Zohran Mamdani Still Refuses to Express Support for the U.S. Constitution
Jul 25, 2025 1:00 pm
By Stephen M. Kirby
13 Comments
The 2019 elections saw an increase in the number of Muslims re-elected and newly elected to public office across the United States, and as part of their oaths of office they each had to swear to support the U.S. Constitution. In the subsequent 2020 elections the number of Muslim candidates running for public office increased again. Those winners would also have to take that same oath.
However, as I showed in my 2019 book Islamic Doctrine versus the U.S. Constitution: The Dilemma for Muslim Public Officials, [1] there are many core tenets of Islam that are in irreconcilable conflict with much of our U.S. Constitution.
It was only natural then to wonder how a Muslim running for office, or one currently in office, could resolve the irreconcilable conflict between laws in the U.S. Constitution and core tenets of Islamic Doctrine. So, in December 2019 I decided to ask by sending four questions to 80 Muslim public officials across the United States. Each question required a choice between the U.S. Constitution/American law or Islamic Doctrine. [2] The results were that 74 of those Muslim public officials would not express support for the very Constitution they had sworn to uphold. [3]
In 2020 I continued sending those same questions to Muslim public officials, and even to Muslim candidates for public office, and created what I called “The Muslim Oath Project.” [4] By December of 2020 I had sent those four questions to a total of 263 Muslim public officials and candidates in 30 different states and Washington DC. 246 would not express support for the U.S. Constitution. [5]
Zohran Mamdani was then a candidate for the New York State Assembly (later winning his election) and was one of those who would not express support for the U.S. Constitution.
However, in 2020 Mamdani was involved in an interesting Twitter (X) exchange with Shahana Hanif, a candidate for New York City Council and who also would not express support for the U.S. Constitution. [6] On May 5, 2020, Hanif had posted on her Twitter account a portion of the email I sent her on April 30, 2020, with the four questions. On her post she wrote, “Just in case you’re wondering what it’s like to be a Musim woman from Brooklyn running for office:” Mamdani responded that same day, showing a portion of the email I had sent him on February 10, 2020, and writing, “lmk if you wanna compare answers, still working on my response over here.” Hanif responded with tears of laughter emojis. A male named Murad Awadeh forwarded Mamdani’s response to Tahanie Aboushi, who at that time was running (unsuccessfully) for Manhattan District Attorney. Aboushi had also received my four questions and would not express support for the U.S. Constitution. She replied to this Twitter chain, writing, “What did you guys put down for 4? I was conflicted.” There was no response to her in this chain. Question 4 dealt with Islamic Doctrine allowing Muslim men to have more than one wife versus bigamy laws in the United States. Mamdani, Hanif, and Aboushi were among the majority of Muslim public officials/candidates who never responded to the four questions.
Assemblyman Zorhan Mamdani is now the Democrat candidate for New York City Mayor. On June 30, 2025, I emailed the four questions to him at the following email addresses: mamdaniz@nyassembly.gov, and press@zohranfornyc.com. I received an automated response from his Assembly email advising me of a high volume of emails being received; it advised me of three individuals to contact: Mariela Ortiz at ortizmc@nyassembly.gov, Julia Simcoe at simcoej@nyassembly.gov, or Benjamin at lottob@nyassembly.gov. So, I forwarded the email with the four questions to those three.
On July 10, 2025, having received nothing more than the automated response, I forwarded the June 30th email to all five of the above email addresses. Later that day I received an automated response from Mamdani’s Assembly email advising me of high email volume and that they would “make every effort to respond in a timely manner.” As of July 24, 2025, there have been no other responses.
Does it matter that the vast majority of Muslim public officials/candidates contacted wouldn’t express support for the U.S. Constitution? Here are two comments to keep in mind:
Thomas Jefferson pointed out why it mattered in general: …in questions of power then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the constitution. [7]
“Liberato” narrowed the focus down specifically to Muslim public officials/candidates when writing about the Muslim Oath Project:
…So far, only a handful of Muslim public officials and candidates surveyed are willing to go on record to support the Constitution, and some of these refused to give permission to publish their names. Worst case scenario, this handful might be lying.
