MAPS stands firmly with Assma Ali

Muslim Americans in Public Service stands firmly with Assma Ali, a public servant who has been subjected to an alarming campaign of anti-Muslim rhetoric and threats simply because she is a Muslim woman who wears her faith visibly. When Judge Ali was sworn in as a municipal judge in Benoit, Mississippi, on August 5, she made history as the first hijab-wearing Yemeni-American Muslim woman to be appointed judge in Mississippi, and she took an oath to serve her community and uphold the law. Within days, false claims about her appointment circulated online, followed by threats directed at her office and public statements questioning whether she should hold office because she is Muslim.

That should concern every American, regardless of their background, faith and political affiliation. Judge Ali herself has asked the question that ought to be at the center of this discussion: “As a person born and raised in the U.S., why am I disqualified? Just because I’m Muslim?” The answer under our Constitution is clear, she is not. And this is not a new or novel concept. It is deeply rooted in the American constitutional tradition. Article VI of the United States Constitution states that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” That is not a modern reinterpretation of the Constitution, it is part of the historical debate surrounding its ratification.

Muslim Americans in Public Service stands with Assma Ali and all Muslim public servants across the country, including elected officials, judges, attorneys, administrators, law-enforcement officers, educators, military personnel and civil servants who rightfully serve their communities while practicing their faith. And we strive for an America in which a person's faith is never treated as a disqualification from serving the country they call home.