkey.” The smear drew cries of racism against Jeffries, who is Black.
Now, Muslim reformers are scolding Ali for making comments that seem to threaten voters with “fire,” a “reckoning” and a “radicalized” citizenry if his preferred candidate loses.
Deen said the response to an election should be political disagreement, not warnings of unrest.
“Losing an election is not a license for radicalization,” Deen said. “We must reject intimidation, political extremism and the politics of perpetual grievance.”
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