Muslim Journalist Fires Back at Conservative Pundit Over Religious Freedom and American Identity
British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan has released a video response to Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh following a week of online attacks from right-wing figures and Republican lawmakers who called for his denaturalization and deportation. The controversy erupted after Hasan suggested Muslims should be permitted to broadcast the call to prayer from American mosques if churches can ring their bells, and highlighted the historical presence of Muslim slaves in building America.
Dearborn Remarks Spark National Debate
Hasan started the firestorm when he appeared on a podcast in Dearborn, Michigan, to support religious equality for all faiths. Walsh created a 13-minute video that used multiple insulting terms to address Hasan while asserting that Islam has no connection to American values, according to Hasan. The Daily Wire host Matt Walsh had already used the term “ungrateful little b**ch” to address Hasan through social media.
Hasan stated in his video response that he had proven his American heritage and patriotic spirit surpass Matt’s, while Matt should express his disappointment.
Historical Evidence of Muslim Contributions
Historical records validate Hasan’s statements about Muslim slaves who lived in early America. The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture shows that African Muslims fought alongside American colonists during the Revolutionary War through military records, including those of Bampett Muhamed and Yusuf ben Ali.
The Voice of America states that Muslim slaves made up about one-third of all American slaves, while West African regions, which practiced Islam, produced up to 40% of the slave population. The handwritten Arabic autobiography of Omar Ibn Said, a 37-year-old scholar captured in 1807 in Senegal, serves as a unique historical record of the period.
Religious Freedom and the Call to Prayer
The debate about broadcasting the call to prayer has grown as several American cities have changed their policies. In April 2023, Minneapolis became the U.S. City to let the adhan be broadcast from mosques five times a day. The City Council voted unanimously to amend the ordinance. Jaylani Hussein, director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American‑Islamic Relations, said the decision is a victory for freedom and the U.S. Constitution.
Dearborn became the Arab‑majority city in America in 2023. In 2023, 55 percent of Dearborn residents identified as Eastern or North African. Dearborn has allowed broadcasts of the call to prayer since that year.
Rising Anti-Muslim Incidents
The controversy developed against rising anti-Muslim discrimination, which spread across the entire country. The Council on American-Islamic Relations recorded 8,658 anti-Muslim and anti-Arab incidents during 2024, which marked a 7.4% rise from 2023 and established a new record since CAIR started tracking in 1996. The Crime and Justice Research Alliance documented an 18% rise in anti-Muslim hate crime reports, which occurred in 28 major U.S. cities during 2024.
The disagreement between Hasan and Walsh demonstrates how religious diversity, American national identity, and Muslim American participation in modern society have created more debates recently.