Arab-American Muslim Mayor of Dearborn, Abdullah Hammoud, has faced criticism from conservatives for subjecting an “Islamophobic” Christian resident to a tongue-lashing at a recent council meeting.
On 9 September, the Dearborn mayor ripped into Christian minister Edward “Ted” Barham, who objected to the placing of two street signs in the city honouring an Arab American leader, telling Barham he’s “not welcome here.”
It seems very provocative to have those signs up there,” Barham said. “It’s almost like … naming a street, Hezbollah Street or Hamas Street.”
“The best suggestion I have for you is to not drive on Warren Avenue or to close your eyes,” the mayor told Barham. “I think it’s quite hypocritical… that you’re approaching this podium when you yourself have videos on YouTube standing in front of my mosque saying the cruelest of things about Muslims, about the religion of Islam, because you are a bigot, and you are a racist and you are an Islamophobe.”
Hammoud added: “I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here. And the day you move out of the city will be the day that I launch a parade celebrating the fact that you moved out of the city because you are not somebody who believes in coexistence.”
Mr Barham allegedly is known locally for a history of posting anti-Islam videos on YouTube filmed outside mosques in the area.
At a later council meeting on 23 September, the pair faced off again with Barham engaging in another preachy talk where he discussed his belief in “loving your enemies” when referring to Muslims.
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He also complained about the lack of churches in Mecca and wider Arabia before asking the Mayor to support calls for a Christian call to prayer in Muslim majority countries.
When Hammoud spoke later in the evening at the meeting, he did not answer the many calls for an apology or the demand for a specific denunciation.
Instead, he said, Dearborn “represents the best of America” where “people of all backgrounds, of all faiths, and of all beliefs can live peacefully and respectfully as neighbours.”
“For decades, people have been intent on dividing and disparaging our city,” Hammoud said. “Dearborn has never fallen for these divisive attempts. Back then and still now, Dearborn residents from every corner of this city have come together to shun hatred and to root it out of the place that we’re all proud to call home.”
Barham has said he had no plans to file a lawsuit despite pressure from supporters against the Mayor or the City of Dearborn.
Dearborn is an Arab-majority city, with the 2020 Census finding 54.5% of its population claiming Middle Eastern or North African ancestry.
This demographic translates to a large Muslim population, making it the most Muslim city in the United States, though a specific percentage is not available.
Michigan, the state where Dearborn is based, was considered a key swing state in the last U.S. presidential election due to the sizeable Muslim and Arab vote in Dearborn, Hamtramck and elsewhere.
Many Arab Americans ended up voting for Trump’s Republican Party due to the Democrats support for Israel amid the genocide in Gaza.
However, since Trump’s return to the White House, tensions between white Christian Americans and American Muslims has risen as right-wing forces across the west feed into a spiralling culture war which currently revolves around the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Dearborn’s call to prayer row
Also in Dearborn, a contentious battle is brewing over a mosque’s use of an outdoor loudspeaker for its call to prayer each day.
One resident spoke at a recent city council meeting, presenting a signed petition over the speaker at the Dearborn Community Center on Schaefer Road.
Andrea Unger cited a city ordinance, which states that people are prohibited from creating “the continuance of any unreasonably loud, disturbing, unusual or unnecessary noise which annoys, disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others within the limits of the city.”
”The mosques in East Dearborn are at times waking us up at 5.30am with a call to prayer and, at other times, forcing us to listen to the prayer in our yard and in our own home,” Unger said in the meeting.
During the meeting, Council President Mike Sareini said police investigated and gathered decibel tests from certain mosques. Sareini said the city has found instances of a mosque violating the city ordinance.
Nabeel Bahalwan, director of the Dearborn Community Center, says there has been an ongoing complaint from a small group of residents, and he insists no rules are being broken. Bahalwan says police visited his site and informed him that he was within the allowable noise limit.
“This is crazy. We don’t wanna bother anybody,” Bahalwan told CBS News Detroit. “The city came in, the inspector, and there is a monitoring for the voice. We are even below the average of the rules.”
