NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — As the election ramps up, some politicians are using hate speech against non-Christian religions, specifically targeting Muslims.
Sabina Mhyuddin, executive director of the American Muslim Advisory Council, says politicians should study U.S. history and what the nation’s founding fathers said about freedom of religion. Mhyuddin says, "Even Thomas Jefferson said that we need to make sure that our country is open all people of all religious backgrounds- and he specifically mentions Muslims. So this is a part of our founding."
Mhyuddin also said that pulling phrases from the Qur’an to argue that it promotes violence could also be done with the Bible. She said the Qur’an and the Bible are more similar than many people realize, sharing themes of the oneness of God, divine mercy and prophetic narratives. Mhyuddin says, " I mean, because we believe we're a part of the Abrahamic faiths- there's a lot of similarities. We have the same prophets in our Qur’an that are in the Old Testament. And so we don't see those differences much. I think there's a lot of disinformation and misinformation where people of other faiths think of us as not worshiping the same God. Of course, in Arabic we call God Allah, but Arab Christians call God Allah. So it's the same God we worship."