HOUSTON — To some extent, Mohamed Hussein knew he was preparing to enter the lion’s den.
But he made the decision to attend the Republican Party of Texas Convention to confirm for himself that he had a place in the GOP, even as members of the party have railed for months about the urgency of ending Sharia Law and the so-called “Islamification” of Texas.
What he found was a party that didn’t want him. He arrived with hope, but left in tears after being told explicitly that he should leave the country.
Hussein was among four Muslims, who arrived at the convention in earnest — not as protesters, but as delegates or attendees — to participate in the annual meeting of the state’s most hardlined Republicans as they vote on the party’s priorities and hear from GOP leaders. Two prevailing themes from the Houston gathering were party unity and combatting Sharia Law, a movement that veered into outright Islamophobia by members of the convention.
“When they say Sharia-free, that means Muslim-free, no practices of Islam,” Hussein said in an interview with The Texas Tribune. “No one is calling for the state to implement Sharia laws.”
Hussein said he was in disbelief that he was told to convert or leave — for the first time in his life — at a Republican convention with the tagline, “Unity drives victory.”
That slogan, touted by the governor on press releases, placards, lanyards and even the elephant he procured to march through the convention haul, became a rallying cry for the state’s leaders and party nominees heading into November. If fractured, they warned, the party could lose the state to Democrats and their U.S. Senate nominee, Austin state Rep. James Talarico.
But in spite of that warning, members were willing to lose the support of Muslim conservatives.
On Saturday, outgoing GOP chair Abraham George, addressed two Muslim delegates from the stage, who members tried to expel from the convention because of their ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a group the GOP and Gov. Greg Abbott have deemed a terrorist threat.
“I would strongly advise you to leave our caucus,” George said. “There is a Democrat convention happening in a couple weeks. Join them.”
“There’s no place in America for you”
On Saturday, the last day of the convention, Hussein attended a panel from the Judeo-Christian Caucus moderated by Dr. Rick Scarborough, a former Southern Baptist pastor and the president of Recover America, an organization to engage ministers and pastors in politics.
Speakers told the audience that immigrants who don’t believe in Judeo-Christian values will erode those values and create problems for America. Scarborough accused Muslims of lying to win political power.
“You’re going to find Muslims that aren’t being antagonistic or mean, at least not publicly. But I'll guarantee, if they get power, they’ll cut your head off as believers of Christ,” he said.
State Sen. Bob Hall, an Edgewood Republican, also repeated the accusation that Muslims are “required by Sharia to lie” in order to “stay below the radar of being aggressive.”
Hussein was appalled by what he was hearing. From the back of the room, he objected, declaring that attendees have heard lies about Sharia throughout the convention. He was practicing Sharia at that very moment, he said.
“When they tell you that we’re compelled to lie, they are putting your Texan neighbors in an impossible position where nothing that we can say or do can absolve us from the crimes that they are accusing us of,” Hussein told the crowd. “That is not just, the Bible commands you to be just, and that is not American.”
Sharia are the lessons of the Prophet Muhammad, interpreted as the framework, or laws, for how Muslims should live their life which call for fasting, daily prayer, modest dressing and charity.
Following the panel, the two shared contact information. Shortly thereafter, Scarborough approached Hussein.
“What do you want me to do, leave?” Hussein asked Scarborough.
“Yes,” replied the minister.
Hussein, sobbing, turned from Scarborough, retreating to some chairs to cry alone. Scarborough followed and sat down next to him. The pastor placed an arm on the back of Hussein’s seat, leaning in to console him.
Scarborough, in an interview with The Texas Tribune, clarified that he thought Hussein should leave the country: “If you’re going to embrace the values and the teachings that you’re advocating for, there’s no place in America for you. That’s not assimilation. That’s taking over.”
A CAIR chapter founder
Hussein’s family moved to Houston from Egypt in 1992. He loved U.S. history in high school, and regards the Bill of Rights, which provides for freedom of religion, as a “beautiful document.”
These days, he is a father and works as a manager at a health care company.
