(190): Mamdani and El Sayed: When Excellence Speaks Louder Than Prejudice

Mamdani and El Sayed: When Excellence Speaks Louder Than Prejudice

By Muhsin Ibrahim

If you are that good at your job, your detractors will struggle a lot to pull you down or turn people against you. Mr Zohran Mamdani and Dr Abdul El-Sayed are two excellent examples.

They share the same faith: Islam. Mamdani was born in 1991 in Uganda to Indian parents, and El-Sayed was born in 1984 in the US to Egyptian parents.

Beyond the duo's faith and immigrant background, they are too good to be easily criticised. Hence, their opponents have struggled to persuade voters to reject them.

El-Sayed and his wife are both medical doctors. She practices; he does not. However, he holds a DPhil (i.e. PhD) from Oxford. He also has a very clean record in Michigan's public sector.

In 2007, Bill Clinton praised El-Sayed during a commencement speech at the latter's university. It's quite prophetic that he would later contest and win an election, becoming the first Muslim senator in US history.

A lesson for us, especially Muslim immigrants in the West: you can preserve your religious identity and succeed. Just be law-abiding, go to school, and work hard and smart. Their system rewards merit in many ways. The sky is your limit.

Of course, some people will never accept you, no matter how good you are. It does not matter. The good news is that the majority of us - humans - are good and appreciate goodness.

I wish them all the best. May our system in Nigeria improve, amin. May those who work hard and do good receive the reward they deserve, amin.

Muhsin Ibrahim wrote from Cologne. He can be reached via muhsin2008@gmail.com.

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