The couple received international attention following a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention that criticized Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Khizr Khan was born in 1950, the eldest of ten children, to poultry farming parents in Gujranwala, a city in Pakistan's Punjab Province.

Upon graduating in 2000, he was commissioned in the Army as a way to earn money for law school and because, according to Khizr, Humayun "felt that ROTC had completed him as a person, and he wanted to give back.

[14] Starting in 2005, Khizr began carrying pocket constitutions with him, which he would read from and give to University of Virginia ROTC cadets.

[5] On July 28, the final day of the convention, Khizr, accompanied by Ghazala, gave a speech about Humayun, during which he harshly criticized Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump.

[17][19][21][23]When Khizr offered to lend Trump his copy of the Constitution, he pulled a small version of the document from his pocket, holding it up and gesturing with it, in what the Washington Post called the most memorable image from the convention.

[30] A year later, The Guardian's Simon Hattenstone called it "a defining image" of the election, which "remains the most eloquent response to Trump's bigotry.

"[5] New York magazine's Andrew Sullivan declared the speech "the fulcrum of this election," and one minute after it had ended, a spike in searches for "register to vote" was seen on Google.

Trump began by suggesting that Hillary Clinton's campaign staff had written the speech (according to Khizr, they wrote it themselves),[26] and said, "I think I've made a lot of sacrifices ...

[37] Trump also remarked on Ghazala's presence on stage, implying a connection between her silence and gender roles in Islam: "If you look at his wife, she was standing there.

[41][42][43] In an interview on Morning Joe the day after the op-ed was published, she added, "All Muslim women have very strong opinions if they have to talk to their husbands they can say anything they like to.

[19][21] Prominently, Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, who Khizr says was a hero to Humayun,[46] issued a statement about what he called his "most severe disagreement" with Trump, saying "While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.

[52] The organization Veterans of Foreign Wars issued a statement saying, "Election year or not, the VFW will not tolerate anyone berating a Gold Star family member for exercising his or her right of speech or expression.

"[21] The Jewish War Veterans of the United States said that Trump was worthy of "contempt" and said that his remarks on Ghazala Khan were "vile beyond words.

[56][57][58] On August 4, a group of protesters at a Trump rally in Portland, Maine, were ejected after standing among the seated attendees and silently holding up pocket Constitutions.

[1] On September 3, the Khans were special guests at the Islamic Society of North America convention in Rosemont, Illinois, where they both spoke.

"[60] Khizr made one other high-profile appearance before the election on October 21, 2016, when the Hillary Clinton campaign released a 60-second television ad featuring Khizr Khan at home, showing the viewer pictures and mementos while telling the story of Humayun's sacrifice, and his voice wells up as he concludes, "I want to ask Mr. Trump: Would my son have a place in your America?

[68] On August 18, 2020, Khan appeared on video as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention to announce the votes of Virginia for Joe Biden.

[5] In the New York Times Book Review, Linda Chavez said it "can teach all of us what real American patriotism looks like" and called it "a wonderful refutation of Trump's nativism and bigotry" without becoming a "partisan polemic".

[76] Alyssa Rosenberg wrote in The Washington Post that the memoir is "a small but lovely immigrant's journey" which successfully avoids "Trump outbursts".