Muslim faith leaders endorse Harris

A group of imams endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in an open letter shared first with NBC News on Sunday, a critical boost as she steps up her efforts to win back disaffected Muslim voters amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has faced widespread anger from Muslim and Arab voters over the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza, and the community could be critical some battleground states, like Michigan.

The 25 Islamic religious leaders who signed the letter, which comes a year after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack that sparked the war, argue that Muslim voters have a duty to think logically about their voting decisions and that backing Harris “far outweighs the harms of the other options."

“She is a committed ceasefire candidate too and is the best option for ending the bloodshed in Gaza and now Lebanon,” they wrote.

The imams argued that former President Donald Trump is a threat to their community.

“Knowingly enabling someone like Donald Trump to return to office, whether by voting directly for him or for a third-party candidate, is both a moral and a strategic failure. Particularly in swing states, a vote for a third party could enable Trump to win that state and therefore the elections,” they wrote. 

“Given [Trump’s] well-documented history of harming our communities and country, as well as what he has promised he will do to Muslims and Palestinians should he return, it is incumbent upon us not to allow our high emotions to dictate our actions to our detriment,” the letter reads.

The letter argues that the leaders have “a responsibility, an Amana, not to place our community in harm’s way."

It’s a notable endorsement from a community among which Harris is hurting for prominent allies.

Several prominent Muslim groups have endorsed anti-war third-party candidates like Jill Stein and Cornel West, while others started a movement called Abandon Harris to punish Democrats for the Biden administration's steadfast support for Israel.

Many other Muslim groups and leaders that have endorsed Democrats in the past have withheld their endorsements or declined to back any candidate for president.

Some critics have felt Harris has largely abandoned the Muslim and Arab American community. About 700,000 people voted “uncommitted” in protest of President Joe Biden’s policies during this year’s Democratic primaries. And the delegates' request for a Palestinian speaker at the Democratic National Convention over the summer was denied.

Mohamed Elsanousi, a Muslim community leader who helped organize the pro-Harris letter, noted that most of the 25 signers are permanent imams with sizable congregations, including some from swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina.

He said he hopes the support from religious leaders will make conflicted Muslim voters feel more comfortable voting for Harris, despite some prominent Muslim voices’ intense opposition to her. 

“I am really hopeful that with this letter a lot of people will change their minds,” Elsanousi said. “The momentum [for Harris] in the community is growing.”

The letter is the latest effort in the push on behalf of the Harris campaign to reach out to those voters after she met with Muslim community leaders in Michigan on Friday. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, addressed a virtual event hosted by a pro-Harris Muslim get-out-vote group Thursday. Also last week, the vice president’s national security adviser met with Arab and Muslim community leaders in Washington. 

“The Vice President is committed to work to earn every vote, unite our country, and to be a President for all Americans,” Nasrina Bargzie, the director of Muslim and Arab American outreach for the campaign, said in a statement. “Throughout her career, Vice President Harris has been steadfast in her support of our country’s diverse Muslim community, including ensuring that they can live free from the hateful policies of the Trump administration.”