Rahim: ‘A lot more good than evil.’
The united backlash on Donald Trump’s proposed ban on Muslim immigration into the country has brought back a belief in humanity for Dr. Fahim Rahim.
On Monday, the presidential candidate issued a statement on his campaign website calling for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims coming into the U.S. until the government can “figure out what is going on.”
Since then, both Republicans and Democrats have condemned Trump’s statement, some saying it’s unconstitutional. White House press secretary Josh Earnest even said the statement disqualifies Trump for presidency.
Many different religions and faith-based groups have also participated in Trump’s backlash.
Rahim, a kidney doctor and humanitarian who’s lived in southeast Idaho for 11 years, said he hasn’t really had a problem being a Muslim-American until Trump hit the campaign trail.
He has an understanding of the candidate’s anti-Muslim statements, though.
“I honestly don’t blame him. These kinds of ideas come when you don’t know,” Rahim said. “I doubt he has any Muslim friends.”
Rahim suggests Trump do what he did when he moved to Pocatello: learn an unknown, foreign faith to understand his neighbors’ beliefs.
“I’ve read the Book of Mormon, not completely, but snippets,” he said. “I’ve interacted with people who belong to this faith and community and I’ve made an effort to learn about it. All I learned was the beauty, the harmony, and everything it stands for.”
Rahim said getting to know his neighbors helped create a moment with one of his patients. In light of Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric on the campaign trail, one of his patients, who is 91, crotcheted him stuffed animals for him to try and cheer him up.
“Me and her in that one room, we are standing for America. We are standing as one unified American with one value, which is humanity, not a divide” he said. “There’s a lot more good in the world than there’s evil.”
Rahim said he invited Trump to spend a day with him to get to know a real Muslim-American. He also invited people to find him on Facebook if they have questions about Islam as well.
