cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/26899243

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.”