Washington(CNN) Sajid Tarar, like many Donald Trump supporters, appreciates the unconventional Republican presidential candidate's strong stances on security, illegal immigration and political correctness.
Tarar, a Muslim, downplays the GOP front-runner's less-than-flattering comments about his faith as having been "twisted" and is pushing ahead with his effort to get the billionaire businessman elected. He recently founded the group American Muslims for Trump to that end.
Though adherents of Islam have found themselves under scrutiny from Trump, who has called for banning Muslim foreigners from the U.S., exploring a possible Muslim registry and monitoring mosques, there is a fervent minority of Muslims who are backing the controversial Republican front-runner, who is increasingly on track to become the party's nominee.
Sajid Tarar, a 52-year-old businessman who hosted an American Muslims for Trump event in his Baltimore home, is pictured with Donald Trump.
"It is high time to deal head on with the issues of terrorism emanating from the Muslim world and illegal immigration, as we cannot afford to push these issues under the rug (because of) the political correctness plaguing our system," Tarar, a 52-year-old businessman, told CNN while hosting an American Muslims for Trump event in his Baltimore home.
Concerns about terrorism
As a father of four, Tarar is concerned about the safety of his family in the wake of terror attack in San Bernardino, California. As an immigrant from Pakistan, he supports a strong vetting process for newcomers, "where people come legally and live the American dream instead of coming from the troubled areas and bringing the same things with them."
Trump has proposed to build a wall across U.S-Mexican border, called for doing away with automatically granting citizenship to people born in U.S and deporting illegal immigrants to secure the borders. On the campaign trail, he has also bluntly called for stopping any plan to accept Syrian refugees in the light of security concerns.
And Tarar, who runs a health care and social services center, also draws hope from the real estate mogul's business credentials.
To him, "Only a smaller government, pro-business policy and the fiscal policy of Trump can bail the country out of the current economic mess."
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Tarar is not alone among Muslims in approving of Trump.
Gallup tracking polls conducted from July through March found that 13% of Muslims have a favorable opinion of the billionaire businessman.
Robert S. McCaw, government affairs manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, identified
Trump's name recognition among Muslim Republican voters and his leading status among GOP presidential candidates as explanations for this esteem.
"CAIR believes most of Trump's Muslim supporters tend to vote with their wallets and are more attracted to his economic proposals, lower taxes for private business owners, sidestepping any concern they might have about his Islamophobic rhetoric," McCaw said.
Though a majority of Muslims are Democrats -- Pew in 2011 found that 70% of American Muslims identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party -- a minority have long identified with the GOP because of the party's stance on the economy and social issues.
Economic priorities
"The current support wave (for the) Republican Party among some Muslims is partly driven by their conservative social streak that is more aligned with the party and partly due to the economic reason," said Robert S. McCaw, government affairs manager for CAIR.
Some Muslim Republicans see the GOP as a venue for preserving their values and norms, which are more in congruence with the Republican than Democratic Party.
"Republicans are very much pro-life, anti-abortion and believe in family values, traditional marriage, unlike the Democrats who are very strong on abortion, LGBT community rights, which are non-Islamic," said Saba Ahmed, a Trump backer and founder of the Republican Muslim Coalition, an advocacy group in Washington.
Donald Trump's rise
President-elect Donald Trump has been in the spotlight for years. From developing real estate and producing and starring in TV shows, he became a celebrity long before winning the White House.
Trump at age 4. He was born in 1946 to Fred and Mary Trump in New York City. His father was a real estate developer.
Trump, left, in a family photo. He was the second-youngest of five children.
Trump, center, stands at attention during his senior year at the New York Military Academy in 1964.
Trump, center, wears a baseball uniform at the New York Military Academy in 1964. After he graduated from the boarding school, he went to college. He started at Fordham University before transferring and later graduating from the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania's business school.
Trump stands with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York's economic development administrator, in 1976 while they look at a sketch of a new 1,400-room renovation project of the Commodore Hotel. After graduating college in 1968, Trump worked with his father on developments in Queens and Brooklyn before purchasing or building multiple properties in New York and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Those properties included Trump Tower in New York and Trump Plaza and multiple casinos in Atlantic City.
Trump attends an event to mark the start of construction of the New York Convention Center in 1979.
Trump wears a hard hat at the Trump Tower construction site in New York in 1980.
Trump was married to Ivana Zelnicek Trump from 1977 to 1990, when they divorced. They had three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric.
The Trump family, circa 1986.
Trump uses his personal helicopter to get around New York in 1987.
Trump stands in the atrium of the Trump Tower.
