NCAM Rejects the Use of Faith as a Political Weapon After Anti-Muslim Attacks on US Senate Candidate

Media Release – 27 October 2026

The National Council of Australian Muslims (NCAM) is deeply concerned by the anti-Muslim rhetoric directed at Dr Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate for the United States Senate in Michigan. At a rally on Sunday, US President Donald Trump labelled Dr El-Sayed a “jihadist”, claimed without evidence that he wants to impose Sharia law, and suggested he would need to pass through a metal detector to enter the Senate.

NCAM Director Sajida Salman said the remarks crossed a clear line. “Voters are entitled to debate a candidate’s policies as robustly as they like. What no one should accept is a candidate being cast as a threat because of his name and his faith. When a Muslim seeking public office is labelled a terrorist without evidence, the message to every Muslim citizen is that they will never be fully trusted.”

Dr El-Sayed, a physician and former public health official, has rejected the claims as deflections based on no evidence. NCAM takes no position on the outcome of any election in the United States or anywhere else. Our concern is the use of faith as a political weapon, which harms people far beyond any one campaign.

Ms Salman said Australians should not see this as a distant problem. “Words spoken from the most powerful platforms in the world travel instantly, and they are repeated here. This year Australian Muslims have heard prominent political figures suggest there are no ‘good’ Muslims, while our mosques and cemeteries have been threatened and attacked. Rhetoric and violence are not separate issues. One prepares the ground for the other.”

NCAM calls on Australian political leaders of every party to campaign on policy rather than faith or ethnicity, to reject anti-Muslim slurs from candidates and supporters alike, and to implement the National Anti-Racism Framework, including stronger measures against religious vilification in public life.

“Muslim Australians serve as doctors, teachers, soldiers, councillors and members of parliament,” Ms Salman said. “We ask only to be judged by what we do, like every other citizen. We stand with Muslims everywhere who seek to serve in public life, and with all people of faith who refuse to let their beliefs be turned into a weapon against them.”

For media inquiries, please contact: media@ncam.au

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National Council of Australian Muslims (NCAM) acknowledges all First Peoples as the Traditional Custodians throughout the land across Australia, and pay our respects to Elders past and present. We recognise and respect the historical and traditional connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have to the land, water, culture and community. We appreciate the importance of the world’s oldest living culture, and support the union of a reconciled Australia. NCAM is committed to ensuring inclusion, equity and equality.