http://patdollard.com/2012/01/cair-muslims-endorse-ron-paul/


Growing up in rural parts of the American West, Nadja Adolf’s libertarian streak developed early on.
“When you come from a countryside that can kill you,” said Adolf, a
Muslim convert in her late 50s, “there is a strong emphasis on
individual rights, a strong emphasis on self-reliance, and an emphasis
on helping each other out.”
That attitude is part of the reason Adolf is drawn to the
presidential campaign of Ron Paul, the maverick Republican congressman
from Texas who is fighting to stay alive in the Republican primaries.
While some political observers question whether Paul has the staying
power and widespread appeal to win the nomination, his campaign has
proven unique in one respect: he’s drawing serious support from Muslims.
After abandoning the GOP in droves during the George W. Bush
presidency, some Muslims say Paul is the kind of Republican who could
draw them back and seriously challenge their loyalty to President Obama.
Adolf, who converted to Islam in May 2001, learned about Paul in 2004
during the congressman’s opposition to the Patriot Act, which he argued
allows the government the right to spy on citizens. Paul also opposed
the National Defense Authorization Act, which was recently signed into
law by Obama and allows the government to indefinitely imprison U.S.
citizens suspected, but not proven guilty, of terrorist activity.
“I’m a fairly old-school rural Westerner, and I am a firm believer in
individual rights, and I do not understand how a government can even
pretend to have the power to detain a citizen or spy on them without
warrant,” said Adolf.
Paul, a 76-year-old Baptist, couldn’t agree more.


The renegade Republican has piqued Muslim interest with promises to
extract America from foreign wars, cut aid to Israel, and protect civil
liberties. There are at least four “Muslims for Ron Paul” Facebook
pages, and a scan of Paul’s political donors shows many common Muslim
names, like Mohammed, Ali and Ahmed.
Paul’s position on civil liberties resonates with many younger
Muslims, including Zahra Siddiqui, an 18-year-old political science
major at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“These laws are obviously directed at policing Muslims,” Siddiqui
said. “Ron Paul knows how to differentiate between Muslims and
terrorists, and he would never sacrifice any citizen’s liberties over
security.”
Paul’s promise to get the U.S. out of Afghanistan and other foreign
conflicts also appeals to Siddiqui, whose family is from Pakistan and
who worries that U.S. drone strikes there could escalate into war. Like
other Muslim Paul supporters, Siddiqui said the Texas congressman is the
only candidate willing to get tough with Israel.
“He has a deep understanding of how detrimental our foreign policy
has been in Islamic countries,” Siddiqui said. “Ron Paul will stop the
large amount of foreign aid given to Israel and will discontinue rushing
to Israel’s defense when it engages in oppressing the Palestinian
people.”
Some American Muslims say they’ve been let down by Obama, especially after investing such high hopes after the 2008 election.


“We’ve been burned again and again,” said Rizwan Kadir, a financial
consultant in suburban Chicago who brought his daughter to the election
booth and voted for Obama four years ago. “I’m very disappointed.”
Kadir is unsure whether he will give Obama a second chance, but he is
confident that he could never vote for any of the Republican candidates
— except Paul. “If it came down to him and Obama, I don’t know,” Kadir
said.
Paul’s Muslim supporters say it’s not all about foreign policy or
civil liberties. They also make the case that Islam, founded by a
prophet who was a successful merchant, also has a soft spot for free
markets.
Following a natural disaster that caused the price of commodities to
soar, Prophet Muhammad rejected price controls, said Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad,
founder of the Minaret of Freedom Institute in Bethesda, Md., whose
mission includes exposing Muslims to free-market thought.
“Allah grants plenty or shortage,” Muhammad said, according to Islamic tradition. “He is the sustainer and real price maker.”


It’s the kind of small-government, go-it-alone approach that resonates with Adolf’s frontier mindset.


“I think there are some very strong libertarian values in Islam, but
many Muslims don’t see them,” said Adolf. “If it’s not causing harm to
the community, then its really nobody’s business.”