With Election Day less than a month away and endorsements from the country’s political, religious, and employment leaders becoming as valuable as any individual vote, a group of Muslim leaders has officially endorsed United States Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States. The Statement is signed by 25 Imams and Muslim leaders, all of whom are based within the United States, with five of the religious leaders being based in Atlanta and metro Atlanta: Imam Rashad Abdul Rahman, Imam Plemon T. El-Amin, Imam Mansoor Sabree, and Soumaya Khalifa.More than 1.5 million Muslim Americans voted in the 2020 election and there are now 2.5 million Muslim Americans eligible to vote in the upcoming election, according to data from the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Imam Plemon T. El-Amin is one of 25 Muslim Imams and community leaders that have officially endorsed U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris for president. He visited The Atlanta Voice office on Tuesday, Oct. 8 to be interviewed for this story. Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta Voice“I’m supporting Kamala Harris because I believe without a doubt she’s the best candidate,” Imam El-Amin, former resident Imam of the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam, told The Atlanta Voice during an interview on Tuesday, Oct. 8. “In the Muslim community there has been a movement to support a third candidate, but very few Muslims want to support Trump.” The statement titled, “Muslim Imams and Leaders Letter to the Community on the 2024 Elections,” began with condolences for the lives lost and the lives that have been affected by the war in Gaza and the escalation of that war in Lebanon. The statement went on to assess the two presidential candidates by framing it as “not the lesser of two evils.”It continued, “For us, as people of faith, specifically as Muslims, it’s the measure or estimate of the harm and the benefit,” the statement read. “When faced with a choice, we are expected to carefully assess the potential benefits and harm involved, prioritizing actions that bring better and minimize negative consequences.” “I’m supporting Kamala Harris because I believe without a doubt she’s the best candidate,” Imam El-Amin, former resident Imam of the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam, told The Atlanta Voice during an interview on Tuesday, Oct. 8. Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta VoiceImam El-Amin said he “probably wouldn’t have voted for current United States President Joseph R. Biden had remained the Democratic nominee for president, but he wasn’t voting for Trump either. “Kamala Harris is entirely different,” he said.The war in Gaza and Lebanon concerns Muslims and Muslim voters alike, said Imam El-Amin. “This is upsetting to the Muslim community, and it should be upsetting to everyone,” he said. “I’m hurt by Biden’s response in Gaza.” Along with Imam El-Amin and the other Muslim leaders in Georgia, Imam Talib Shareef, Imam Albert Sabir, Imam Benjamin Abdul Haqq and Commander Lyndon Bilal of Washington, D.C.; Imam John Bilal, Qadir Abdus Salaam, and Imam Bashar Arafat in Maryland and leaders in Baltimore, New Jersey, Oakland (CA), and Dallas,  battleground states like North Carolina with religious leaders such as Imam Joel Saahir, Imam Abdul Rahman Shareef, Imam Naim Muhammad and Fleming El-Amin of the Masjid Al-Mu’Minun are also involved. That list also includes Imam Fahad Muhammad in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Imam Salaam Muhsin and Imam Muhammad Abdul Aleem in Pennsylvania, and Imam Mikail Stewart Saadiq in Detroit, Michigan. Harris had already been endorsed by the Black Muslim Leadership Council, which is located in Pennsylvania, and Emgage, a Florida-based organization that educates and mobilizes Muslim American voters.Information for Muslim voters on what to bring to local polling places in order to vote and where polling places, for example, is available on the Georgia Muslim Voter Project website. Imam El-Amin said he can’t go through another four years of a Trump-led administration, which failed to highlight the positive impact of the Muslim community on the country.“The impact of Muslims in this country has been immense, especially in urban areas,” Imam El-Amin said. He added that the endorsement is very important, especially in Georgia and in Michigan, which has a large Muslim community.“Here in Georgia and in Michigan there were small margins of victory,” Imam El-Amin said. “The letter is there to say there’s a large number of Muslims that say we’re not going to sit out of this election and we are supporting Kamala Harris.” The Harris-Walz campaign has a media campaign targeting Muslim and Arab-American communities in Dearborn, Michigan. Director of Muslim and Arab American Outreach for Harris campaign Nasina Bargzie said in a statement, “The Vice President is committed to work to earn every vote, unite our country, and to be a President for all Americans.”The post Muslim Imams and leaders from around the country, including Atlanta, endorse Harris for POTUS appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.