America's first Muslim senator exposes a political blind spot

As a Muslim woman, physician and longtime critic of Islamism, I have witnessed firsthand the consequences of extremist interpretations of my faith.I have examined the bodies of Jews murdered by Hamas during the Oct.7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel; recorded the testimony of Yazidi and Kurdish victims of ISIS atrocities in Iraq; interviewed children inducted into ISIS and the Taliban; consoled Christians persecuted in Iraq and Pakistan; and walked through the now-dismantled Al Hol detention camp in Syria.I know deeply the tragedies promulgated by practitioners of my faith who believe in an extremist interpretation of the religion called Islamism or political Islam.

I also know there is a rising tide of people who don’t differentiate between the two and believe all Islam is extremist.Abdul El-Sayed holds a news conference after winning the Democratic Senate nomination in Michigan, on August 5, 2026, in Detroit, Michigan (Rich Edson/Fox News)'POD SAVE AMERICA' HOSTS WARN EL-SAYED TO TONE DOWN 'CONDESCENSION' ON MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD QUESTIONSIslamism and anti-Muslim bigotry took center stage in the midterm elections, which delivered the nation’s first Muslim senator-elect, Abdul El-Sayed, D-Mich.Yet both political parties are challenged in meeting this moment.Republicans too often fail to distinguish Muslims from Islamists, while Democrats seem unwilling to examine the distinction at all.

Accusations of "Islamophobia," amplified by the politics of identity and "anti-racism," have further obscured a debate Americans urgently need to have.Too often, Islamophobia is conflated with anti-Muslim xenophobia to the detriment of Muslim critics of Islamism who seek to expose Islamist influence and to the benefit of Islamist ideology and its allies.Expect accusations of Islamophobia to be increasingly deployed as a means of diverting scrutiny away from El-Sayed, whose senatorial bid exposed these tensions.During a television interview, El-Sayed denied that his family was c...