Imam Talib Shareef, leader of The Nation’s Mosque, Masjid Muhammad, the oldest Muslim community located in the Nation’s capital dating back to the mid 1930s, released the following comments in response to the president’s remarks at the Islamic Society of Baltimore.
We are highly encouraged by and see healing for our nation in the president’s remarks. In the spirit of American’s founding fathers, of universal kinship, universal principles, concern for the life and betterment of mankind and our nation, he delivered the right message, at the right time, and in the right place. The right message being about our unity, that Muslims are Americans, as he stated, “We’re one American family. And when any part of our family starts to feel separate or second-class or targeted, it tears at the very fabric of our nation.” “…Islam has always been part of America. Starting in colonial times, many of the slaves brought here from Africa were Muslim. And even in their bondage, some kept their faith alive. A few even won their freedom and became known to many Americans. And when enshrining the freedom of religion in our Constitution and our Bill of Rights, our Founders meant what they said when they said it applied to all religions.” “…Generations of Muslim Americans helped to build our nation.”
Regardless to adjective, we’re citizens of these United States, which as a life, as a nation has given us our growth. His message comes at a time when our unity, principles and core values as a nation are being undermined, at a time when our citizens, members of this great society are worried, being targeted, attacked verbally and physically, and as we’ve witnessed in some cases their lives taken. And at the onset of an election year many are shocked hearing the irresponsible or as he states, “inexcusable political rhetoric against Muslim Americans.”
And it was the right place, in a mosque. A place of worship frequented daily by Muslims for solace, prayers, guidance and community support. A place of reflection on our establishment as a “nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. A place of reflection on our common life and identity as sisters and brothers in the human family of Adam and the faith family of Abraham. In that space, he gave a compliment to the inherent goodness of the human soul and the common values shared by so many Muslims, Christians, Jews and other Americans. He said, “We are all God’s children. We’re all born equal, with inherent dignity. And so often, we focus on our outward differences and we forget how much we share. Christians, Jews, Muslims — we’re all, under our faiths, descendants of Abraham. So mere tolerance of different religions is not enough. Our faiths summon us to embrace our common humanity. “O mankind,” the Koran teaches, we have “made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. So all of us have the task of expressing our religious faith in a way that seeks to build bridges rather than to divide.”
“..as Americans, we have to stay true to our core values, and that includes freedom of religion for all faiths. And so if we’re serious about freedom of religion — and I’m speaking now to my fellow Christians who remain the majority in this country — we have to understand an attack on one faith is an attack on all our faiths. And when any religious group is targeted, we all have a responsibility to speak up. And we have to reject a politics that seeks to manipulate prejudice or bias, and targets people because of religion.”
For the President to choose a house of worship for Muslims to deliver such an important message to our nation, is a clear statement to Muslims and all Americans that, as he stated, “We can’t be bystanders to bigotry. And together, we’ve got to show that America truly protects all faiths.”
And he noted that Muslims are on the front lines protecting all faiths, all lives, and our way of life. He said, “Muslim Americans keep us safe. They’re our police and our firefighters. They’re in homeland security, in our intelligence community. They serve honorably in our armed forces — meaning they fight and bleed and die for our freedom. Some rest in Arlington National Cemetery. So Muslim Americans are some of the most resilient and patriotic Americans you’ll ever meet. We’re honored to have some of our proud Muslim American service members here today.” Then he asked them to stand, “so we can thank you for your service.”
I, a 30 year retired United States Air Force member, received an invitation to attend along with my daughter, who is currently a noncommissioned officer serving in the United States Air Force. It was a proud moment for me to be there with her, both she and I, holding up the American Flag, and remembering the one called, “America’s Imam”, Imam W. Deen Mohammed. He, with his own hands picked up the American Flag and put it over his shoulders, and said that we have an obligation to serve and defense OUR society. He gave us, Muslim Americans, at a time when it wasn’t popular, the right perception of our country that our religion gives us. Upon that perception, that duty, My daughter and I, along with so many take serious the obligation to support, defend and protect our nation, our home, the country we love, this land were our fathers and mothers died or died for.
My daughter, who has three children, will pass the presidents words to them, “…If you’re ever wondering whether you fit in here, let me say it as clearly as I can, as President of the United States: You fit in here — right here. You’re right where you belong. You’re part of America, too. You’re not Muslim or American. You’re Muslim and American.”