The world seemed to have changed overnight for many members of our college community once it became clear that voters across the United States chose Donald Trump and the Republican Party to lead this country for the next four years.
Most of us at the College perhaps did not expect such a powerful rightward shift, even though one only needed to take a short drive down Route 7 or Route 2, outside the peripheries of Williamstown, to see the desire in rural areas to “Make America Great Again.”
As someone who lived in Texas and Arizona before relocating to Williamstown, I saw the worst coming when the Democratic Party chose to emphasize abortion rights and the protection of democracy but failed to address many voters’ other concerns, such as the economy, sufficiently. Perhaps even more notably, it did not heed the concerns of its own voters from the Muslim and Southwest Asian and North African communities about the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
If anything, Muslim Americans’ world has turned from bad to worse with the horrors that we anticipate will come as Trump nominates his cabinet. Among his picks are former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard — who has touted the idea that “radical Islamic ideology” is fueling terrorism — as the director of national intelligence.
Political rhetoric surrounding national and international affairs has a tangible effect on the everyday lives of marginalized communities — often for the worse. Violence toward those who are visibly minoritized, especially our Black community members and students, was perpetuated in the Town even before the election, as was made clear in President Maud S. Mandel’s all-campus email on Nov. 4.
The silencing of, and fear around voicing, concerns that may not be politically correct or highly scrutinized makes people resort to cowardly measures such as vandalism. While judging one another because of political affiliation or outlook toward the world may be easy, putting people into boxes perpetuates harmful biases such as anti-Arab and anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism.
At this moment in history when the world seems so broken, we have an even greater responsibility to engage in dialogue with one another on this small campus and not further alienate ourselves in the process.
Islam provides a framework for undertaking liberatory work with kindness and compassion, for navigating this process of engagement, especially with those whom you disagree, without being harsh.
There is no prophet mentioned more in the Quran than Moses, peace be upon him. He and Aaron are commanded by God to approach the Pharaoh — a man who claimed divinity for himself and enslaved the Children of Israel by killing and castrating their men, per the Quranic narrative — and “speak to him with kind words in order that he may remember [God] or be fearful” (20:44). The Quran teaches us to even speak to our “enemies” with respect.
As Dawud Walid writes in his book, Towards Sacred Activism, which we read at a book club I facilitated during last Winter Study, “Shouting people down, spewing profanity and compelling those to relinquish microphones when talking in the name of speaking one’s ‘truth’ are not means of achieving true success and beginning about healthy societal transformation.” In fact, the Quran teaches us to “repel [an evil act] with one that is better, and thereupon the one whom between you and them there is enmity [will become] as though your most devotedly protecting friend” (41:34).
On this campus, we have opportunities to foster dialogue through difficult conversations, especially when events are organized by faculty or student groups — those with which we may or may not agree. We should begin by showing up for one another in recognition of the lived experiences of a community or communities that may not be our own in an effort to build relationships with one another and recognize our common ground.
For example, various campus partners have collaborated to put together a series of events for International Education Week from which we can all learn and benefit.
Naming and acknowledging both our similarities and differences is crucial to engaging in dialogue and is the crux of religious pluralism.
My hope for this small campus is that we find ways to learn from and communicate with each other with decorum and respect, even and especially when we disagree.
Sidra Mahmood is the College’s Muslim chaplain.
