New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has drawn attention after invoking Islamic history while speaking about migration, using a religious reference to frame a broader argument for compassion and refuge in US immigration policy.
The remarks were delivered during an interfaith breakfast on Friday, where Mamdani spoke about how faith traditions influence views on migration and hospitality. Referring to Islam, he described it as “a religion built upon a narrative of migration” and pointed to the Hijrah, the Prophet Muhammad’s journey from Mecca to Medina, as a defining moment in Islamic history.
