John McCain, who raised eyebrows by telling Beliefnet that “I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith,” when asked how a Muslim presidential candidate would do, has been endorsed by New Hampshire’s highest ranking Republican Muslim official, Saghir “Saggy” Tahir. The South Asians Journalists Association has the story:

Saghir “Saggy” Tahir is a New Hampshire State Representative (which means he is in the state legislature) and is the only Muslim elected to that level in the Republican Party. He was born in Sahilwal, in what became Pakistan and emigrated from Lahore to the U.S. in 1972. He was first elected to the legislature in 2000. See his official website and Wikipedia entry.

With all the decrying of Islamic extremism going on in the race, particularly on the Republican side, the enthusiastically ecumenical God-o-Meter is happy to see candidates trumpeting prominent Muslim supporters (though the McCain endorsement announcement didn’t identify Tahir as a Muslim).

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