Trump attends the opening of his new Atlantic City casino, the Taj Mahal, in 1989.
Trump signs his second book, "Trump: Surviving at the Top," in 1990. Trump
has published at least 16 other books, including "The Art of the Deal" and "The America We Deserve."
Trump and singer Michael Jackson pose for a photo before traveling to visit Ryan White, a young child with AIDS, in 1990.
Trump dips his second wife, Marla Maples, after the couple married in a private ceremony in New York in December 1993. The couple divorced in 1999 and had one daughter together, Tiffany.
Trump putts a golf ball in his New York office in 1998.
An advertisement for the television show "The Apprentice" hangs at Trump Tower in 2004. The show launched in January of that year. In January 2008, the show returned as "Celebrity Apprentice."
A 12-inch talking Trump doll is on display at a toy store in New York in September 2004.
Trump attends a news conference in 2005 that announced the establishment of Trump University. From 2005 until it closed in 2010, Trump University had about 10,000 people sign up for a program that promised success in real estate.
Three separate lawsuits -- two class-action suits filed in California and one filed by New York's attorney general -- argued that the program was mired in fraud and deception. Trump's camp rejected the suits' claims as "baseless." And Trump has charged that the New York case against him is politically motivated.
Trump attends the U.S. Open tennis tournament with his third wife, Melania Knauss-Trump, and their son, Barron, in 2006. Trump and Knauss married in 2005.
Trump wrestles with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania in 2007. Trump has close ties with the WWE and its CEO, Vince McMahon.
For "The Apprentice," Trump was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2007.
Trump appears on the set of "The Celebrity Apprentice" with two of his children -- Donald Jr. and Ivanka -- in 2009.
Trump poses with Miss Universe contestants in 2011. Trump had been executive producer of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants since 1996.
In 2012, Trump announces his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Trump speaks in Sarasota, Florida, after accepting the Statesman of the Year Award at the Sarasota GOP dinner in August 2012. It was shortly before the Republican National Convention in nearby Tampa.
Trump appears on stage with singer Nick Jonas and television personality Giuliana Rancic during the 2013 Miss USA pageant.
Trump -- flanked by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, left, and Ted Cruz -- speaks during a CNN debate in Miami on March 10. Trump dominated the GOP primaries and emerged as the presumptive nominee in May.
The Trump family poses for a photo in New York in April.
Trump speaks during a campaign event in Evansville, Indiana, on April 28. After Trump won the Indiana primary, his last two competitors dropped out of the GOP race.
Trump delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in July, accepting the party's nomination for President. "I have had a truly great life in business," he said. "But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country -- to go to work for you. It's time to deliver a victory for the American people."
Trump apologizes in a video, posted to his Twitter account in October, for vulgar and sexually aggressive remarks he made a decade ago regarding women. "I said it, I was wrong and I apologize,"
Trump said, referring to lewd comments he made during a previously unaired taping of "Access Hollywood." Multiple Republican leaders rescinded their endorsements of Trump after the footage was released.
Trump walks on stage with his family after he was declared the election winner on November 9. "Ours was not a campaign, but rather, an incredible and great movement," he told his supporters in New York.
Trump is joined by his family as he is sworn in as President on January 20.
Though chagrined at Trump's remarks about Muslims, she is willing to live with Trump's nomination as she finds it harder to reconcile with the more liberal Democratic Party.
"I feel hurt by Trump's hatred towards Islam and Muslims. He made us feel like unwelcomed second-class citizens in our own country. Somehow he thinks our religion makes us less American," she said. "But we must help him figure things out. Otherwise he will remain ignorant about Islam."
Ahmed has extended an invitation to Trump and expects to host him at a mosque or at the Republican Muslim Coalition.
Many Muslims concerned
And Trump himself recently offered an olive branch of sorts to Muslim allies of the United States, making rare remarks Wednesday pointing to the ways in which the U.S. can have constructive relations with the Muslim world.
"We're going to be working very closely with our friends in the Muslim world, which are all at risk for violent attacks," he said in a major foreign policy address in Washington.
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But many Muslim Republicans dislike Trump and are troubled by his success in the primary race.
One is Sherine Elabd, an Egyptian immigrant and lifelong Republican. She described the GOP as "a party of inclusion, whereas Trump's stand for his way or (the) highway" is "totally inconsistent with the ideals of Ronald Reagan Party."
She said, "This would be the first time since the 1970s that I would not vote for the Republican Party because of Trump's unpresidential persona, if he goes on to secure the nomination."
On reflection, however, she thought she should stick with her traditional party.
"I would vote for Hillary Clinton over my dead body," she said.