Muslims in Trump s America On the Eve After the Election
By Yasir Qadhi | 2026-01-08T15:43:42.409399+00:00 | Topic: Justice
Muslims in Trump's America: On the Eve After the Election
Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi
Opening Praise and Acknowledgment of Allah's Sovereignty
We begin as we began all of our talks by praising Allah. For indeed it is Allah who gives kingdoms and power to whomever He pleases.
He gives wisdom to whomever He pleases.
He gives power to whomever He pleases.
And He takes power away and humiliates whomever He pleases.
And Allah mentions in the Quran the story of Nimrod and Ibrahim. And Allah says that Nimrod got angry at Ibrahim. Why?
That Allah was the one who gave Nimrod the kingdom and the power
So it is Allah who is
the King of Kings
It is Allah who places whoever He wants to place in whatever position He wants to place.
Of the names of Allah is al-Muqaddim and al-Mu'akhkhir - the One who advances and the One who delays, the One who raises up and the One who debases. And so Allah is the One who is fully in charge. And there is a wisdom that indeed He and only He is aware.
Current Reality and Reflection
Today as we know we are all of us reeling from the effects and the reality of what has just happened yesterday in our country. And so much can be said and I spent most of today trying to really write down my feelings and thoughts.
The way that I am going to approach the talk today is to offer 7 points of reflection on the victory of Donald Trump - 7 points of reflection that I believe are Islamically beneficial. Then I will hand over to others who will talk to you about some of the civil rights issues and some of the perhaps potential Islamophobic issues that we might be facing.
Point 1: Humility - Learning From Our Misjudgments
One of the first things that actually I felt as soon as I found out the news was humility. In the sense how wrong so many of us were. No one was predicting what happened yesterday. Every serious media pundit, every expert were so confident that it's just a passing phase. And even myself and I am guilty of this 100% and I do not make any excuses.
Wallahi it was as if yaqeen to me that it's just a phase, it's not gonna happen. The reality is the lesser of the two evils will come to power. And yet how wrong all of us were.
And this truly shows how little our knowledge is. How certain 24 hours ago, 48 hours ago, a month ago, a year ago, how certain everybody was. And as Allah says :
(Quran (1276) - "Above every knowledgeable person is one more knowledgeable."
So this should teach us humility. Don't be so sure and I speak to myself before anybody else. Don't be so sure, so arrogant about any of these facts or what not.
Point 2: Shock - A Natural Human Response
Shock. It's okay to be dazed. It's okay to feel shock. Shock is a human emotion. And to an extent it is completely normal.
And not to compare - astaghfirullah - but our Prophet ﷺ in the most difficult time of his life, which is the incident of Ta'if, we learn that he himself said that after that happened, I didn't know where I was until I reached the wadi of such and such. It's where he sat down and had the grape. So literally it's as if he was in a type of shock.
Now not to compare the incident of Ta'if to this reality. But the point is, I am comparing the reality of shock. That shock is a human emotion. To feel numb, many of us today were honestly just going through the routines.
We have every right to be shocked. Because this is the first candidate in the entire history of this country who is coming to office without ever having held any office. He is the first candidate in 280 something years of this country that is coming to sit in the White House without ever once having one day of experience in public service.
Point 3: Hindsight - Learning Without Regret
Hindsight. Looking back. All of a sudden everybody is an expert when you have to look back. Hindsight is 20-20. Everybody looks back and says it was so obvious. The same pundits that are now on television saying, "Yes we should have seen the signs." 24 hours ago, 48 hours ago, not a single one of them did.
Now in our religion, we have to be careful about hindsight, about looking back. If we look back with one niyyah, it's okay. And if we look back with another niyyah, it's wrong.
If we look back with the niyyah of benefiting, of learning lessons, that's permissible. And if we look back with the niyyah of, "Oh! I should have done this. Things would have been different if I only did that," that is not worthwhile. It's no use crying over spilled milk.
