Shia Muslim

This is the thirty-third in Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series includes personalities from entertainment, business, sports, science, academia, journalism, and politics, among other areas. Our thirty-third pathbreaker, depicted by contributing writer, John Mason, is Abdullah H. Hammoud, the mayor of the City of Dearborn, Michigan. Hammoud is the first Arab American and Muslim mayor in Dearborn’s history. Born on March 19, 1990, he is the son of Lebanese Shia immigrants, who fled their country during its civil war. Hammoud is the proud leader of a community that is home to one of the largest Middle Eastern and Muslim populations per capita in the U.S. He has most recently played a critical role in representing this population in its response to the massive loss of Palestinian lives in the Hamas-Israel war.