They Hate America

Majid Rafizadeh 

Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

§  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. (…)

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