And our Prophet ﷺ said:
(Sahih Muslim 2664)
"Let not one of you say, 'If I only did this, then that would have happened.' But let him say: 'Allah has decreed and whatever He willed, He has done,' for indeed saying 'if only' opens the door for Satan."
So when we look back, we're not looking back for the sake of, "Oh! If I had only done this," because it's done, khalas, okay, he's in. Nothing we can do about that. But we look back in order that we benefit, in order that we learn from the reality of what's going on.
Point 4: Hypocrisy - Exposing Double Standards
One of the emotions that I definitely felt was to point out the hypocrisy. How dare any western pundit, any politician criticize us Muslims for disrespecting women. How dare anybody call us out for backwardness in our values. Tell us that we're suffering from bigotry and hatred.
Not that there are no problems in the Muslim world. I mean nobody is denying that. Wallahi we have problems in the Muslim world. But who exactly are you, middle class America, who exactly are you to tell us about values of women and respecting women when you've just endorsed and elected the most misogynistic person.
No one of these pundits has the right to open their mouths and talk about our values anymore. They've just elected the most racist, xenophobic, bigot that has run for public office for the last half a century.
Also the hypocrisy of democracy. And this is a very very dangerous issue because whenever a Muslim cleric talks about the hypocrisy of democracy, they read in Islamic fundamentalism and radicalism. I'm not speaking here as a cleric then. Let me speak from a philosophical perspective. Let me quote you Chomsky.
The reality is that democracy is a seriously flawed political enterprise. And we, all of us, Muslims and non-Muslims, need to stop treating democracy like a god. We need to stop using terms like democracy and freedom, as if they are sacred religions.
Democracy is very, very easily corruptible. It is susceptible to some of the worst flaws of humanity, as we have seen. And of the greatest critics of this is of course Noam Chomsky.
We as American Muslims, fully understand this reality. We were used as a political pawn in this vicious game. We were used as a sacrificial pawn. The whole reality of how American Muslims were presented, was essentially that Donald Trump would be the knight in shining armor, that will rescue the American damsel in distress from the evils of the invading Muslims. We were made into a bogeyman. We were made into a monster.
Point 5: Fear - Overcoming It Through Faith
No doubt, at some point, some of us did have this feeling of fear. Understandably, we are scared. It appears as if bigotry has become mainstream. It appears that the official domestic policy is now Islamophobia.
Nonetheless, when it comes to fear, we have to become theological here. Because Allah criticizes fear of any other entity other than Him. We have to turn to our aqeedah, our iman, our Quran, our shariah. And Allah reminds us over and over again, that fearing anyone other than Him, is not a sign of good faith.
"Do you fear them? But Allah has more right that you should fear Him."
Remember in Surah Al-Ahzab, when the battle of Al-Ahzab took place. Remember the difference between the munafiqun and the sahaba. When Allah told us in the Quran, the difference between them.
That Allah says in the Quran:
"Those to whom hypocrites said, 'Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.'"
When the people came to frighten you, and they said, don't you see everybody's come to attack. The munafiqun are scared. The munafiqun are trembling. And they go to the sahaba and they say
Be terrified of them.
What did Allah say of the sahaba? What happened?
"But it [merely] increased them in iman, and they said, 'Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.'"
This is a phrase that we will be repeating many times in the next four years.
This is a phrase that we will have to repeat and it will be our comfort and solace. It is the phrase that Ibrahim said when he was thrown into that fire that Nimrud built.
When Ibrahim was thrown in, all he said:
And from that phrase, what happened?
We said, 'O fire, be coolness and safety upon Abraham.'"
It was the phrase that our Prophet ﷺ [used] when the Ahzab surrounded Medina. And they did not have an army. The Muslims did not have an army. They had nothing to fight 10,000 people with. So what did the Prophet ﷺ say? Allah is sufficient for us.
I don't need an army to fight the Ahzab
Allah is sufficient.
And what a great protector and a great source to turn to is Allah.
So, fear. I understand we feel it. But it is a battle of our own iman to overcome it. We need to wipe fear out of our hearts. And fear the One who is worthy of being feared. And fear and tawakkul are linked together. Because you can't have one if you have the other. If you have tawakkul, fear will go away. If you don't have tawakkul, fear will come.