On the other hand, this handful is greatly outnumbered by those who would NOT express support for the Constitution. Taqiya does not come into play for those Muslim candidates and officials who refused to express support for the Constitution; they are not trying to deceive anyone…we have over 200 Muslims officials and candidates who are not willing to express support for the Constitution they had already sworn to uphold or, if they win, will have to swear to support that Constitution to take office…
Why is it that these Muslim candidates and officials refuse to express support for the Constitution?… Could the reason possibly be because their true allegiance is to sharia law which claims supremacy over all man-made law, including constitutions? Shouldn’t that worry citizens of these United States? Why should people who refuse to express support for our founding documents get to lead us?…Where do these people want to take us, if not the realized vision of our Founders?
Instead of dismissing the Project with a wave of the hand, the critics should join others confronting Muslim candidates on the campaign trail and everywhere else with the fact they refused to express support for the Constitution when asked. Their refusal can be publicized and used against them in campaigns. As for the ones who did express support for the Constitution, if the occasion arises, they can be confronted with conflicting actions and statements that demonstrate lack of support for the Constitution. These are just some of the ways the information presented here can be put to use.
Defending the Constitution is part and parcel of maintaining the Republic. Republics don’t maintain themselves. It takes work…Every citizen is obligated to do something to help maintain the Republic, and there is no better way than to ensure that our elected officials support the Constitution. [8]
There are five candidates in the race to become the Mayor of New York on November 4, 2025: Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo, Zohran Mamdani, Curtis Sliwa, and Jim Walden. We know that Mamdani will not express support for the U.S. Constitution.
Hey New Yorkers, how about asking those other four candidates the same four questions?
Dr. Stephen M. Kirby is the author of six books and numerous articles about Islam. His latest book is Islamic Doctrine versus the U.S. Constitution: The Dilemma for Muslim Public Officials.
[1] centerforsecuritypolicy.org
[2] Here are those four questions:
No. 1: Will you go on record now and state that our 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech gives the right to anyone in the United States to criticize or disagree with your prophet Muhammad, and will you also go on record now and state that you support and defend anyone’s right to criticize or disagree with your prophet Muhammad, and that you condemn anyone who threatens death or physical harm to another person who is exercising that right?
No. 2: Our 1st Amendment guarantees freedom of religion in the United States. As part of that freedom, anyone in the United States has the right to join or leave any religion, or have no religion at all. Will you go on record now and state that you support and defend the idea that in the United States a Muslim has not only the freedom to leave Islam, but to do so without fear of physical harm, and will you also go on record now and state that you condemn anyone who threatens physical harm to a Muslim who is exercising that freedom?
No. 3: According to the words of Allah found in Koran 5:38 and the teachings of your prophet Muhammad, amputation of a hand is an acceptable punishment for theft. But our U.S. Constitution, which consists of man-made laws, has the 8th Amendment that prohibits cruel and unusual punishment such as this. Do you agree with Allah and your prophet Muhammad that amputation of a hand is an acceptable punishment for theft in the United States, or do you believe that our man-made laws prohibiting such punishments are true laws and are to be followed instead of this 7th Century command of Allah and teaching of Muhammad?
No. 4: According to the words of Allah found in Koran 4:3, Muslim men are allowed, but not required, to be married to up to four wives. Being married to more than one wife in the United States is illegal according to our man-made bigamy laws. Do you agree with Allah that it is legal for a Muslim man in the United States to be married to more than one woman, or do you believe that our man-made laws prohibiting bigamy are true laws and are to be followed instead of this 7th Century command of Allah?
[3] See my article “93% of Muslim Public Officials Would Not Express Support for the Constitution They Swore to Uphold,” Jihad Watch, January 7, 2020, jihadwatch.org.
[4] For details, see The Muslim Oath Project at liberato.us.
[5] The Master List is also available at drive.google.com.
[6] See “Zohran Kwame Mamdani Twitter Post May 5, 2020,” drive.google.com. Hanif won her election, and in 2025 won re-election to the New York City Council.
[7] Extract from Thomas Jefferson’s Fair Copy of the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 [before 4 Oct. 1798], tjrs.monticello.org.
[8] Liberato, liberato.us.
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