Muslim Organizations to Endorse Bush After Debates, New Group Predicts

By Ahmed Nassef

Today marks the official launch of Muslims for Bush, a group founded by filmmaker Muhammad Ali Hasan and his mother, Seeme Hasan, and committed to “actively campaigning among all Americans, particularly American Muslims, to re-elect the President.” As we reported in February, members of the Hasan family have been active long-time supporters of the President, having reportedly raised “several hundred thousand dollars” for the campaign.

I spoke with the group’s President, Muhammad Ali Hasan, a 24-year-old filmmaker and teacher who graduated this year from Occidental College in Southern California. Hasan describes himself on the group's website as “a budding comedian.”

MWU!: Tell us about why you have formed this group?

Muhammad Ali Hasan: The main reason we founded it is we truly believe that President Bush is good for Muslims. We feel like he is getting a bad rap. A lot of Muslims are going against him not for the right reasons. If there is someone who is very wrong for the job, it is John Kerry. Bush is the right guy for Muslims.

MWU!: Why is Kerry so bad for Muslims?

Muhammad Ali Hasan: He is bad at a lot of levels. The first reason is that he was responsible for writing many parts of the Patriot Act. The second reason is that Kerry has said that he wants to denuclearize Pakistan. Pakistan has been America's greatest ally in the war on terror. If John Kerry is going to ruin that, it will hurt Pakistan and the war on terror.

MWU!: Your mom and dad are huge contributors to the Bush campaign, both this year and 4 years ago. How is fundraising among Muslims going this time around?

Muhammad Ali Hasan: We are actually not pursuing fundraising through our group. We're just campaigning and pursuing votes. But I can tell you that fundraising has been going pretty well. Everyone we knew that contributed in 2000 is contributing again this year. So now we're looking to raise more.

MWU!: Which of these three would you pick as the best thing that President Bush has done for Muslims in his first term: the Patriot Act, the invasion of Afghanistan, or the invasion of Iraq?

Muhammad Ali Hasan: That’s a good question. The Patriot Act wasn’t good, but we have to keep in mind that it hasn’t been too too bad. Taking out Saddam Hussein was very important. We argue that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 1 million deaths of Muslims. There was no end in sight to his rampage. But I like that Afghanistan is rebuilding now too.

MWU!: How do you come up with this 1 million figure?

Muhammad Ali Hasan: We're including the Iran-Iraq war.

MWU!: But Saddam was our friend then, and the US supported him in that war.

Muhammad Ali Hasan: I am aware of that. We're all very regretful that we participated in that war. But that war was started by Saddam Hussein and it shows that he wasn’t interested in having good relations with his neighbors.

MWU!: What kind of reaction are you getting from Muslims so far? Isn’t it an uphill battle?

Muhammad Ali Hasan: Muslims don’t know the full story and it takes a website like ours that shows all the points to make people rethink their positions. Not every Muslim has the best information at hand right now. [Former CIA Director] George Tenet has been providing us with our information.

MWU!: Have you contacted some Muslim organizations? Do you think they will endorse Bush again?

Muhammad Ali Hasan: I think there is a very good chance that Muslim groups will endorse President Bush. Remember, four years ago, it wasn’t until the debate that the Muslim groups endorsed Bush. You’ll see the same thing happen again. Just wait for the debates. I compliment these groups for not giving an early endorsement to Kerry.

My family has been in touch with the Muslim organizations, and we will definitely be lobbying. Take my word for it--I know that John Kerry 's people just hosted a meeting with Muslim groups, and they made it clear that John Kerry would not back off of anything. And the Muslim groups made it clear to him that they won't give him an endorsement. I also know that the Bush 2004 campaign just opened two campaign positions to vigorously pursue the Muslim vote.

Ahmed Nassef is editor-in-chief of muslimwakeup.com. He may be reached at anassef@muslimwakeup.com.