DSA Muslim Caucus
Template:TOCnestleft DSA Muslim Caucus was founded in 2020.
Beginnings
According to Yaseen Hashmi, a Master of Divinity candidate in his second year at Harvard Divinity School, writing in Progressive Policy Review, in spring 2020, after the conclusion of the Democratic primary race and COVID-19 dealt a one-two punch to the personal and political hopes of progressives around the country, many rightfully resigned themselves to just getting through each new day. A few Muslim students, however, had a seed in hand and the heart to plant it.
Inspired by the revolutionary legacy of Malcolm X, students Sirad Hassan, Samy Amkieh, and Abdelhamid Arbab put out a statement calling for a “dedicated group of Muslims within the Democratic Socialists of America,” meant to organize against the chokehold of corrupt and racist capitalist structures. Following the assertion that a truly faithful understanding of the Islamic tradition should motivate Muslims in America to strive for racial, economic, and environmental justice, this DSA Muslim Caucus would focus on issue-based advocacy within the Muslim community. Many heard the call—within months, the group became a Caucus, building toward formal recognition as a “Working Group” within the DSA at large.[1]
Sirad Hassan is a graduate student at Columbia University, Samy Amkieh is an undergraduate student at Brown University and former Bernie 2020 Campaign Staffer, and Abdelhamid Arbab is an undergraduate student at Princeton University.[2]