TELL US: WHAT CONTRIBUTION HAS ISLAM MADE TO AMERICAN LIFE?

Obama hosts dinner for Islamic holy month

By ANN SANNER (AP)

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday praised American Muslims for enriching the nation's culture at a dinner to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

"The contribution of Muslims to the United States are too long to catalog because Muslims are so interwoven into the fabric of our communities and our country," Obama said at the iftar, the dinner that breaks the holiday's daily fast.

The president joined Cabinet secretaries, members of the diplomatic corps and lawmakers to pay tribute to what he called "a great religion and its commitment to justice and progress."

Attendees included Congress' two Muslim members — Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and Andre Carson, D-Ind., as well as ambassadors from Islamic nations and Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren.

Obama shared the story of Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, another invited guest, who broke a state record for most career points as a Massachusetts high school student.

"As an honor student, as an athlete on her way to Memphis, Bilqis is an inspiration not simply to Muslim girls — she's an inspiration to all of us," he said.

Obama also noted the contributions of Muhammad Ali, who was not in attendance, though the president borrowed a quote from famous boxer, explaining religion.

"A few years ago," Obama said, "he explained this view — and this is part of why he's The Greatest — saying, 'Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams — they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do — they all contain truths."

Ramadan, a monthlong period of prayer, reflection and sunrise-to-sunset fasts, began Aug. 22 in most of the Islamic world. It is believed that God began revealing the Quran to Muhammad during Ramadan, and the faithful are supposed to spend the month in religious reflection, prayer and remembrance of the poor.

White House dinners marking the holy month are nothing new. Former President George W. Bush held iftars during his eight years in office.

Obama has made a special effort since taking office to repair U.S. relations with the world's Muslims, including visits to Turkey and Cairo. In a June speech at the Egyptian capital, as well as in one to another important Muslim audience, in Turkey, Obama said: "America is not — and never will be — at war with Islam."

Obama also released a video message to Muslims before the start to Ramadan. In the video, he said Ramadan's rituals are a reminder of the principles Muslims and Christians have in common, including advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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The Ramadan dinner at the White House

Ethel C. Fenig - Sep 02, 2009
American Thinker

President Barack Obama (D) worked very hard on his official vacation on Martha`s Vineyard, reappointing Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chairman and speaking at the late Senator Edward Kennedy`s (D-MA) funeral.

So now he`s off to Camp David for an extended Labor Day week end break. OK, he deserves it. But in between his vacations he managed to sandwich in hosting a White House dinner for the Muslim month of Ramadan, when Muslims believe Muhammad received the Koran. There is a long tradition of presidential dinners acknowledging important holidays or anniversaries of the various religions and ethnicities in this country.

Speaking to the Muslims, government leaders and other invited guests at the dinner, Obama celebrated ,"how much Muslims have enriched America and its culture -- in ways both large and small."

Some excerpts.

One of those values is the freedom to practice your religion -- a right that is enshrined in the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. Nashala Hearn, who joins us from Muskogee, Okla., took a stand for that right at an early age. When her school district told her that she couldn`t wear the hijab, she protested that it was a part of her religion.

The Department of Justice stood behind her, and she won her right to practice her faith. She even traveled to Washington to testify before Congress. Her words spoke to a tolerance that is far greater than mistrust -- when she first wore her headscarf to school, she said, "I received compliments from the other kids."


Good for the Department of Justice. However--and understandably--Obama did not mention the case of Rifqa Bary, the American teen ager born to Muslim immigrant parents who fled her home, fearing her parents would kill her after her conversion to Christianity.

In 150 generations in family, no one has known Jesus. I am the first -- imagine the honor in killing me? There is great honor in that, because if they love Allah more than me, they have to do it. It`s in the Koran. I`m fighting for my life. You guys don`t understand. ... I want to worship Jesus freely, that`s what I want. I don`t want to die."


Yes, it is understandable that parents would be deeply pained when their beloved child rejects a deeply held philosophy, a way of life they cherish and adopts another. But to kill her for that? But honor killings are a part of the culture of Muslim countries, apparently a tradition some have imported here.

And as for freedom to practice your religion--just try being a Christian or a Bahai or a Jew or a Hindu in Saudi Arabia. Other Muslim countries allow limited religious freedom to others--as long as the practioners realize they are dhimmis, scorned, second class citizens subject to onerous restrictions.

In America, Muslims have carried out numerous attacks against Jews and their institutions.

Together, we have a responsibility to foster engagement grounded in mutual interest and mutual respect. And that`s one of my fundamental commitments as president, both at home and abroad. That is central to the new beginning that I`ve sought between the United States and Muslims around the world. And that is a commitment that we can renew once again during this holy season.


Yes, we most certainly do "have a responsibility to foster engagement grounded in mutual interest and mutual respect." The key word though, is mutual. So far it has been one sided--the other side hasn`t reciprocated much but rejected much. Perhaps Muslims can renew this mutual interest and respect "during this holy season" for them.

So tonight, we celebrate a great religion and its commitment to justice and progress.

No comment.

But to Muslims, happy Ramadan. And enjoy your American freedoms.