We are just days away from one of the most important presidential elections in American history – a contest that is important for all the wrong reasons. On Nov. 8, we are faced with two simple choices; a candidate who offers us all inclusion, and a candidate who offers us isolation. 

How we vote on Election Day will have wide ranging consequences on America for decades to come. As Muslim Americans, we have much at stake in this election, and our voices are equally significant; whether we act decisively and with unity now or whether we choose to sit back and sulk at our ostensible marginalization will probably determine who is the leader of this country come what November.

Muslims throughout America find themselves right at the heart of this election; they are afraid of what the future holds, and they think that their voice does not matter.

In Donald Trump, Muslims are faced with someone who has filled them with fear, anxiety and isolation, someone who is forcing many of them to question their rightful place in this country – but the truth is that this is precisely what Trump wants. The rhetoric coming from the Trump campaign is one that seeks to marginalize us, one that aims to instill fear and submission into Muslim Americans, and we simply should not be intimidated by it. 

The reality is that Muslims have a powerful voice in this election – Muslims have the advantage of living in key swing states, and they can exercise this power by showing up en masse on Election Day and voting for Hillary Clinton.

Clinton has made her open embrace of the Muslim community no secret – with her campaign going as far as hiring a Muslim outreach director to reach out to America’s Muslim demographic. 

But that is just half the story, Clinton is a unique case in U.S. politics because she has always proudly included Muslims in her senior team, such as Huma Abedin who is widely referred to as Clinton’s closest aide, often only to receive the rage of the right wing press. 

But ultimately it is up to Muslims to turn up on Election Day and make their voices heard – if we do nothing, all we are doing is enabling a candidate who amounts to an existential threat to Muslim Americans – but if we show up to vote, not only do we make our voice heard, but we ensure that our voice matters for the foreseeable future.

The alternative is simply inconceivable, the Trump campaign has unleashed a grotesque narrative in mainstream America that threatens everything America stands for. He and his small-minded throng have created a discourse of contempt, suspicion, and bigotry – whether it is against Muslims, Mexicans, African Americans, women, or indeed anyone who do not fit into what they deem acceptable. 

Over the course of this campaign, Trump and his advisers have shown themselves to be Islamophobic, misogynistic, racist, and erratic. A Trump presidency would give oxygen to dark forces that will allow unprecedented torrents to rise in America – from racial and ethnic tensions to full blown institutional and mainstream xenophobia. 

As Muslims we have the opportunity to become the voice that prevents that prospect from becoming a reality.

Now is the moment for the Muslim community to realize that it has a major role to play in this election. One of the great challenges within the Muslim community is that it is a significantly immigrant community, a community that still maintains strong links to a diaspora and therefore quite globalist in its outlook. 

That globalist dynamic has often proven to be disadvantageous in terms of the American Muslim community’s civic engagement here in America – it is simply a fact that civic engagement among Muslims is nowhere near what it should be. Many Muslims remain more concerned with global issues pertaining to their places of origin than they are with critical issues unfolding much closer to home here, and it has not helped us as a community. 

That does not mean that Muslims shouldn’t show interest in their homelands, after all it is an inherent makeup of the identities of many Muslims, but we must show more diligence and commitment to our civic duties here in the United States.

The current election offers us an opportunity to change the tide. There is no doubt that the rhetoric coming out of the Trump campaign has tinged many Muslims, particularly younger Muslims who were born and raised in the U.S. 

But we must go further and make such civic engagements the norm among Muslims in every election, it is the only way to assure our place in wider American society for ourselves and our children. 

-Suehaila Amen is a social justice advocate from Dearborn, working closely with communities on interfaith dialogue, civic engagement, and diversity and leadership education.