Point 6: Action - The Need for Community Activism
Now, more than ever, we understand the importance of community activism. If 9-11 woke us up, if 9-11 caused us to smell the coffee, this is breakfast. This is forcing us to get out of bed now.
Those of you who are older than 30-35, you know the reality pre-9-11 of the American Muslim Ummah. Very apolitical, very quietist. And we knew and realized now that was a mistake. We cannot afford to be quietist. Wallahi, we cannot. Each and every one of us.
Clinton did win the majority of the popular vote. We know this. She won the majority of the popular vote. In terms of sheer majority, Clinton won. And it was quite literally a very close race. And I'm not blaming anybody. And I don't think frankly in this election, I don't think even if the Muslims put all of their weight behind it, we needed the help of other minorities.
But if two or three minority groups did cooperate together, I think it's pretty clear in hindsight to say this, that this push could have happened. Because in most of these swing states, it's just 1%, 2%. The point being, it clearly shows community activism does have an impact.
We cannot be idle anymore. The way that I perceive this, that look, in the end of the day, Allah has placed a test on us. And it is a major test. It's an obstacle course. These are obstacles that Allah has placed in front of us.
And the goal is to try our best to overcome these obstacles. And if we try our best, and here's the beauty of our religion, Allah doesn't judge us if we actually cross the obstacle or not. Allah judges us if we tried.
Allah is not gonna judge us if we actually won, if we actually got over to the other side. That's the beauty of our religion. Every other entity, corporation, boss, CEO, professor, teacher, will judge you based on the actual result, not your effort.
Nobody cares about your effort. You could have zero effort. If you make a hundred in my exam, you make a hundred. You could study for the whole semester. If you fail my exam, you fail. I don't judge your effort.
But Allah is the only entity who judges effort. And Allah doesn't care about your success or not. Did you succeed or not? That's not relevant even to the equation. Your Jannah is linked to your effort. And these are obstacles that Allah has placed in our lives. And the goal is Jannah. The prize is Jannah. It's very simple.
So, we as Muslims need to reorient what is going on here. Why is there so much fitna and fasad? Why are these trials coming here? Because that's what life is.
Every one of us sitting here can testify himself or herself, how the political climate has made us a better Muslim. Isn't that the truth? Every one of us can testify to that, that is sitting here. The political climate, no matter how bad or evil it is, it's kind of made us reconnect with Allah.
It's made us reconnect with our tradition, our heritage, our religion, with our values. That many of us are now understanding that I can't run away and hide. I need to be a Muslim and a visible Muslim.
I cannot be silent in the face of bigotry, of oppression, of racism, of xenophobia, of Islamophobia. You see, in that reaction is the wisdom of the obstacle. In that reaction, that is what Allah wants to see.
And that's what we're gonna have to do for the next four years. As Allah says, and I have a whole tafsir of Surah Sharh, and I don't have time to go to that now, but listen to it online. The whole point of Surah Sharh, when the Prophet was feeling demoralized, remember? Early Makkah, when he was feeling demoralized, like, what am I gonna do now? All of these Islamophobia comments, all of this opposition.
So Allah says: "Did We not expand for you, [O Muhammad], your breast? And We removed from you your burden which had weighed upon your back. And raised high for you your repute."
Allah reminds him of the blessings. Don't feel sad, look at all these good. Then Allah says two eases for every difficulty. Then what was he told (فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانصَبْ - Quran 94:7) - "So when you have finished [your duties], then stand up [for worship]."
When you finish doing one thing, stand up and do another. (فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانصَبْ) - When plan A is done, move on to plan B. When you're done with plan A, move on to tactic B. When you've spoken to X, move on and speak to Y.
The world is vast. And every one of us (فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ) - We have a role to play. Every one of us, we have something we can do. When we finish doing it (فَانصَبْ) - stand up and do something else.
