US Presidential Elections: Muslims Point of View

With elections less than twenty four hours away, there is a mixed sentiment in the Muslim community as to who should the next US President be. With all the “uncanny” verbal interludes havocked by the Republican candidate against Islam and Muslims in the recent past, one assumes a land-slide support for the opposing Democratic candidate. Yet on the contrary, there still is a faction which is either undecided still or is outright supporting the Republican candidate.

Those Muslims who are rooting for Trump’s victory feel either of the two things; his snide comments about Muslims are reserved for some fundamentalists and extremists, not the entire Muslim population, or that he is an independent thinker with businesses all over Muslim states in the world, therefore he is not Islamophobic, just very concerned to eradicate the “terrorist” faction of Muslims from America.

Furthermore, there is another faction of pragmatic muslim supporters that feel Trump’s agenda and Republicans’ overall agenda aligns with Muslim values; supporting traditional marriage for instance.
  

While these Muslims are in minority as opposed to those supporting the Democratic nominee, Hilary, (according to a survey, 73 percent of registered Muslim voters intend to vote, out of which around 57 percent support Hilary, whereas, around 8 percent are Trump supporters), there exists a fraction which is actually appreciative of how vocal Trump has been about his hate sentiment towards Islam, as they feel being so vociferous about the  hate sentiment is bound to do Muslims good in the long run.
 


As they see it, this at least brings it out in the open, not lurking deep down and thus can be fought with head-on.

Muslims who are rooting for the Democratic camp, Hilary to be precise, believe that Trump’s malicious anti-Muslim sentiment will only grow and prosper in case he does make it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, DC. According to Al-Jazera and a few other Muslim sources, irrespective of Trump winning or losing, it will be a nightmare for Muslims. In case he wins, he will legally sabotage Muslims, in case he doesn’t, his supporters will rally against Muslims invariably.

Some view it as a choice between “freedom and socialism”. Others feel the only prudent way is choosing between the lesser of the two evils. It will take quite some time to truly uproot maltreatment or persecution against Muslims as yet. Expecting an over-night change is plain ludicrous. Thus the only safe bet is making a choice amongst who out of the two could prove the Good Samaritan.