Khizr and Ghazala Khan

When Khizr and Ghazala Khan immigrated to the United States in 1980, they never expected their voices would trigger a political storm during the 2016 presidential election. But when Republican candidate Donald Trump called for a ban on Muslims and questioned the patriotism of people practicing Islam, the Pakistani parents of a fallen US soldier were called to action. Grief still visible on their faces from their son’s 2004 death in Iraq, the Khans walked onto the stage of the Democratic National Convention and took direct aim at Trump.

Relaying how their son, US Army Captain Humayun Khan, was killed trying to protect his troops from a suicide bomber, Khizr Khan declared that patriotism is not based on faith, gender or race, but on love of country. He challenged Trump to read the US Constitution and said the businessman had “sacrificed nothing and no one”. In doing so, Khan became the flag bearer for American Muslims who feel persecuted by the politician’s Islamophobic rhetoric.

Trump retaliated on Twitter, claiming Khan had “viciously attacked” him, and suggested Ghazala was not permitted to speak because she was a Muslim woman. His attack on the parents of an American hero has drawn the ire of some Republicans and spawned relentless news coverage, with the Khans at the centre of it. So just who are Khizr and Ghazala Khan? They join us at 19:30GMT for an intimate conversation about their life as immigrants, Gold Star parents and unintentional ambassadors for Muslims in the US.

On this espisode of The Stream, we speak with:
 

Khizr Khan
Father of slain Muslim soldier Humayun Khan

 

Ghazala Khan
Mother of slain Muslim soldier Humayun Khan

 

Tayyib Rashid @MuslimMarine
US Marine Corps veteran

 

Catherine Byrne @cebyrnecpa
Military mother

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