Everything is Changing: An Interview with Pastor Edward Barham

Edward Barham is a Christian pastor based in Dearborn, Michigan, who previously led a joint church ministry in Oxford, UK. Barham rose to prominence in the United States in September 2025 during a Dearborn City Council meeting (a city of 100,000 where Muslims make up 54% of the population) when he opposed the placement of traffic signs honoring Osama Siblani, editor of Arab American News, arguing that he had supported groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

In response, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud interrupted him, called him “intolerant,” “racist,” and “Islamophobic,” and declared that he was not welcome in Dearborn. Barham responded by quoting the teachings of Jesus and concluded by saying to the mayor, “God bless you.” The incident sparked much controversy and, for some, is proof that no place, not even the United States, is free from Islamization.

Did no one in the City Council object to naming a street after a supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah?

No one spoke out publicly against this decision. Probably not everyone agreed, but no one dared to speak up. The truth is that I left the United Kingdom and Canada to go to the United States because I wanted to have a voice that was not possible in those countries. But now I think we are entering a new phase, and I don’t want to be alarmist, in which a Muslim has been elected mayor of one of the most powerful cities in the world. Everything is changing, and what we used to believe about America may no longer be true.

In the United Kingdom, there are many cities where Muslims are in the majority, but with exceptions such as Dearborn, this is not the case in the United States.

No, but Muslims are in the majority in my city, so we could compare it to cities such as Birmingham or Bradford. I have nothing against them, and there are positive aspects, but I am not naive either. Interestingly, the person who defended me was a Muslim man, Nagi Almudhegi, who later lost the election against the mayor—perhaps because he defended me—and was called a traitor and disloyal for supporting a Christian. The reason I mention him is because we need more voices like his. So far, this is theory, but I would like to see it in practice. I think one good thing that can come out of having more influential Muslims in positions of power is that open-minded people can speak up for the Christian minority in Muslim countries. Obviously, this is not common, and I only know of this one example, but I think it is necessary because they are not going to listen to us.

I have read that you lived in Pakistan and Lebanon.

I have lived in many places, but yes, I lived in Pakistan for four years as a child, also in Indonesia, one year in Lebanon, and even a few months in Israel. And I can say that almost all Muslim countries are dangerous for Christians and also for those who support them. In the case of the Christian, Asia Bibi, in Pakistan, a Muslim politician spoke out in her favor and was assassinated as a result. However, even in a country as dangerous as Pakistan, there are people willing to speak out.

Why are there so many Muslims in Dearborn?

Many Arabs, not necessarily Muslims, came to Dearborn to work for Henry Ford, because Dearborn was Henry Ford’s hometown; he was born, lived, and died there. So Ford and Dearborn are synonymous. Most of the Arab Catholics have moved away, and almost all of those who remain are Muslims.

Conservative media outlets showed support for you after the incident; but left-wing media, including international outlets, have defended the mayor’s attacks.

That’s right. One of the worst examples was The Guardian newspaper, which published an article branding me a right-wing agitator and claiming that evangelical Christians lure children with candy, face painting, or soccer games, and then try to convert them to Christianity. It has been a despicable campaign. At the same time, despite the mayor’s hostility, I try to look at things positively and believe that his attitude can change. After all, I am a Christian pastor and I believe in miracles.

What has been the reaction in politics? Have you received support?

Yes, even at the federal level. The truth is that I have received a lot of support, both political and popular, from all over the country. However, in Dearborn, people are angry with me for causing a turmoil in the city. I don’t think that I did that; rather, the mayor is to blame for his comments, because when I raised the issue of the street name, I did not intend to attract national attention. I’ve been labeled a troublemaker—and I’m not—but I think it’s a problem that, on October 10, three days after the massacre organized by Hamas in Israel, a demonstration was organized with the full support of the city council of about 1,200 people in favor of Hamas. That is the real problem, that is what is causing turmoil, and it affects more than Dearborn, because they are turning the city into a platform of a much larger scale.

Do you think that what has happened in the United Kingdom, where there has been a gradual Islamization in many cities and Sharia courts have even been legalized, could happen in the United States?

Many people say that America is a bastion of conservatism, but many of the most secular things in the world started in America. I don’t think this is said often enough, and of course I don’t want to sound anti-American, but I think American Christians need to take more responsibility for what is being exported from their country. Many of the bad ideas being implemented in Europe, such as political correctness, were born in the United States. I thank God for the United States, but at the same time we cannot be naive and believe that what has happened elsewhere cannot happen there.

In the United States, as in Europe, there are also many naive, or not so naive, people who blame Western civilization for all the evils in the world. 

Yes, and they fall into the same traps that are used in Europe: for example, the victim narrative, which is used to gain more power, even when they are in government and are in the majority. In Dearborn, the mayor became more popular when he attacked me and confronted the Christian minority, and he did so from the power of the city council while using the victim card. In the next election, he won 72% of the vote, and to achieve that result, he convinced many naive Americans. 

It seems that we have reset our memory as a Western civilization since the Enlightenment, and that we have forgotten everything that happened before that moment. For many people, the only enemy is Christianity, and that is why they support everything that goes against it.

Do you think your case has served to raise awareness of this problem in the United States?

Yes, that’s right. I think I’ve had a big voice in the media. And here’s the thing: the language that is often used and that reaches people in the West is the language of human rights: for example, the language that presents Palestinians as victims and a minority, something with which I disagree. I feel that people need to engage with the religious idea to understand what is really going on. Furthermore, from that perspective, it is understood that Christianity is based on real events, while Islam is based on myths.

Robert Spencer, who has published many books on the history of Islam, defends that theory.

Yes, because history is important. In our Western culture, the reason we have been so successful is because we are based on facts, and that is due to Christian influence. A culture based on truth and facts is much more difficult to corrupt than one that lives in lies, and we saw what happened to Western societies that abandoned facts for ideology, as the communists did. Now we see many Westerners abandoning facts for ideologies or feelings, and that is why they feel comfortable with Islam, because it is not based on facts either. In a way, they are natural partners.