Here’s what Muslim celebrities are saying about Trump’s ban on Muslims
LatestDonald Trump’s comments vilifying the Muslim community have been escalating for weeks now. His comments have drawn sharp criticism from many politicians—and Muslim celebrities are speaking out, too.
Here’s what they’re saying:
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR
In a recent essay for Time magazine, six-time NBA champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar argued Trump’s hate speak is quite literally terrorism and compared Trump to ISIS.
If violence can be an abstraction — and it can; that’s what a threat is — the Trump campaign meets this definition. Thus, Trump is ISIS’s greatest triumph: the perfect Manchurian Candidate who, instead of offering specific and realistic policies, preys on the fears of the public, doing ISIS’s job for them. Even fellow Republican Jeb Bush acknowledged Trump’s goal is “to manipulate people’s angst and fears.”
After Trump questioned whether there were any sport heroes that were Muslim, Abdul-Jabbar questioned whether Trump had what it takes to become president.
What makes his statement even more insidious is the suggestion that, even if there were no Muslim sports heroes, Muslims would somehow be lesser people, less worthy. This cruel and dim-witted thinking is not the stuff presidents are made of.
MUHAMMAD ALI
Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali released a statement that didn’t mention Trump by name but instead warned of “presidential candidates proposing to ban Muslim immigration to the United States.”
“I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world,” Ali said in the statement. “True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.”
“I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people’s views on what Islam really is,” he said.
HUMA ABEDIN
Hillary Clinton’s closest aide Huma Abedin wrote an email to Clinton supporters saying Trump wants to “write racism into our law books.”
“I’m a proud Muslim—but you don’t have to share my faith to share my disgust,” she wrote. “Trump wants to literally write racism into our law books. His Islamaphobia doesn’t reflect our nation’s values.”
Some Muslim celebrities were outspoken about Trump’s comments way ahead of his proposed ban on Muslims.
NAS
Rapper Nas reportedly took to Instagram to share an art installation with Trump’s face on a wall behind a mouth-shaped urinal with the caption, “one of the best pieces of art I’ve ever seen.”
According to Vibe, Nas shared the image with his 1.5 million Instagram followers but later deleted the photo. But the screenshot remains.
OMAR EPPS
During a GOP debate earlier this year rapper and actor Omar Epps said “Trump’s mouth shuts when real issues & plans are discussed.”
REP. ANDRÉ CARSON
Congressman André Carson of Indiana’s 7th District—one of two Muslim elected officials on the federal level—has been critical of Trump.
“There are Muslims in the law-enforcement community, in our intelligence community, who are pushing back and are helping keep our country and the global community safe,” Carson told The Daily Beast. “To view one group as a threat without making distinctions and understanding nuance… shows a lack of maturity and it shows an inclination to discriminate.”
REP. KEITH ELLISON
Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota’s 5th district doesn’t only disagree with Trump’s comments—he also keeps his 70,000 Twitter up to date on the GOP presidential candidate’s hate speech.
Congressman Ellison has challenged other presidential candidates to explicitly condemn Trumps anti-Muslim comments.
“This is the moment we’re in and I don’t accept Sen. Cruz saying, ‘Well, I’m not going to pile on, I don’t really agree,'” Ellison said in an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “No, this is the moment where real integrity is on the line.”
“People have to step up and say that persecuting a religious minority and scapegoating them is absolutely unacceptable. That’s the moment we’re in.”
Absent from the conversation about Donald Trump attacking the Muslim community are a number of Muslim rappers with huge social media followings. Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Yasiin Bey (Mos Def), and Ghostface Killah have not publicly commented on Trump’s anti-Muslim comments.
Correction: This story has been updated to remove tweets from a Dave Chappelle parody account.