President Barack Obama visited the Islamic Society of Baltimore, a 47-year-old mosque with thousands of attendees, Obama plans to herald the contributions of Muslims to American society while issuing a forceful counterpoint to the language favored by…
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Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States after a California couple who killed 14 people last December were described by authorities as radicalized Muslims inspired by Islamic State militants.
Turning to extremist groups such as Islamic State and what he characterised as perverted versions of Islam portrayed by them, Mr Obama urged regular Muslims to “show who you are”.
Pushing back at critics who say he should talk about “Islamic terrorists”, he said that, “We shouldn’t play into terrorist propaganda”. “Thank you for serving your community, thank you for lifting up the lives of your neighbors and for helping keep us strong and united as one American family”.
“We have to reject a politics that seeks to manipulate prejudice or bias, and targets people because of religion”, Obama said, praising American Muslims and their role in USA history.
Before his remarks, Obama met with Muslim community leaders, including Imam Yaseen Shaikh, a resident scholar at the society, and Ibtihaj Muhammad, a member of the United States fencing team and the first Muslim woman to represent the country in global fencing, according to the White House. “We’ve seen mosques vandalized”. “Generations of Muslim Americans helped to build our nation”. Obama, a Christian, was born in Hawaii.
“The notion that they would be filled with doubt, questioning their place in this great country of ours at a time when they’ve got enough to worry about”.
If there ever was a moment when Muslims in America found their very own Defender of the Faith, they found him today – speaking plainly at a mosque in Baltimore.
Hate crimes against American Muslims have tripled since the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, including incidents where vandals have thrown bacon and even a severed pig’s head at mosques. The survey noted that while many Americans were concerned about Islamic extremism, most people think the problem with violence committed in the name of religion is with people rather than with religion per se. “I don’t know, maybe he feels comfortable there”, Trump told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren. “It came late,”he said, “but at least it came”.
“This is what some of our candidates who are out there, who want to be president, should be aware of”.
In a moment of levity, the president also jokingly drew a parallel to himself and American founding father Thomas Jefferson.
For student Mohammad Abou-Ghazala, it is not what the president says, but what his government does that matters.
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“This is a struggle between the peace-loving overwhelming majority of Muslims around the world and a radical tiny minority”, he said. “Sikh Americans and others who are perceived to be Muslims have been targeted, as well”.