Hussein, a religious man who prays multiple times a day, called himself a “conservative-leaning person” on economics, social and religious values, and he believes that religion has a role to play in social and public life.
He attended the convention with his father, Tarek Hussein, who founded CAIR Texas-Houston, the local branch of the Muslim civil rights group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in the wake of 9/11. Tarek Hussein attended as a registered delegate.
In November, Abbott designated CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations with the goals of imposing Sharia law and supporting terrorism worldwide. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis followed in December. The Trump administration began naming foreign branches of the Muslim Brotherhood — but not CAIR — as terrorist organizations days after Abbott. The federal government expanded the list this year.
CAIR has denied wrongdoing or terroristic activity. The group says they follow all laws, and exist solely to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims. They have said they’re being targeted for opposing Israel in the war in Gaza.
“CAIR is a radical organization connected to terrorists who killed Americans and has been condemned by both Republicans and Democrats,” Texas GOP Chair D’rinda Randall said in a statement to the Tribune, just days after her election to the post. “Republicans are fully united and focused on victory in November.”
The elder Hussein said he aligns with the GOP on fiscal conservatism, and opposing abortion and Obamacare. A staunch social conservative, he opposes pornography and prostitution, and even the alcohol industry.
He became politically active following the 2001 terrorist attacks, during a heightened period of Islamophobia. The next year, he founded the local branch of CAIR-Texas with the goal of educating fellow Muslims in the American political system. By giving them hope in America, he said he hoped to drive people away from extremism, fundamentalism and terrorism. Those, he said, are borne out of frustration and hopelessness due to discrimination.
In a social media post on Friday, Frank Gaffney, a defense policy analyst and Defense Department official under President Ronald Reagan, referred to some of Hussein’s old writings as a paper on how to “infiltrate” political parties.
“When I educate my community about how to get active in the political party, now I’m being accused as [an] infiltrator,” Hussein told the Tribune.
Efforts to expel
Samar Halabi stood out as the only woman at the convention wearing a hijab.
“Do not sit down with terrorist organizations,” a passerby at the convention told a woman sitting next Halabi. “You know they’re CAIR, right?”
“I care about everybody,” Halabi responded, trying to make light of the moment.
Shortly later, another attendee approached Halabi and told her to leave the country.
She wept into her husband’s chest.
Halabi, a teacher, declined to say how she would vote in November, but said that she is a Republican and always votes.
Halabi and her husband, Amjad Muhtaseb, were both registered as delegates for the convention.
Muhtaseb, an engineer and business owner, said Muslims are conservative by nature.
“We believe in Adam and Eve,” he said. “We don’t believe in this, multiple gender. We don’t drink. We don’t gamble. We are against pornography.”
They hope to bring more Muslims into the Republican Party.
In the days before the convention, Muhtaseb, along with Tarek Hussein, who founded the Houston CAIR branch, were gaining attention as other delegates began realizing they had connections to CAIR.
Muhtaseb spoke at a CAIR news conference about Abbott’s CAIR designation in his capacity as executive director of Muslim American Society-Houston. Muhtaseb said that was his only affiliation with the organization. However, Bonnie Wallace, chair of the convention’s Credentials Committee, incorrectly claimed Muhtaseb served on the board of CAIR-Texas.
Throughout the week, members of the convention attempted to remove them as delegates.
Ultimately, the party concluded that even the full convention did not have the power to boot them. However, the convention on Friday updated its rules so that next time it meets in 2028, the Credentials Committee could vote to remove delegates with ties to a terrorist organization.
“While, philosophically, we can agree that CAIR is a terrorist organization and we would not promote them or materially help them, we’re moving the goalpost,” said Gaylyn Devine, an SREC member representing their area in Senate District 11, who defended their place at the gathering. “They followed the rules. They voted in the Republican primary. One of them has been, like, a 40-year Republican.”
Tarek Hussein said they have the right to practice Islam as long as nothing contradicts the Constitution.
