I am Muslim and Republican – and was attacked by people in my party

The Guardian ^ | July 4 2014 | Saba Ahmed

[PoloSec]

Earlier this year, I attended an event with former House speaker Newt Gingrich, despite knowing of his stereotypical attitude towards Muslims. I realized then the power of one voice to change people's prejudices – and how rarely people like me use ours: I was the first Muslimah to whom he had ever spoken.

Yes, I am Muslim, and I am a Republican – and that's why I was at the Heritage Foundation panel on Benghazi last month, where I asked the now-infamous question about how conservatives deal with the vast majority of people of my faith who are peaceful. Americans don't expect minorities – especially Muslims – to be Republicans, and it happens often in conservative circles that I am the only Muslim woman in the audience.

I became Republican because I felt that my Islamic values – pro-life, pro-traditional family, pro-business, pro-trade – aligned best with the Republican party platform. I identified as a Democrat for several years when I was younger, but found it hard to defend liberal values as they were so often in conflict with my deeply-held beliefs.

Though I have been a Republican for a long time – and despite having had a tough time with my fellow Republicans in Oregon, where I lived until 2012 – I joined the Washington DC Republican Party earlier this year. They have all been kind and welcoming to me at their meetings, events and fundraisers, and I have made good friends in the GOP.

So the personal attacks by conservatives after my question at the Heritage event went viral came as somewhat of a surprise – though the support from the Republicans who reached out to me did not. As one of the few lobbyists among the 10,000 on Capitol Hill who is a practicing Muslim, I regularly

[left that other site]

Thank You for that affirmation!

I KNEW it wasn’t my imagination! :-)

[AllAmericanGirl44]

Seriously, what the heck is Newt thinking? Or, is he?

[skimbell]

They also are known to habitually ride unicorns.

[alice_in_bubbaland]

Same here, no need at all.

[angry elephant]

I have never been in a political gathering where folks felt compelled to discuss their faith at all. Catholics, protestants, jews, Mormons generally do not make a point of discussing their religion when working in a civil forum. So why does she feel compelled to try to force people to accept hers?

We can be pro-life, fiscal conservatives without having to talk about What would Jesus do?

[Michael.SF.]

I did not get past the first lie in paragraph one.

[Michael.SF.]

I did not get past the first lie in paragraph one.

[drpix]

See FR thread "Muslim Student Who Ignited Media Firestorm at Benghazi Panel ‘Family Friend’ of Convicted Terrorist" - where I posted the following addition information on Saba Ahmad:

Not only is she a "family friend" of the convicted Muslim terrorist - but she showed her support for him after the fact by attending his hearing and making public statements in his defense. Here from the Oregonian (article linked in this thread's article) is a photo of the cabal:

"Steven T. Wax, U.S. Federal Public Defender for the District of Oregon,
Kayse Jama, a Somali community member and Saba Ahmed, a friend of
Mohamed Osman Mohamud's family, leave the Mark O. Hatfield U.S.
Courthouse on Monday after the hearing for Mohamud."

[cripplecreek]

I’m guessing that Newt has spoken to Grover Al Norquist on many occasions.

[george76]

no such thing as moderate Islam

[EBH]

Congratulations muslim you succeeded in successfully distracting the general public from the conversation at hand.

Reading the comments section on views more divisiveness spawned by her ‘woe is the muslim’ mantra!

Oh the poor muslim didn’t fit into the democrat party...

Oh the poor muslim is shunned as a shill for her religion by the republicans...

See...America hates muslims because they will not submit to Islam. Even her rhetoric about the word Islam meaning peaceful is a lame attempt to deceive! Islam means submit/surrender.

She doesn’t like the Republican Party because the educated elements of the party know the truth about her religion and her attempts to infiltrate the party.

The fact that she even wrote an article regarding her perceived prejudices demonstrates her attempt to get the Republican Party to submit to Islam, not just accept her as part of the party, but to accept and VALIDATE her religion.

Sorry sweetie...politics in America doesn’t quite work that way. Politics is not Religion.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

I asked the now-infamous question about how conservatives deal with the vast majority of people of my faith who are peaceful.

My suggestion is to show your opposition to Islamism and Sharia Law as Turks do. Simple. But how come Turkey can get millions out on the streets of major cities protesting Islamism and Sharia Law and here in America you cannot get a thousand Muslims to protest Islamism and Sharia Law.

Yes, I have oft-posted these images but they are

1. nice to look at
2. informative, and
3. there are some who have not seen them and know very little about the goings on

Millions of Turks have long made it plain that they are not ready to give in to Islamism, Sharia law, and burkas..

". . . 32 percent to 38 percent of Turks (upward of 25 million people) would never support the [Islamist] AKP or want to live in a country shaped solely by its values." Tens of millions of Muslims in Turkey are "Islamophobes" like us?

Read and see more

The image on the banner is of Ataturk the founder of modern secular democratic constitutional Republic of Turkey. The photos are from demonstrations of a few years ago protesting the ruling AK Party's Islamist (political Islam & Sharia law) leanings and reminding the AKP that they promised the voters that they would respect Turkey's heritage of secularism.

I believe that things are "heating up" as more pressure mounts on Erdogan and the AKP to end the road to an Islamist Republic -- meanwhile it seems to me that we drift along carried by more and more PC bullshit to tolerate Islamist crap

[make no mistake]

This is how I understand the difference between the 2.

“Never forget: Both Muslims and Islamists share the same goal, Sharia law for the entire human race. If a Muslim isn’t dedicated to that goal...he’s not a Muslim:”

[drpix]

CORRECTION WRONG LINK

See FR thread "Muslim Student Who Ignited Media Firestorm at Benghazi Panel ‘Family Friend’ of Convicted Terrorist" - where I posted the following addition information on Saba Ahmad:

[Leaning Right]

I would like to ask her two questions. It would be interesting to hear her answers, if she were to answer honestly.

1. Should Muslims who convert to another religion be punished?
2. Should Christians have the right to build churches in Saudi Arabia?

I'm guessing her (honest) answers would be "absolutely" on 1, and "absolutely not" on 2. And that's all you would need to know.

[Carriage Hill]

GMTA!

[Chode]

welcome

[drpix]

CORRECTION - one more time TOGETHER

See FR thread "Muslim Student Who Ignited Media Firestorm at Benghazi Panel ‘Family Friend’ of Convicted Terrorist" - where I posted the following addition information on Saba Ahmad:

Not only is she a "family friend" of the convicted Muslim terrorist - but she showed her support for him after the fact by attending his hearing and making public statements in his defense. Here from the Oregonian (article linked in this thread's article) is a photo of the cabal:

"Steven T. Wax, U.S. Federal Public Defender for the District of Oregon,
Kayse Jama, a Somali community member and Saba Ahmed, a friend of
Mohamed Osman Mohamud's family, leave the Mark O. Hatfield U.S.
Courthouse on Monday after the hearing for Mohamud."

[dalereed]

The only good muslim is a dead one!

[2ndDivisionVet]

"I was the first Muslimah to whom he had ever spoken."

Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House and has met with thousands of people since before that and even when he was a college professor. And this woman is trying to say that he's never met a Muslim? What are the chances of that?