Michigan City Elects Muslim-Majority City Council for the First Time
Hamtramck, a city in Michigan, elected a Muslim-majority city council for the first time in the history of the United States.
The former Polish-Catholic enclave of Detroit made headlines more than 10 years ago when its local council allowed a mosque to publicly broadcast an Islamic call to prayer from its roof. On Tuesday, the national spotlight once again shone on Hamtramck after it elected a Muslim-majority city council, according to The Washington Post.
In 2004, Shabad Ahmed was the first and only Hamtramck City Council member. But now, three new Muslim members joined him in the council, and only two of the members are not of the same faith, the Independent reports.
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Saad Almasmari, 28, got the most number of votes (22 percent) among the newly elected city council members. He moved to Hamtramck in 2009 and became an American citizen in 2011. He recounted how he was harassed when he ran for the primary this summer. Vandals spray painted his yard signs with an X at the time.
"Although we are Muslims, it doesn't have anything to do with serving the community. It's not about religion," the Post quotes Almasmari's statement. "It's not about Muslim unity. We are planning to work for everyone."
Hamtramck was previously occupied mostly by Germans and Polish-Catholic immigrants. The immigration trend has caused a steady increase in the Muslim population in the Detroit city and they became a majority population starting 2013, according to Sally Howell, an associate professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. She says around half of Hamtramck's population is made up of Muslims. The city itself is home to at least seven mosques, the report relays.
In a statement issued to the Detroit Free Press, community leader Bill Meyer said the traditionally Polish-led city of Hamtramck has made history this year by electing the first Muslim-majority city council in the United States. It may only be a matter of time before a Muslim mayor is elected.
