The successes achieved by Muslim and Arab Americans in the recent elections mark a turning point in this community’s relationship with US domestic politics and the country’s representative institutions. Although segments of this community had previously been involved in political activities, their broader participation this time was noticeably different from their past performance.
The successes achieved by Muslim and Arab Americans in the recent elections mark a turning point in this community’s relationship with US domestic politics and the country’s representative institutions. Although segments of this community had previously been involved in political activities, their broader participation this time was noticeably different from their past performance. The outcome was the election of an Egyptian American to the Senate and six other Muslims to the House of Representatives. According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), 168 Muslim candidates who had succeeded in the primaries ran in this year’s elections at the federal, state and local levels. According to the same report, 112 of them either won or were ahead of their opponents. This came despite their being targeted by far-right extremist groups during their campaigns. Trump even called Abdul El-Sayed, the successful Senate candidate from Michigan, a “jihadist” and a supporter of terrorist groups.
At a time when other minorities in the US have achieved considerable success in influencing the country’s politics and government, the limited success of Muslim Americans in making use of their own community’s potential has long been a subject of discussion. By comparison, while the US Jewish population, at approximately 6.3 million, and the Muslim population, at 5.7 million, are nearly equal in size, there are 35 Jewish members of Congress (10 senators and 25 members of the House of Representatives). In the previous Congress, by contrast, there were five Muslim members, all of them in the House of Representatives.
As for the reasons, it has been argued that Muslim Americans differ in terms of generation, previous nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, immigration circumstances and geographic location, and that these differences have a significant impact on how they participate politically. However, many other immigrant communities in the US, including Jews, face more or less similar challenges.
Some Muslims of earlier generations, referring to the distinction in Islam between Dar al-Islam (the abode of Islam) and Dar al-Kufr (the abode of disbelief), believed that participation in non-Islamic political systems was forbidden or reprehensible and considered integration and political participation in Western societies dangerous for Muslims.
Another reason is the disbelief and skepticism among Muslims in the US regarding the usefulness and effectiveness of political activity through the usual and established channels of Western democracies. The particular circumstances in Arab and Islamic countries, which foster a lack of awareness and distrust of civil institutions, apparently often continue to exert their influence on immigrants’ minds in their new environment.
In other words, Arabs and Muslims who have immigrated to Western countries continue, even after two or three generations, to carry the virus of indifference and apathy toward civic and political activities in their new environment.
Another reason is a popular and simplistic understanding of politics and government in democracies and of Jewish power in America. These perceptions stem from a disregard for the objective and actual conditions of the host society and have resulted in the dominance of various conspiracy theories, fatalism, despair and surrender in the face of what is perceived as “unknown,” “mysterious” and the result of the unlimited power of unseen actors. (See the author’s article, “Jewish Power in America: From Myth to Reality,” Rahbord, No. 25, Autumn 2002.)
Under these circumstances, an organization called United Muslims of America (UMA) was established for the first time in 1982. Among other things, it focused on teaching political processes, informing Muslims and encouraging them to vote and participate in the political system.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) was also established in 1988, with the aim of combating discrimination and lobbying Congress and the government.
The September 11, 2001, attacks on the Twin Towers in New York were an important turning point because they fueled a wave of Islamophobia and prompted greater Muslim activism aimed at confronting stereotypes and religious hatred and increasing participation. Some also began advocating the need to follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in Medina, where there were no Muslims present, and... with the aim of informing Congress and the government about the reality of Islam.
The visibility of Muslim and Arab Americans in electoral processes is largely a new phenomenon. According to an ISPU survey, their voter registration rate increased from 60 percent in 2016 to 85 percent in 2024. However, in the 2024 election, only 54 percent of eligible Muslim voters cast ballots, compared with 82 percent of eligible Jewish voters.
Nevertheless, the growth in Muslim participation, which is largely rooted in generational change, the increasingly prominent voice of the younger generation and a departure from the rigid beliefs of previous generations, is paving the way for a new transformation. This trend began with the election of an Arab to the House of Representatives in 2006.
Three important developments also played a role in the success of Muslim Americans in the recent elections, all of which challenge conspiracy-minded thinking about American politics.
The first was the significant increase in the role of small-dollar donations. El-Sayed, who opposed accepting large contributions from corporations, received $11.2 million in the third quarter of 2026 from approximately 55,000 people who each contributed less than $200. This method of fundraising was particularly popularized in the US by Bernie Sanders. The defeat of the Republican candidate in Texas, despite Elon Musk’s $212 million contribution, further highlighted the importance of small donations.
The second development was the anger that emerged in segments of American society following Israel’s crimes in Gaza and deep dissatisfaction with Trump’s support for Netanyahu. This anger was reflected in polls at levels exceeding 60 percent.
The third development was the growth of the left wing of the Democratic Party in recent years. This important shift is a response to increasing injustice in American society and could gain further momentum. In the recent elections, six candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America won seats in the House of Representatives and municipal elections in Los Angeles, Washington and Providence.
Despite recent successes, a significant portion of Muslim Americans are still either unaware of the importance of voting and elections or, even when they do vote, fail to act collectively and in an organized manner, often neutralizing one another.
Comparing this situation with the pattern of collective Jewish voting, in which approximately 80 percent of Jewish Americans have voted for Democrats in many elections over recent decades and have distributed their campaign contributions in a highly calculated manner, is highly revealing. Their focus on Middle East issues in foreign policy is also highly instructive.
Another major problem facing the Muslim and Arab communities in the US is that, in the overwhelming majority of cases, there is no interaction or solidarity between them and the governments of their countries of origin in the Islamic world.
The main reason is that, due to the absence of democracy in most of these countries, neither their populations nor Arab and Muslim immigrants in the US necessarily regard those governments as their representatives.
As a result, one of the most powerful sources of motivation and means of organizing and engaging in political activity among Arab and Muslim immigrants in the West is effectively absent.
By comparison, it is worth recalling that the Jewish lobby in the US considers its primary responsibility to be supporting Israel, on the assumption that the state is elected by its people and reflects their wishes. At the same time, Israel has played an important role over the past decades in helping organize and strengthen the Jewish lobby in the US.
In other words, a form of solidarity, understanding and interaction exists between the Jewish lobby in the US and Israel that cannot be imagined or realized in the relationship between Arabs and Muslims in the US and their countries of origin.
The original Persian version of the article was first published in the Iranian newspaper Shargh.
