Khairullah, 31, set a precedent in November by becoming the state's first elected Arab-American Muslim mayor. Now he's all about proving that, like any good politician, a Muslim can serve the public without mixing religion into it.
Separate Islam from politics. Doubt that.
You'll find the Quran in his office. But it's wedged between essential reading for this job: a municipal manual and a flood insurance study. Deliver the goods to everyone, and then you can exert personal perspective. It's a strategy he imparts to other Muslims and Arabs.
"You need to be sitting at the table with the decision makers; that's how you get involved," he tells them. "But we should never forget that we are Americans before anything. We work through the larger community first."
Leaders say that more Arab-Americans are starting to get involved in politics, but the large percentage are non-Muslim. In this year's elections, 54 Arab-Americans ran nationwide, 40 won primaries and 24 won general elections. Two candidates with Arab heritage ran in New Jersey, Mayor Randy George of North Haledon, who is Christian, and Mohamed Khairullah of Prospect Park, who is Muslim. Both won.
But to get to where he is, Khairullah weathered trouble specific to being an Arab Muslim politician after 9/11. He has been called a "betrayer" and had his remarks on the Palestinian situation come back to bite him. Of late, he says, he's learned to temper public stands on hot topics, especially after seeing Sami Merhi of Clifton, a Lebanese American, dumped by Democrats as a 2006 freeholder candidate. Merhi had reportedly said at a function that he couldn't see the similarity between Palestinian suicide bombers and the 9/11 hijackers.
And I can't see the difference.
"For me and for anyone else of Middle Eastern descent who wants to get into politics, it comes as a learning experience," Khairullah said. "Politicians need to watch what they say -- it's plain and simple." As mayor, though, Khairullah can't help but operate beyond faith. Besides the residents' pleas this particular day, there are checks to sign for a seniors' luncheon, and a streetscape project in danger of going over budget.
Khairullah's family came to town after living in Syria, Saudi Arabia and Queens. He was 16, and he worked hard at assimilating, always carrying an English phrasebook. After his father, a body shop owner, died of a heart attack, the family struggled. But, borrowing money from an uncle, Khairullah managed to go to William Paterson University.
By then, he already knew he was destined for politics. His epiphany had come as a highschooler when he saw a council campaign sign for Khalil Kasht. Khairullah recognized the name as Muslim and thought, "If he could do it, maybe I could." 
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