Americans are sitting between two major anniversaries: 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted and 25 years since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Each prompts Americans to ask deep questions about what it means to be an American and our place in the world.
The United States’ commitment to religious freedom for all is one of our proudest achievements. Americans of all religious traditions—and those who do not want anything to do with religion—are equal under the law. Being American is not based on a particular religious identity, but rather the freedom to practice a religion, or not, without government interference.
This fundamental right to religious freedom must be inclusive of American Muslims, or it is not religious freedom for all. In the years since 9/11, waves of anti-Muslim bigotry have inhibited the free exercise of religion for Muslims. There is another wave today vilifying New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other Muslim Americans running for and holding public office.
Where does this hate come from? In 2011, the Center for American Progress released a landmark report that documented “[h]ow a tight network of anti-Muslim, anti-Islam foundations, misinformation experts, validators, grass roots organizations, religious right groups, and their allies in the media and in politics profoundly misrepresent Islam and American Muslims in the United States.” CAP found that seven charitable foundations spent $42.6 million between 2001 and 2009 on spreading Islamophobia. A 2015 follow-up report concluded in part:
This disturbing campaign of misinformation and demonization bears resemblance to some of history’s darkest chapters. The roots of Islamophobia—ignorance, disinformation, and sweeping generalizations—bring to mind despicable anti-Semitism and the struggles of other minorities for equal rights in the United States. Millions of law-abiding Muslims in America today face day-to-day discrimination, unlawful surveillance, and profiling, simply because of their religious beliefs.
Although the Fear. Inc, reports have not been updated to include this current wave of Islamophobia, the reports remain useful resources. Regrettably, the story of manufactured fear documented in CAP’s research has not improved.
READ THE REPORTS
Today, Americans can see the promise of religious freedom for all through the growing Muslim leadership in the United States and the threat to religious freedom in the form of rising anti-Muslim discrimination.
Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution forbids religious tests for federal office. In 1961, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Torcaso v. Watkins that religious tests for any public office violate the First and 14th amendments. Yet there has been a surge in Islamophobia since the election of Mamdani as New York’s first Muslim mayor that recalls the hysteria following a proposed Islamic community center in 2009 in New York City. And more broadly, 36 percent of Americans said in a 2024 survey that they would not vote for a Muslim presidential candidate, even assuming that they agree with the general positions of the presidential candidate on issues that are important to them.
Greater involvement by American Muslims in our civic life is worth celebrating. Whether it’s running for elected office or advocating for changes to U.S. foreign policy, the past 25 years since 9/11 have seen a blossoming of Muslim civic participation in the United States. There are a “record-breaking 255 Muslim elected officials serving across 26 states and at nearly every level of government,” according to a 2026 report from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and CAIR Action. People of all faith traditions have equal citizenship, and seeing more religious diversity in America is an embodiment of our founding ideals taking shape before our eyes. Looking at CAIR’s map of Muslim civic leadership and representation, all Americans can be proud of the United States better realizing its promise of religious freedom.
Islamophobia—and the threat to religious freedom more broadly—also looks like efforts to block Muslims who are trying to build or expand houses of worship. Governors in Texas and Florida have designated CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, as a terrorist group. A group of far-right members of Congress recently formed a Sharia-Free America Caucus—even though there is no credible threat of any government imposing Islamic law on American citizens. As of March 2026, the caucus had 60 members. Such anti-Muslim bigotry can fuel dangerous, deadly actions. The Muslim Public Affairs Council has documented an 11-fold increase in threats and attacks against Muslims and Islamic institutions in the first three months of 2026. And in May, three people were killed at the Islamic Center of San Diego by ideologically motivated teens in what appears to be the first mass shooting at a mosque in the United States this century.
Today, the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign released a new open letter from more than 70 organizations and 200 faith leaders titled “Anti-Muslim Bigotry from Elected Officials is Dangerous and Should Not Be Tolerated: For the Love of God—and of Our Neighbor—It Must End Now.” The statement, which the author of this column is a signatory to, includes the following paragraph:
We, as a vastly diverse group of signatories, may not agree on every issue, whether domestic or international. But we all know that this anti-Muslim bigotry is wrong, and we endeavor to uphold values of universal human dignity and we insist on the freedom of religion and expression for all in the U.S., including Muslims. Our consciences and our respective religious convictions compel us to advocate for the rights and wellbeing of all, even if they don’t share our faith or identity. We expect the same from our leaders, who are charged with serving all Americans without discrimination.
Moving forward, it’s important to keep three things in mind.
First, Muslims have always been in America. Muslims first arrived in what is now the United States 400 years ago as part of the slave trade. Muslims fought in the American Revolution, the Civil War, and all the wars that followed. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and George Washington all mentioned Muslims in an inclusive way during the founding era.
Second, religious freedom should not be a partisan subject. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, then-President George W. Bush made it clear that America was not at war with Islam and, in fact, he visited a mosque to express solidarity with American Muslims. But today, the Trump administration has promoted Islamophobia and moved it into the center of American political power.
And third, anti-Muslim beliefs also animate some sectors of American foreign policy. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has overseen a disastrous war with Iran while looking favorably on the Crusades, military campaigns by Christians against Muslim rulers during the 11th and 13th centuries. “Our present moment is much like the 11th Century,” Hegseth wrote in his 2020 book American Crusade. “We don’t want to fight, but, like our fellow Christians one thousand years ago, we must.”
Americans need to ask whether our local communities and the world are made safer and more stable by the relentless stoking of tensions between the so-called “Judeo-Christian” West and the Islamic world. Or can Americans chart a new course at home and abroad toward peace and religious freedom? Twenty-five years of endless wars in the Middle East since 9/11 and political fearmongering targeting Muslims at home do give rise to despair. But the promise of our founding ideal of religious freedom remains.
The current rise in Islamophobia demands concrete policy responses. The Biden administration issued the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate, which has clearly been ignored by the current administration. Additional work is needed to both follow through on the recommendations and to look to new policies that meet the current moment.
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Two hundred fifty years ago, the United States of America began an experiment in self-government and the radical idea of separating the institutions of government and religion to safeguard conscience and belief. Earlier this year, CAP and its partners invited 20 leaders to reflect on religious freedom for a new report. Amid rising Islamophobia, it’s up to Americans of all religious traditions to ensure the promise of religious freedom includes American Muslims.