Local Muslim leaders wary, but hopeful after Trump’s win

By Thomas Moore

Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Surprise, sadness, anxiety and fear were just some of the reactions two leading Muslims in Las Vegas observed in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory late Tuesday.

“I talked to people who were up all night waiting for the results. There was a lot of disappointment and a lot of uncertainty and lot of fear and a lot of hope,” Imam Aziz Eddebbarh said. “We hope that the future president will not act on the rhetoric that he used in his campaign and he will be uniting the country.”

Eddebbarh, a Las Vegas resident since 1998, is a retired scientist who worked at the Nevada National Security Site. As a former member of Muslim Public Affairs Council, Eddebbarh signed an open letter, along with other prominent Muslims, denouncing terrorism on the first anniversary of 9/11.

Eddebbarh watched election coverage with a couple dozen people and has been communicating with more Muslim friends and acquaintances since the presidential tally was announced.

“People were still trying to adjust to what happened just like everybody else,” he said. “They were shocked because that’s not what media polls were predicting. Everybody was taken by surprise.”

In the aftermath, Eddebbarh said, he’s hoping things can get back to normal.

“We just hope that the rhetoric period is over,” he said. “We’ve seen so much negativity and divisiveness. I hope it’s all behind us, and the next president will be the president of all Americans — Muslims, blacks, Jews, Africans and immigrants.”

Aslam Abdullah, director of the Masjid Ibrahim mosque in North Las Vegas, was also paying attention to the election along with a small group of friends and family members.

“There was anxiety, of course,” he said. “They were not happy. In any election, when the party and the candidate that you have supported does not win, then definitely you feel a bit sad. But that is the reality that we have to live with. And accept.”

While Trump won, it doesn’t mean Trump’s ideas won, Abdullah said.

“The majority of the voters voted for Clinton nationwide,” he said. Democrat Hillary Clinton is winning the popular vote, but Trump had garnered the needed 270 electoral votes.

“If you really want to make some generalizations about Trump’s victory, you cannot because the majority of voters did not support his ideas and his views. Which is a good thing.”

Regardless of the results and whatever people suspect could happen under a Trump administration, Abdullah is optimistic.

“I have full faith in the Constitution and in the ability of the people of this country to stand against anything that goes against the country’s values,” Abdullah said. “So if a candidate threatened to shut down Muslims, to threaten immigrants, I’m sure the majority of people will stand to defend the rights of the Constitution and of citizens to be treated equally.”

Despite the angst Abdullah witnessed, he said he had not heard of any Muslims who were planning to leave the U.S. or make any major life changes because of Trump’s win.

“I don’t think that I am (seeing) this trend in this victory,” Abdullah said. “Or people who think that Trump is a reason to move in or not. Their interests are related and linked to the interests of this country. And the idea that because there was an electoral setback they would renounce those values is wrong.”

Eddebbarh said he had only heard of one example.

“I did come across a gentleman, a white guy, and he told me this morning that he’s moving to Canada, but I think he was already part Canadian,” Eddebbarh said.