American Muslims weary of election rhetoric: Report

Many American Muslims express frustration with the anti-Muslim rhetoric in the 2016 election cycle which has put them and their faith at the center of the US political debate, according to a report.

Even though they make up about 1 percent of the US population, Muslims have been the focus of attention for many presidential candidates this year, chief among them Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Trump spent much of the past week engaged in a back-and-forth argument with the parents of a Muslim-American soldier who was killed in Iraq.

The clash began when Khizr Khan, the father of Captain Humayun Khan, delivered a scorching criticism of Trump at the Democratic National Convention over his call to ban Muslims from entering the US.

The call has been one of several controversial statements the billionaire businessman has made about Muslims this year, including the idea of setting up a registry for Muslims living in the US and monitoring their mosques.

“I was one of many who put their lives on the line for many years for the country -- I was protecting his (Trump's) life. I don't see in his history that he took that kind of stand for his country he wants to be commander in chief of,” Talib Shareef, who has retired from the US Air Force, told CNN in an interview.

Shareef, who was recently appointed the imam of the Nation's Mosque in Washington, said the best way to counter the threat of extremism is more community engagement by Muslims.

“We engage with the community because we are part of the community. That's what Muslims can do, see themselves as a part” of it, the imam said. “We can begin to stop this radicalization.”

Remaz Abdelgader, a recent graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, also called for unity between different races and religious groups in America.

"I'm a black, I'm a Muslim and I'm a woman. To be those three identities is very dangerous because every day you are facing new battles," she told CNN.

"I don't really know home other than America," said the George Mason senior, who aspires to become a human rights lawyer.

Abdelgader had an exchange with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders when he held a campaign event at the university last fall. Abdelgader asked Sanders how he would address the issue of racism and discrimination against minorities as president. The candidate responded by noting that he was Jewish and his father's family died in Nazi concentration camps.

Abdelgader said that exchange underscored symbolic unity between Muslims and Jews and the need to work on eradicating bigotry and racism.

CNN also interviewed Colin Christopher, the deputy director of government affairs at Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia, about his feelings about being a Muslim living in the US.

"When I'm out in public (alone), I'm at the top of the food chain. But when I'm with my wife who wears (a) hijab, it's a totally different game," said the 32-year-old Wisconsin native who converted to Islam six years ago. "Especially if we are in an all-white neighborhood, there is usually a tension in the air."

Christopher blamed Trump and others for creating "this dangerous atmosphere with their inflammatory and ignorant statements," which he said have "repercussions beyond the Muslim community."

An American Muslim doctor also told CNN that he has never been this concerned about the outcome of the presidential election in the US.

"This is the first time that it's being felt that, yes, if a certain individual is elected then it would be difficult for the minorities to live in the US," said Dr. Tariq Shahab, a cardiologist in Falls Church, who has lived in the US for 26 years.

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