LONDON – Elected 16 months ago, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital, is always characterized with a sense of relentless courage, and has shown a sign of a proud Muslim official who is not cowed by attacks from US President Donald Trump, supremacists, or terror attacks.
“The West doesn’t hate us — I am the West,” said Khan in an interview at the London offices of BGC Partners, a New York-based brokerage, Daily Standard reported on Saturday, September 23.
Khan, the son of a bus driver from Pakistan, has received threats from both white supremacists and extremists.
Going from riding the subway solo to round-the-clock protection from a police force he oversees hasn’t stopped Khan, 46, from talking about Islam, saying it is unfairly maligned by Trump.
The president, whom he’s called “ignorant,” is fueling extremists’ claims that Islam and the West are incompatible, he said.
Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May defended Khan in June after a tirade mocking tweets from Trump, saying London’s mayor was doing an “excellent job.”
A senior police officer, who’s worked under both former mayor Boris Johnson and Khan, said Khan is more professional, efficient and results-driven.
Nick Spencer, research director at Theos, a think tank that studies religion and politics, said Khan has set a precedent that some Britons deemed “impossible” — a practicing Muslim is serving in high office in a democratically accountable way.
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