Americans Need to Worry about Islamist Ideology, Not Muslim Demographics

As candidates with possible ties to the Muslim Brotherhood  achieved unprecedented electoral victories in the recent midterm elections, some commentators have hastily attributed the threat posed by Islamism to American Muslims as a whole, thereby implicating them in challenges to American democracy and Jewish communities.

The most consequential error in this hypothesis, or in broadly addressing the political challenge of Islamism, is to engage on terms defined by Islamists. For decades, the Muslim Brotherhood has positioned itself as the legitimate political representative of Muslims, intentionally presenting religious identity into ideological adherence, and then using this illusion as a basis for social legitimacy and political authority. When critics treat Muslim communities as a monolithic Islamist constituency, they inadvertently reinforce this narrative and further empower Islamists. Differentiating Islam from Islamism is not merely a matter of political correctness or sensitivity toward religious minorities; it is a strategic imperative. In fact, it is fundamentally un-American to suggest that countering Islamism requires enumerating Muslims, restricting Muslim immigration, or collectively viewing Muslims as adversaries of liberal democracy.

Tal Fortgang articulates legitimate and pressing concerns in his essay, “Jews Must Start Thinking Clearly about Islam in America,” published in Mosaic in November 2026. He cautions that the increasing Muslim population in the United States, coupled with the persistence of anti-Semitic attitudes and the political objectives of Islamist movements, could ultimately endanger the security of American Jews and the liberal democratic institutions that safeguard them. These concerns are well-founded. The escalation of anti-Semitic violence following Hamas’s October 7 attacks, the mainstreaming of anti-Jewish conspiracy theories within certain anti-Israel political circles, and the expanding collaboration between Islamist and radical-left movements merit careful scrutiny. Fortgang is also correct in asserting that the defense of American pluralism depends on upholding the civic principles and institutions that enable religious freedom and peaceful coexistence.