How the US far-right weaponised ‘inshallah’ against Abdul El-Sayed

An Al Jazeera investigation has tracked the rapid spread of an anti-Muslim campaign on X after Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan in the Democratic primary for a United States Senate seat.It found that the apparently orchestrated campaign against El-Sayed, whose election win is seen as a setback for pro-Israel lobbying groups such as AIPAC, has sought to reframe his electoral win as a religious and ideological threat to the US.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4John Esposito, pioneering scholar of Islam in the US, dies aged 86list 2 of 4Australian court rejects racial discrimination appeal by Pauline Hansonlist 3 of 4From Trump to El-Sayed: US Arabs in Michigan centre Palestine in politicslist 4 of 4US Arabs eye ‘historic’ Senate win for Abdul El-Sayed despite AIPAC attacksend of listThe attacks began with accounts clipping the phrase “inshallah”, which means “God willing”, from El-Sayed’s election night speech. This word was used in the context that he hoped his election win would prove that money alone does not decide elections in the US.The phrase was stripped of its ordinary context – as a common expression of hope by Arabic speakers – and was instead presented as ...