True Islam campaign takes flight.

• Author: Rashid, Qasim
• Position: Worldview

"Now, more than ever, is our opportunity to stand together as brothers, human beings, Muslims, and Americans."

IT ONLY WAS a matter of time before Donald Trump happened. While the right can condemn his anti-Muslim rhetoric all they want, the reality is that Trump simply is the natural progression of an anti-Muslim animus that has been growing for the better part of a decade. Pres. George W. Bush quashed the "war on Islam" rhetoric immediately after 9/11. That stance did not hold much water, however, the second then-Sen. Barack Obama (D.-Ill.) began his successful campaign for president. You will recall how the right entertained the "Obama is a Muslim" talking point, disregarding that, not only is he a Christian, but since when is it bad if someone is a Muslim?

Add to this mix the fact that, during Obama's term, more than half of U.S. states have passed, or attempted to pass, some form of "anti-Shariah" legislation. Notwithstanding that these laws make absolutely no sense and are facially unconstitutional, they succeed only in advancing anti-Muslim bigotry

Trump aside, presidential candidates such as Rick Santorum have compared Islamic Shariah to a Fascist ideology--further advancing anti-Muslim bigotry and Islamophobia. Ben Carson scoffed at the idea of a Muslim American president. Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz promoted excluding Muslim refugees from Syria, maintaining that the U.S. should accept Christian refugees only.

With anti-Muslim rhetoric mainstream, Trump's platform to push his anti-Muslim agenda--i.e. cessation of all Muslim immigrants--was given to him on a silver platter. This, after he already suggested special identification cards for Muslims and after he tolerated vicious anti-Muslim bigotry from his rally attendees. Trump and his predecessors engaged in this unhinged bigotry without so much as a peep from GOP leadership. For House Speaker Paul Ryan (R.-Wis.) now to condemn Trump, while he and GOP leadership sat silent during the previous decade of anti-Muslim vitriol from the far right not only is hypocritical, but too little too late. Voices like those of Ryan, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.S.C.), and George W. Bush at present are the minority in their own party.

To their credit, left candidates like Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, and Hillary Clinton have condemned this rhetoric while maintaining a generally positive track record with Muslim-American citizens. However, it would be foolish for Muslim-Americans to rely on them, or indeed...