It's no time to be lazy. It's no time to sit on your behind and blame everybody else. It's a time of action, a time of activism, a time of rediscovering our iman and our role. And that is the whole purpose of these obstacles, so that we can battle them through our actions.
Point 7: Hope and Optimism - The Most Important Point
The seventh and the final point therefore, is the most important one, and that is hope, optimism. We always are commanded by Allah to look on the bright side. We're commanded by Allah to be optimistic. Being optimistic is a sign of iman.
(Sahih al-Bukhari 5754)
Hadith in Bukhari - "Good omens are a part of faith." So being optimistic is a part of faith.
And the fact of the matter is, yes, we are in shock, but we have to believe that Allah knows what we do not know. We have to believe: (وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ - Quran 2:216) - "But Allah knows, while you know not."
We have to believe that Allah is Hakim, and Allah is Khabir, and Allah is Latif, and that is our iman.
And in the end of the day, okay, the guy definitely has a long list of faults and what not, but Allah knows what the future holds, correct? As of yet, it's just talk, correct? I mean, right now, right before finishing this lecture, literally less than an hour ago, the Independent, which is one of the most prestigious newspapers in England, reported that Donald Trump has removed any reference to the Muslim ban from his official website now. It's taken out. Allah knows.
"And these days [of varying conditions] We alternate among the people." This is the ayah of the Quran. These are the days we distributed amongst the people. And the context is power. We distribute power amongst the people. One week this will have power, another year this will have power. This is the reality of the Quran. Allah is telling us this is the reality.
And in case, back to my point that hope. We have to have hope. We have to believe that everything happens by the decree of Allah. Let us memorize this verse in Surah Tawbah. One of my favorite ayahs of the Quran.
"Say, 'Never will we be struck except by what Allah has decreed for us; He is our protector.' And upon Allah let the believers rely."
Nothing will come to us. Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us (هُوَ مَوْلَانَا) - He is our protector. Memorize this verse. Nothing is gonna happen except what Allah has decreed for us.
And realize as well that Allah has told us that an evil typically brings about good. "But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not."
It's possible you don't like something and Allah will bring about a great benefit. Twice in the Quran similar verses. And of course the greatest example for this is the incident of Hudaybiyyah.
The sahaba were so demoralized on the day the treaty was signed. You all know what happened with Umar ibn al-Khattab that day. The sahaba came back dejected, dredging there in the sand just so sad. Because they could not understand. Why? How? I mean we were just wanting to do Umrah etc. etc.
And Allah reveals the beginning of Fath: "Indeed, We have given you, [O Muhammad], a clear conquest."
Look at the iman of the sahaba. When the ayah came down, Allah did not explain when, how, what. Allah did not clarify how the victory would come. Hindsight is 20-20. Looking back, Hudaybiyyah was the biggest victory given to the Muslims. Far bigger than even Badr and Uhud. In terms of the spread of Islam.
In terms of the conquest that took place of the hearts. Not a physical, the hearts. As Zuhri said, that quadrupled the amount of people accepted Islam. After Hudaybiyyah, then had accepted Islam in the previous 20 years. Four times the amount accepted Islam. But Allah revealed: (إِنَّا فَتَحْنَا لَكَ فَتْحًا مُّبِينًا). The sahaba have no clue how.
What happens? Their iman soars up. Allahu Akbar, it's a fatah, it's a fatah.
Now, we don't have the luxury of having a particular ayah revealed for us. That was for the sahaba. But what we do have is the generic text of the Quran and Sunnah. Yes, true, Allah did not reveal an ayah specifically for anything happening in our era or place.
But Allah did tell us and our Prophet told us so many realities. That there is no such thing as evil for the Muslim. That the Muslim is always a winner. That no matter what happens, the Muslim comes out a victor. This is the reality. The Quran and Sunnah is very clear.
And we can use this for each and every situation. So therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not allowed to lose hope. We're not allowed to despair.
"So do not weaken and do not grieve, and you will be superior if you are [true] believers."
Don't despair, don't grieve. You shall come out as victorious as Allah says in the Quran. This is very clear. Don't despair, don't grieve. And you will come out victorious in the end.
