Zohran Mamdani\u2019s historic election as New York City\u2019s first Muslim mayor has sparked excitement and hope among American Muslims. <\/p>\n
Many are relieved and proud that anti-Muslim vitriol directed at Mamdani during the campaign didn’t discourage New Yorkers from voting for him. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time in a very long time I feel hope \u2014 as a Muslim, as a Democrat, as an American, as an immigrant,\u201d said Bukhtawar Waqas, who literally jumped for joy and called her father to celebrate. <\/p>\n
She said she attended Mamdani\u2019s victory speech and was reassured by the diversity of New Yorkers around her despite any challenges that may be ahead. <\/p>\n
Growing up, Waqas, a Pakistani American physician, never thought she\u2019d see a Muslim become mayor of New York City. She said she gravitated toward Mamdani\u2019s messages to the working class and found his affordability vision to have wide resonance.<\/p>\n
Mamdani won the vast majority of Muslim voters; about 9 in 10 Muslim voters supported him, according to the AP Voter Poll. They made up a very small group of voters in the city: about 4% of NYC voters were Muslim.<\/p>\n
Mamdani, a democratic socialist who cast his win as a boon for blue-collar workers struggling to get by, has campaigned on an agenda that includes free buses, free child care and a rent freeze for rent-stabilized apartments. <\/p>\n
Not only the city\u2019s first Muslim mayor, he will be its first of South Asian heritage and the first born in Africa.<\/p>\n
Lives shaped by 9\/11’s legacy <\/p>\n
His victory enables \u201ca collective sigh of relief from Muslim New Yorkers, which would ripple across the country,\u201d said Sylvia Chan-Malik, who teaches about Islam in America at Rutgers University. \u201cThe legacy of 9\/11 and the War on Terror has wholly shaped the lives of entire generations of Muslims in NYC and beyond.\u201d <\/p>\n
It also offers some reassurance that \u201cthere are many non-Muslims who see through the lies and distortions about Islam,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Waqas said some of the vitriol Mamdani faced reminded her that Islamophobia \u201cis certainly alive and well \u2014 and it\u2019s heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his speech, Mamdani said that \u201cno more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wa\u2019el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action, a Muslim American advocacy organization that endorsed Mamdani, said the victory was a rebuke to those who stoke fear and spew anti-Muslim bigotry. Calling it a historic moment, he said Mamdani \u201cwon on the issues,\u201d including affordability. <\/p>\n
Given 9\/11 and its aftermath, it\u2019s hard to overstate the symbolic weight of Mamdani\u2019s win, said Youssef Chouhoud, who teaches political science at Christopher Newport University.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sends a powerful message that Muslims are not just part of this nation\u2019s civic fabric, we help shape it,\u201d Chouhoud said. \u201cFor years, American Muslims have worked to show that we belong in this society. Mamdani is showing that we belong in the halls of power, and that we\u2019re ready to lead.\u201d <\/p>\n
A shift from outsiders to insiders<\/p>\n
Muslims make up a small but racially and ethnically diverse percentage of Americans. In the aftermath of the 9\/11 terror attacks, many have faced hostility, mistrust, questions about their faith and doubts over their Americanness. In the years since, many have also organized, built alliances and wrote their own nuanced narratives about their identities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bigger story here is how a community once seen mainly as outsiders or even scapegoats has steadily built political capital and visibility,\u201d even as some tensions remain, said Chouhoud. \u201cWith every gain comes pushback.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Mamdani’s win, Chouhoud said he keeps \u201cthinking about all those young immigrant boys and girls throughout New York who will be standing just a bit taller.\u201d<\/p>\n
New York City resident Ibtesam Khurshid, a Bangladeshi American, is proud that Mamdani succeeded \u201cwithout betraying any part of his identity.\u201d She is excited that her children will “witness that a South Asian Muslim can lead our great city.\u201d<\/p>\n
His win speaks to New York’s open-mindedness and diversity, she said, adding she hopes his visibility and that of other Muslim politicians can further shatter stereotypes. <\/p>\n
Many Mamdani supporters and detractors will be watching whether he delivers on his promises. Before Mamdani, 34, won a stunning upset over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June\u2019s Democratic primary, he was a state lawmaker unknown to most New Yorkers. Cuomo, who also ran against him in Tuesday’s general election, has argued Mamdani was too inexperienced. <\/p>\n
\u201cI will wake each morning with a singular purpose: To make this city better for you than it was the day before,\u201d Mamdani promised in his victory speech.<\/p>\n
Israel-Hamas war a factor in New York election<\/p>\n
Takiya Khan, who canvassed for Mamdani, said a candidate\u2019s faith and ethnicity have no bearing on her voting decisions, but his support of Palestinian rights and ideas for New York City were a significant draw.<\/p>\n
Positions on Israel and its war in Gaza were points of contention during the race, with some of Mamdani\u2019s detractors assailing him over his vehement criticism of Israel \u2019s military actions and other related stances. <\/p>\n
Khan said Mamdani’s victory may be impactful. Also on Tuesday, Democrat Ghazala Hashmi became the first Muslim and first Indian American to win statewide office in Virginia. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat could be a catalyst for more Muslim mayors, more Muslim politicians to be in office and we need that representation because America is a country for everybody,” she said. <\/p>\n
New York voter Ismail Pathan, an Indian American, was heartened by the support Mamdani received from so many who \u201cdon\u2019t look like him.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States is a country of different cultures. That\u2019s what makes us incredible,\u201d Pathan said. \u201cBeing able to \u2014 especially as I\u2019m about to have a child and bring them into the world \u2014 to say, \u2018Oh look, a Muslim man was elected mayor in New York,\u2019 how incredible of a thing is that?\u201d <\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Associated Press writer Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zohran Mamdani\u2019s historic election as New York City\u2019s first Muslim mayor has sparked excitement and hope among American…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3046,416,9,24,55,54,56,7675,3047],"class_list":{"0":"post-29828","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-ap-a-wire","9":"tag-elections","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","13":"tag-new-york-city-news","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-religion","16":"tag-wires-bot"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}