BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • Trending

A Muslim Marine's retort to Donald Trump

  • Published
    23 November 2015
  • comments
    338 Comments
Share page
About sharing
marine tweetImage source, @MuslimMarine
By BBC Trending
What's popular and why

A Muslim ex-Marine took a bold stance by posting his ID card on Twitter. He tells BBC Trending what happened next.

Tayyib Rashid's post was prompted by remarks by Donald Trump, the presidential candidate who's leading his Republican opposition in many early polls, external. In a recent interview, Trump said that he's open to the possibility of special security and surveillance measures targeting Muslims.

Rashid took a photo of his military ID and put it on Twitter along with a barb directed at Trump: "I'm an American Muslim and I already carry a special ID badge. Where's yours?" Others soon began posting their own identification cards under the hashtag #MuslimID, external, which been used more than 10,000 times in the last three days.

"I thought it might get a few likes," Rashid said of the original tweet. "I cant believe it's gone viral."

Tayyib pictureImage source, Tayyib Rashid
Image caption,

Rashid, who is now 38 years old, served in the US Marines for five years

The controversy was initially kicked off by an interview Trump gave to Yahoo News. When a reporter suggested a Muslim ID card or registering Muslims in databases, he didn't rule those ideas out.

"We're going to have to — we're going to have to look at a lot of things very closely," Trump said. "We're going to have to look at the mosques. We're going to have to look very, very carefully."

Rashid said he heard about the comments from friends. "I immediately responded with the tweet," he said. Police officers, lawyers, doctors were among those who joined the conversation:

Shehzad TweetImage source, @Shiz006
line

Follow BBC Trending on Facebook

Join the conversation on this and other stories here, external.

line
Farhana TweetImage source, Twitter
Mariam TweetImage source, @Mariamhoudini
Shabbir tweetImage source, @ShabbirHossain

Rashid is part of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, members of which have faced persecution in Pakistan. In 1974 the Pakistani government declared the sect non-Muslim because of theological differences with mainstream Islam, and Rashid moved to the United States with his family when he was 10 years old. Rashid told BBC Trending he was glad his message got so much attention.

"It gives me the platform to show that this is the Muslim community to which I belong and it is a peaceful community," Rashid said. "I have had so many messages of support from people of all religions and of walks of life including veterans and serving members of the US armed forces."

"When we moved [to the United States] my father told us: 'You have the freedom to practice your religion here but with that comes responsibility to the community in which you live. Loyalty is part of your faith.'" He said his father was supportive of his decision to enlist in the Marines in 1997.

"I am a proud American Muslim and for me there is no conflict between the two identities," he said.

Blog by Rozina Sini

Next story: Spying on Islamic State instead of hacking them

Ghost security gruop logoImage source, Ghost Security Group

In the wake of the Paris attacks, the vigilante hacker group Anonymous has declared war on so-called Islamic State using the internet and claims to have shut thousands of Twitter accounts used by IS operatives. But a much smaller online group has also emerged, with quite a different strategy...READ MORE

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external, and find us on Facebook, external. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

Top stories

  • I understand what Trump cares about, says Starmer

    • Published
      2 hours ago
  • Gaza aid contractor tells BBC he saw colleagues fire on hungry Palestinians

    • Published
      10 hours ago
  • Death of Liverpool forward Jota leaves football world in shock

    • Attribution
      Sport
    • Published
      12 hours ago

More to explore

  • Starmer told me he'd met every challenge. But things look bad right now - very bad

    Two men (Sir Keir Starmer and Nick Robinson) look at each other as they walk through a doorway
  • 'Devastating tragedy' and 'Doctor in your pocket'

    A composite showing the front pages of Metro and the Daily Mail.
  • Adored & admired - Jota memories 'will live on forever'

    • Attribution
      Sport
    Fans stood near tributes at Anfield
  • Trump gets major win now - but it comes with risks down the road

    US President Donald Trump holds a fist in the air
  • A year in power - BBC correspondents assess how Labour are doing

    A designed image of the door to Number 10 Downing Street with a report card note alongside it in a montage.
  • Weekly quiz: Who threw a star-studded wedding party in Venice?

    US reality television personalities Kris Jenner, Khloe Kardashian and Kim Kardashian stand on a taxi boat in Venice on their way to a wedding party
  • The sale of illegal cigarettes signals a deeper problem with UK high streets

    A treated image of a crushed cigarette
  • Your new banknote ideas - from British Bulldogs to Fawlty Towers

    Dudley the Bulldog on Cawsand Beach in Cornwall with the sea in the background
  • Politics Essential: Get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox every weekday

    Politics Essential graphic
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom confirm split

  2. 2

    'Devastating tragedy' and 'Doctor in your pocket'

  3. 3

    Oasis 'sounding huge' as comeback tour launches

  4. 4

    Zarah Sultana says she is quitting Labour to start party with Corbyn

  5. 5

    I understand what Trump cares about, says Starmer

  6. 6

    The sale of illegal cigarettes signals a deeper problem with UK high streets

  7. 7

    Home Office unaware if foreign workers leave after visas end, MPs say

  8. 8

    Gaza aid contractor tells BBC he saw colleagues fire on hungry Palestinians

  9. 9

    The curious case of the British jet stuck in India

  10. 10

    Starmer told me he'd met every challenge. But things look bad right now - very bad

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • Diane Morgan traces her past

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Who Do You Think You Are? Diane Morgan
  • Eric and Ernie's formative years

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Eric and Ernie
  • Michael Sheen stars as Brian Clough

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    The Damned United
  • A compelling study of Britain's decline

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Shifty
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.