Muslim American’s react to Donald Trump’s insensitive remarks to Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of slain Army Captain Humayun Khan who died in combat in Iraq in 2004:
Islamic theologian Yasir Qadhi: “While obviously American Muslims are extremely troubled by the rhetoric of Trump, as all people who care about community cohesion are, his recent remarks regarding Humayun Khan’s parents are especially despicable. Many of us – including myself – could relate to the Khan family, and I could easily see a faint reflection of my own parents and many of their generation, standing with the senior Khans on that stage.”
Muslim activist and poet Mona Haydar: “[Trump’s comments] just made me very sad as a human being, and on another level as an American. I desire in my leaders great wisdom, especially in their speech and in their emotional intelligence – and that is not the moment to go on the offense. That’s a moment for reflection and honoring the loss of life.”
Human rights advocate and writer, Dawud Walid: “The questioning of a mother being silent on a stage who was still mourning the death of her son … one of the most outrageous things that Donald Trump has done.”
Muslim veteran and regional organizer for Veterans Challenge Islamophobia, Nate Terani: “Donald Trump and his allies’ racist smearing of the family of an American hero, simply because of his Muslim faith, is fully counter to why we as American veterans served our nation.”
