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穆罕默德•海鲁拉在成为美国公民一年后决定参加地方公职竞选。 (© VOA/Ramon Taylor)

当出生在叙利亚的穆罕默德·海鲁拉(Mohamed Khairullah)在1991年移居美国新泽西州的小城普洛斯佩克特帕克(Prospect Park)时，完全没有想到有一天他会成为这个小城的市长。当时他是11年级的中学生。

在到美国之前，海鲁拉的生活经历围绕着逃离冲突。 1980年，在反抗当时的叙利亚总统哈菲兹·阿萨德(Hafez al-Assad)的第一次起义期间，5岁的海鲁拉和家人从叙利亚逃到沙特阿拉伯。11年后，在第一次海湾战争(Gulf War)后，他们再次搬家，这一次是前往美国。

每次搬家，海鲁拉都会经历文化冲击，而移居美国的经历更是前所未有的。

海鲁拉说：“我不得不适应一种非中东文化，学习一种新的语言，所以非常困难，但我认为这个经历帮助塑造了今天的我。“

他记得第一次走进有女生一起上课的教室的情景：“那是……哦，我的天哪！太不可思议了！”

但是，这座新泽西州的小城的某些方面也让他联想到自己的家乡。他记得有一天，在走路去学校的路上，路过一个政治标语牌，上面有一个阿拉伯名字，他说，那个瞬间为他有一天会承担的领导角色“埋下了种子”。

进入美国政坛

海鲁拉说，距离纽约曼哈顿（New York City’s Manhattan）35公里、人口只有6000人的普洛斯佩克特帕克，长期以来一直是一个欢迎移民的社区。当他在1994年申请当志愿消防队员时，小城修改法规，开始允许非美国公民成为消防队员。

海鲁拉说：“当一名志愿消防员一直是我的心愿。但在沙特阿拉伯，如果你不是公民，你就不能当。所以（在这里），我能够做我一直非常渴望做的事情。”

参与地方政治的想法来自于其他志愿消防员，他们鼓励海鲁拉参加竞选。因此，2001年，在他成为美国公民整整一年之后，他真的这样做了。他说:“就这样一步一步走起来。“

他想回馈自己的社区，他说这是美国穆斯林的一个普遍特点。

现在是海鲁拉的第三个任期，在他所在的这个城里，阿拉伯人口和穆斯林人口总共占约15%。

他的网上个人资料(Instagram profile)也许对他自己的身份作了最好的概括：“美国市长，恰巧也是穆斯林。”

重返叙利亚

海鲁拉从来没有忘记自己的过去。他坚持定期返回叙利亚从事人道救援使命。自从叙利亚战争开始以来，他七次回去为有需要的学校和医院提供食物和用品。最近，他代表叙利亚美国人医学协会(Syrian American Medical Society)，帮助在阿勒颇(Aleppo)建立了一家地下医院，这个协会基金会已经在该地区治疗了260万名患者，其中包括32万难民。

海鲁拉和他在叙利亚认识的妻子同三个孩子在家里讲阿拉伯语，在外讲英语，以便让孩子们可以精通两种语言。他说，他为孩子设定的目标，是要让他们体验世界，包括好与不好两方面，并且有一天与他们重返叙利亚，让他们亲眼看到叙利亚“丰富灿烂的历史”。

他说：“[世界上有]太多的战争，太多的仇恨。我不想让他们变成那样。我希望他们能成为这个世界上积极的力量。”

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Mohamed Khairullah decided to run for local office in the U.S. one year after becoming a U.S. citizen. (© VOA/Ramon Taylor)

When Syrian native Mohamed Khairullah settled in the small American town of Prospect Park, New Jersey, in 1991, he did not envision he would one day become its mayor. He was only in the 11th grade at the time.

Prior to the United States, Khairullah’s life was about escaping conflict. In 1980, during the first uprising against then-president of Syria Hafez al-Assad, 5-year-old Khairullah and his family fled Syria to Saudi Arabia. Eleven years later, following the first Gulf War, they moved again — this time to the U.S.

Each time Khairullah moved, he experienced culture shock. But his move to the U.S. was unlike anything else.

“I had to get accustomed to a non–Middle Eastern culture, learn a new language, so it was extremely challenging, but I think it helped shape me into who I am,” Khairullah said.

He remembers stepping into a classroom with girls for the first time. “That was … oh my god! It’s amazing!”

There also were aspects of the New Jersey town that reminded him of home. One day, while walking to high school, he recalls passing a political sign with an Arabic name on it, a moment, he says, that “planted a seed” for the leadership role he would one day assume.

Entering American politics

Khairullah says Prospect Park — population 6,000, 35 kilometers from New York City’s Manhattan — has long been a welcoming community for immigrants. When he applied to be a volunteer firefighter in 1994, the town changed its ordinance to allow non–U.S. citizens to become members.

“Being a volunteer fireman is something that I always wanted to do, but in Saudi Arabia if you are not a citizen, you just can’t do it,” Khairullah said. “So [here], I was able to do what I was always passionate about.”

The idea of entering local politics came from other volunteer firefighters, who encouraged Khairullah to run. So in 2001, he did precisely that, exactly one year after becoming a U.S. citizen. “One thing led to another,” he said.

He wanted to give back to his community, a trait he describes as common among Muslim Americans.

Now in his third full term, Khairullah represents a town with an approximate 15 percent combined Arab and Muslim population.

His Instagram profile perhaps synthesizes who he is best: “An American mayor who happens to be a Muslim.”

Returning to Syria

Khairullah has never forgotten his past. He has made a point to return regularly to Syria for humanitarian relief missions. Seven times since the Syrian war began, he has returned to provide food and supplies to schools and hospitals in need. Recently, he helped establish an underground hospital in Aleppo on behalf of the Syrian American Medical Society, a foundation that has treated 2.6 million patients in the region, including 320,000 refugees.

Together with his wife — who he met in Syria — and three children, Khairullah’s family speaks Arabic at home and English outside, so his kids can be proficient in both languages. His goal for his children, he says, is to expose them to the world, both good and bad, and one day return to Syria with them, so that they may witness its “rich, beautiful history.”

“[There are] too many wars, too much hate. I don’t want that to come out of them,” he said. “I want them to be the positive agents in this world.”