Elon Musk tweets about Islam ”are dishonest about a faith practiced by over 2 billion people” – Omar Suleiman

Omar Suleiman, a prominent imam, theologian, and human rights activist, has called on Elon Musk to halt the dissemination of “dog whistles of Islamophobia” on his social media platform.

Suleiman extended an invitation to Musk for a conversation to clarify his intent if the billionaire’s actions are unintentionally fueling anti-Muslim narratives.

Suleiman, who leads the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, accused Musk on Tuesday of sharing “dangerous” and “dishonest” tweets targeting Islam. Highlighting the inconsistency in Musk’s stance, Suleiman drew parallels with how Musk defends Tesla when criticized.

“When one of your Teslas kills someone while self-driving or explodes on fire and the media charges your vehicles as unsafe, you point out sampling bias, share all kinds of statistics, and allege that the media is either accidentally or deliberately misrepresenting statistics to promote a vindictive agenda,” Suleiman wrote on X, tagging Musk.

Suleiman criticized Musk’s recent posts highlighting select “horrifying” incidents purportedly linked to Islam. “Your barrage of tweets aimed at Islam have been as dangerous as they are dishonest about a faith practiced by over 2 billion people,” he added.

The imam expressed openness to dialogue, urging Musk to clarify his intent if unaware of the harm caused by his posts. “If you don’t know you are doing this and genuinely want clarification, I and many others easily accessible to you are willing to have a conversation,” Suleiman wrote.

However, he cautioned that if Musk’s tweets were part of a deliberate campaign, it would mark a hypocritical deviation from Musk’s earlier stance against bias.

The post reads in full: Dear@elonmusk, when one of your Teslas kills someone while self driving or explodes on fire and the media charges your vehicles as unsafe, you point out sampling bias, share all kinds of statistics, and allege that the media is either accidentally or deliberately misrepresenting statistics to promote a vindictive agenda.

Yet, for the past week, you have blown every conceivable dog whistle of Islamophobia, by highlighting a select group of (horrifying) incidents supposedly in the name of Islam. Your barrage of tweets aimed at Islam have been as dangerous as they are dishonest about a faith practiced by over 2 billion people.

If you don’t know you are doing this and genuinely want clarification, I and many others easily accessible to you are willing to have a conversation. If this is deliberate smear campaign, then you are indeed every bit the hypocrite you once condemned.