Mosques Fear Election Night

Imam Abu Sufian of the Madina Masjid mosque in New York City has witnessed first-hand the explosion in anti-Islamic violence that has unfolded during this divisive presidential election season. One of his fellow New York City Imams, a 

man he knew, was shot dead along with his assistant as they walked home from morning prayer at a mosque in Queens in August. Another act of violence saw a sister from Sufian's mosque attacked by a car as she walked the streets of lower Manhattan earlier this year.

While much of the nation may hold its breath Tuesday as the identity of the next president of the United States becomes clear, perhaps no group will be watching with greater anxiety than American Muslims. Believing that Republican nominee Donald Trump has emboldened a frightening new wave of anti-Islamic sentiment and violence, Muslim leaders said they are worried about what may happen on election night -- and afterwards, even if Hillary Clinton wins.

“2016 is on track to be the worst year for anti-mosque violence recorded in the United States,” said Robert McCaw, director of government affairs at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “This is a benchmark year for violence and acts of hatred against members of the Muslim community. I think when Trump has mainstreamed Islamophobia as acceptable public speech, that is going to embolden the bigots and racists inclined to commit acts of hate to do so.”

Trump has led increasingly heated political rhetoric targeting Muslims, including calling for a ban on all Muslims entering the country in the wake of several high-profile attacks, both in the U.S. and in Europe, by individuals professing extreme Islamic ideology.

At the same time, hate crimes against the Muslim community have reached heights not seen since the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Some believe the environment is now even more toxic.

“It’s worse than that,” said Sufian. “After Sept. 11, there was a mood of sadness, everyone was hurt by things, now it’s a planned way of bringing this hatred verywhere, there is clear division.”

Muslims pray as they take part in a protest against presidential candidate Donald Trump outside of his office in Manhattan, Dec. 20, 2015. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Positioning himself as the man to safeguard the country against the threat of terrorism, Trump has repeatedly singled out Muslims as a threat to national security. As well as insisting that he would require all Muslims in the United States to register in a database, he has refused to rule out strict surveillance of Muslims and warrantless searches of mosques.

“We’re going to have to do things that we never did before,” he said in an interview with Yahoo News last November. “And some people are going to be upset about it, but I think that now everybody is feeling that security is going to rule.”