“It’s well known that there is [an] American system, American law, and as Allah-abiding citizens, we all follow that law,” Tarek Hussein said. “How come you try to create a boogeyman called Sharia law?”
Growing the party
State Rep. Brent Money, a Greenville Republican who founded the Sharia-Free Texas Caucus, told the audience at Scarborough’s panel on Judeo-Christian values that there should be religious tests for people who run for office and that the country should be run by Christians. After his speech, Hussein asked whether Money was saying only Christians should be elected.
“I’m not saying that,” said Money, wearing a red “Defend Texas, Defeat Sharia” hat. He cited the first U.S. Supreme Court justice, John Jay, who wrote in 1816 that, as members of a Christian nation, Americans should elect Christians to office.
“We’ve proven over 250 years that we’re best ruled when we’re ruled by Christian men who serve a God that’s bigger than them and that seek the welfare of everyone that’s here,” Money said.
Houston state Rep. Mano DeAyala, the former chair of the Hispanic Republicans of Texas, questioned the wisdom of alienating non-Christians who want to join the party. He acknowledged the “Christian warrior’s” anger, disappointment and frustration with politics, but said the way forward was to “be Christians,” “be the good spirit” and to “love each other like ourselves.”
“What I’m about to say may be a little sacrilegious, but working with the Hispanic Republicans of Texas, there was a point here,” DeAyala said. “We’re trying to grow the party. We are trying to bring more people in this tent.”
Another convention delegate, Kevin Jennings of San Antonio, who was attending his first convention in several years, said while he agreed about the dangers of Sharia, he was concerned that Republicans were becoming consumed by the topic.
“I think that we’re getting focused off of where the truth should be, and we’re becoming lured around with Sharia focus, and I think that’s a risk that is not well spoken of,” Jennings said. We need to have overwhelmingly speak about Christ, speak about God, and that’s where the focus should be.”
Convention reflection
When it comes time to vote in the midterms, Tarek Hussein plans to support his party where he feels it’s deserved.
“I will vote Republican for the good Republican candidate,” he said.
Mohamed Hussein, said the convention left himself asking questions.
“How can I possibly get behind a party that tells me to leave, that says convert or leave?” he asked. “How do they think that is going to be some kind of winning strategy?”
The Abbott campaign declined to comment on Hussein’s incident. It was also silent on George’s direction for the delegates to join the Democrats.
He also is worried the anti-Islamic rhetoric could lead to more violence against Muslims. Last month, two gunmen, 17 and 18, killed three men when they opened fire at a San Diego mosque. San Diego Police, who are being aided by the FBI, are investigating it as a hate crime.
Asked whether he would vote for Talarico, a Presbyterian theologian who frequently discusses his Christian faith on the campaign trail, Hussein said he would vote for the candidate that champions religious liberty and economic prosperity.
“I will vote along those principles, but what I saw at the convention is not conservatism, so I’m going to assess in November and vote along with my values,” he said. “Absolutely, I will be voting for Republicans who denounce this extremism.”
In an interview Sunday, Scarborough said he had some regrets about his interaction with Mohamed Hussein, even though he thought he only attended his panel because he viewed the pastor as an enemy of CAIR.
“I’m not an enemy that fights like they fight,” Scarborough said. “I’m gonna fight on my knees, and I will fight in an effort to win Mohamed to Christ.”
When Hussein broke down crying, Scarborough said he realized he had pushed Hussein too hard. After insisting that Hussein should give up Sharia or leave the country, “the pastoral side of me reached out to him in genuine care,” he said, and he offered to pray with Hussein.
Scarborough said he has asked God and Hussein for forgiveness for not setting a good example of Judeo-Christian morality. He prayed that Mohamed would convert to Christianity.
“I'm trying to process how somebody can say this and then try to pray for me,” Hussein said.
But he said he forgave Scarborough.
Rattled by the experience, Mohamed Hussein isn’t sure what it means for his politics going forward.
“Many, many hear these things, the messaging, and think that they're dog whistles,” Hussein said. “I was hopeful that I’d come here and get a clarification. What we got was kind of a confirmation.”
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.