United States Army Reserve (retired) and first Muslim chaplain in the US military, Lt Colonel Shareda Hosein, broke down in tears when she heard that Donald Trump had won the US presidential election.
Speaking to students at Naparima College, San Fernando, yesterday during a symposium, Hosein confided about the fear she felt as a Muslim because of Trump’s ascent to the Oval Office as the 45th President of the US.
Speaking in her personal capacity and insisting she was not representing the US Government or the US Army, Hosein said Trump’s rhetoric prior to the election was scary for Muslims.
Last December, Trump sparked anger globally when he called for a ban on Muslims entering the US after a mass shooting in California. Following his diatribe, Hosein said many of her friends became afraid.
“A lot of Muslims became afraid and a lot of Latinos and different groups in the US became afraid of the words he was using and the way he was being very blunt. When I woke up at 5.30 this morning and I turned on CNN and I saw that he had won, yes I was very sad, I shed some tears,” Hosein said.
However she said her 35 years of military experience made her dry her tears.
“I had to always follow the Commander in Chief and that is how I trained myself. I will follow and accept Donald Trump as my President,” Hosein said. She added that because of the US political structure the President could not dictate everything.
“There are so many different areas of government so he can’t just say that he will ship all six million Muslims out of the United States. And I don’t believe he would. It is so sad, the uncertainty and fear. This morning I saw a lot of my friends worried about their lives and their children,” she added.
As a Muslim chaplain, Hosein said she was already organising a meeting next week with the inter-faith community.
“I am looking at how we can all come together and help people to release that fear, not that we can change it. Fear is really our worst enemy. I had fear after 9/11.
“Somehow I had a sense of hopelessness. It took years to process it but now I am being pragmatic about it and I want people to be that way as well,” she said.
Hosein said democracy worked in the US and she was heartened by the high voter turnout in Tuesday’s election. She also warned the students not to consider fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), saying their quest had nothing to do with the tenets of Islam.
Saying she wishes she could meet with the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Hosein told the pupils:
“If you have friends who are considering fighting for ISIS just know there is nothing Islamic about what they are doing, nothing holy and it is not what God wants. If you kill one human it is as if you are killing all humanity,” she said.
Hosein also told the students she never felt discriminated against in the US military and she was always allowed time off to practise her faith when she served in the military.
She lived in La Romaine and attended the ASJA Primary School as a child. She migrated with her parents to the US to seek better educational opportunities.
The symposium was held yesterday in collaboration with the Trinidad Muslim League Ladies Association, National Muslim Women Organisation of T&T and the National Islamic Counselling Services.