This article’s primary focus is Rick Perry, the famed Evangelical Christian Governor, and his unconventional relationship with Muslim leader, Prince Shah Karim Al-Husayni. Prince Al-Husayni is the leader of the Shiite sect of the Nizari Ismaili Muslims, which has a following of over 18 million. He also carries an immense family wealth that places his net worth upwards of $800 million. Perry met Al-Husayni in 2000, while vacationing with his family in Paris. The two men quickly became friends, and in 2002 Al-Husayni hosted a dinner in Houston, where Perry openly spoke about the close relationship he shared with Al-Husayni. Over the years, Perry has attended several Nizari Ismaili events sponsored by Al-Husayni and has garnered some support from the Nizari Muslim community. This personal friendship with Al-Husayni has drawn anxiety and criticism from some of Perry’s largest Evangelical supporters. They are concerned about Perry’s proximity to the Nizari Ismaili sect and its foreign leader. While many Christians view Perry’s relationship to Al-Husayni in a negative light, radical Muslim leader Mustafa Carroll stated, “Perry has a good relationship to the Muslim community in Texas. Perry has also enacted legislation in Texas with the help of Al-Husayni to bridge the gap between Christians and Muslims. One agreement aimed to teach Texas children about the Islam and Islamic culture. It also formed a mutual cooperation between the University of Texas and Al-Husayni’s Aga Kahn University in Pakistan to teach students about Muslim history and culture.
I was very surprised to learn about the influence of Al-Husayni on Perry and parts of his policy making in Texas. As a strong Evangelical Christian, I presumed that Perry would be reticent to working and forming a strong relationship with a Muslim leader. As Espinosa noted in his readings last week, the Muslim community is shifting towards the Democratic Party especially after Sept. 11 and the war in Iraq. Perry’s involvement with Al-Husayni may be an attempt to suppress the Muslim exodus to Democrats and keep a portion of he Muslim community with the GOP. Then again, I could be entirely mistaken and Perry’s main interest in Al-Husayni is his vast personal wealth and the financial impact he could make in Perry’s upcoming bid for the Presidency.
Regardless of Perry's true interests in befriending Al-Husayni, it will probably be a good selling point for him considering his already relatively wide appeal. Perry is one of the few Republican candidates who is able to use his relationship with minorities to his advantage and will probably let that play up if he gets to the general election and has to appeal to a wider voter base.
ReplyDeleteI think that Perry's befriending of Al-Husayni is in character with him regardless of his thoughts on alienating his supporters; he has taken on unpopular positions on issues such as immigration and HPV vaccinations. Perry seems to do what he wants and is pretty honest about his views regardless of political ramifications, and this relationship is an example of this
ReplyDeletePerry's relationship with a Muslim leader, Al-Husayni, is quite unusual for a GOP presidential candidate and even more so for an evangelical candidate. I suppose the only message to be taken away from this article is that politics is politics and furthermore the politics of money spans party lines and religious lines.
ReplyDelete- Madison Friedman