The silver lining for Muslims in Trump's refugee ban

But despite all this, I must give credit where due and thank President Trump because inadvertently, he has chosen to lead the way and become what Muslims call a “Daee ilallah,” or a “Caller unto Allah.” Ever since word of his proposed Muslim ban spread, I’ve received thousands—yes thousands—of emails, messages, and tweets from Americans asking how they can support Americans who are Muslim. It’s no accident that we’re approaching 10,000 Americans who have signed up as a #MuslimAlly as part of the True Islam education campaign I helped launch last year. See, we launched this campaign with the goal of combatting extremism and Islamophobia with the true Jihad of the pen, i.e. education, dialogue, and compassion. We compliment this education campaign with a follow up effort called “Coffee, Cake, & True Islam,” where we schedule hundreds of meetups nationwide between Muslims and Muslim allies. These meetups break the walls of ignorance and replace them with bridges of understanding.

I thank Donald Trump because every time he or one of his surrogates makes an anti-Islam statement, we receive a surge of requests from our fellow Americans to visit a mosque, read the Qur’an, and learn about Islam. Every time Mr. Trump tweets something that demonizes Muslims to his 20 million plus followers, we reap the benefits of free advertising and publicity.

Do we get hate mail and death threats — yes. But far more than the hate—an overwhelming level more — we get love from our fellow Americans of all faiths and backgrounds. And yes, many of the emails we get are from people who voted for Mr. Trump — they’re just as horrified by the rhetoric as those who voted for Secretary Clinton. The proposed ban on Muslims is not a political game. The overwhelming majority of Americans despise such hate because they realize what I’ve spelled out above. A Muslim ban is not necessary, it does not make us safer, and it is not just. But if Mr. Trump wants to continue working as the leading Caller unto Allah in all of America, then I thank him.