And realize that having husn al-zann in Allah, having good thoughts in Allah, this is a necessary requirement of our iman.
(Sahih al-Bukhari 7405)
Allah says in the hadith Qudsi: "I am as my servant thinks of me." If he thinks good thoughts, that's what's gonna happen. And if he thinks bad, well then that's what's going to happen.
Every one of us for the sake of the ummah needs to have good thoughts. Every one of us needs to have positive attitudes. We need to put our trust in Allah. That something is happening for the good. For the good of us here. And for the good of the whole ummah. And for the good of the whole world. We're gonna have to believe this.
The Story of Fir'aun and Musa - Allah's Promise to the Oppressed
Realize brothers and sisters, of the most amazing stories in the Quran, is Fir'aun and Musa. It's the most common story. Fir'aun and Musa is the most common story in the Quran.
Notice what Allah says in the beginning of surah Qasas: (إِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ عَلَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَجَعَلَ أَهْلَهَا شِيَعًا يَسْتَضْعِفُ طَائِفَةً مِّنْهُمْ يُذَبِّحُ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيِي نِسَاءَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ - Quran 28:4) - "Indeed, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and made its people into factions, oppressing a sector among them, slaughtering their [newborn] sons and keeping their females alive. Indeed, he was of the corrupters."
Fir'aun was a tyrant in the land. And he divided up his own people. He split up his own people. (يَسْتَضْعِفُ طَائِفَةً مِّنْهُمْ) - He took one as slaves. (يُذَبِّحُ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ) - And he would kill their children. (وَيَسْتَحْيِي نِسَاءَهُمْ) Leave their women. (إِنَّهُ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ) - What an evil tyrant he was.
Okay. What's the next verse - "And We wanted to confer favor upon those who were oppressed in the land and make them leaders and make them inheritors."
Bless the persecuted. Through the evil of Fir'aun, we wanted to bring about a revolution. And make the oppressed the ones who were ruling in the land. To give them a land. And that is the holy land that Allah gave the Bani Israel.
So Allah is saying that Fir'aun's evil would be used against him. And the people of Israel, the children of Israel did not realize this. We wanted to bless the children of Israel through the evil tyranny of Fir'aun.
Now, this person is not as bad as Fir'aun. He can't be as bad as Fir'aun. Because Allah tells us Fir'aun was the worst person ever in this history. The worst human ever was Fir'aun. (وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أُدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ - Quran 40:46) - "And on the Day of Resurrection [it will be said], 'Make the people of Pharaoh enter the severest punishment.'"
The worst human beings was Fir'aun. And yet Allah used the evil of Fir'aun to bless the believers in the Quran. (وَنُرِيدُ أَن نَّمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا).
So, if Fir'aun could be used to benefit the believers in the time of Musa, then we have to have yaqeen, yaqeen, that Allah is going to use people that might be mufsidin, might be fasidin, might be istakbarun alal fil ard. Allah will use them to bring about a good. That is a principle of our iman that we simply cannot deny.
Conclusion - Trust in Allah's Wisdom
Brothers and sisters, we need to believe that whatever is happening, is happening for our good, whether we see it or not. We need to have yaqeen, that khair and barakah will come out of each and everything that is happening to us. If and only if we put our trust in Allah, we roll up our sleeves, we tighten our belts, and we work together for the betterment of this ummah, and the betterment of this country.
This is the first day that we are still reeling from what is happening. I hope that the days will prove what I'm saying quickly, rather than in a delayed fashion. And I am confident, I have yaqeen, because Allah told me to have it.
That we will look back on this day, and on this time, and on this season, and on this era, years and decades from now, and we will see the khair that came out of it. Just like we look back at incidents that took place 15 years ago, and other catastrophes, and we say, you know what, yes it was bad, but the good that came out of it, the good that was generated, was necessary for us to be where we are today.
And I pray that everyone of us will see in our own life span, swiftly rather than in a delayed fashion, the khair and the barakah that has come out of what has happened.