begin quote from:
Washington
(CNN)An imam who had been expected to deliver the Islamic call to
prayer at an interfaith religious service for President Donald Trump
instead recited two verses from the Quran that contained clear political
…
Imam delivers message to Trump at inaugural service
Imam Mohamed Magid will lead a prayer at an inaugural event on Saturday.
Washington (CNN)An
imam who had been expected to deliver the Islamic call to prayer at an
interfaith religious service for President Donald Trump instead recited
two verses from the Quran that contained clear political messages for
the new president and his administration.
Imam
Mohamed Magid, executive director of the All Dulles Area Muslim
Society, is a well-known figure in Washington, but he had been sharply
criticized by fellow Muslims agreeing to take part in the event Saturday
at Washington National Cathedral.
Magid
was one of 26 religious leaders from a diverse array of faiths to
participate in the service, an inaugural tradition since George
Washington. The event's program said Magid would recite the "Muslim call
to prayer," leading some to believe he would intone the adhan, the melodic call to worship that issues forth from many mosques five times a day.
Instead,
the imam chose two passages from the Quran with clear political
implications, especially at a time when many American Muslims feel
marginalized and mistrusted.
Addressing
the capitol's power brokers, including Trump's family and Vice
President Michael Pence, Magid read first in Arabic and then provided an
English translation.
The first verse he read was from Surah Al-Hujarat, in which God says:
"O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made
you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most
noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you."
The second verse he read was from Surah Ar-Rum:
"And
of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the
diversity of your languages and your colors. Indeed in that are signs
for those who have knowledge."
A
spokesman for Magid said his recitation of the verses had been approved
by officials at the Washington National Cathedral and Trump's inaugural
committee.
"After the election,
when a lot of things were said about Muslims, and there were questions
about Muslims' loyalty, these verses were intended to convey the message
that we must come together and respect diversity -- that God made us
this way," said Rizwan Jaka, board chairman at the All Dulles Area
Muslim Society."
Like Magid, the
Episcopal church had been criticized for hosting and praying with Trump,
whose campaign included harsh and divisive language about Muslims,
Mexicans and women.
The Very Rev.
Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of the cathedral, also chose a prayer
that spoke to the country's harsh political climate, asking God to
"break down the walls that separate us" and "take away the arrogance and
hatred which infect our hearts."
Praying with the president
For years, Magid has been a familiar face at interfaith and government events in Washington.
He
has met with former President Barack Obama to discuss fatherhood and
hosted members of Obama's administration at the large complex of Islamic
centers Magid leads in Northern Virginia. Last year, the FBI gave that complex,
the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, a community leadership award for
strengthening ties between local Muslims and law enforcement.
From
2010-14, Magid led the Islamic Society of North America, whose
conferences draw thousands of Muslims each year, and the genial
Sudanese-American regularly makes the list of the world's 500 most influential Muslims.
But some American Muslims criticized Magid for agreeing to take part in the National Prayer Service with Trump.
Many
American Muslims have accused Trump of stoking suspicion about their
religion by saying "Islam hates us," proposing a registry to monitor
Muslims and pledging, at one time, to bar Muslims from entering the
United States. (That plan may be modified to "extreme vetting," Trump's
team says.) The president's new National Security Adviser, retired Lt.
Gen. Michael Flynn, has called Islam a "cancer."
Before
Saturday's service, Hussam Ayloush, who heads the Council of
American-Islamic Relations' Los Angeles chapter, compared Trump to the
proverbial emperor without any clothes and urged Magid not to "hand him a towel."
"In
the face of unreluctant and unrepentant defamation and animosity toward
Islam and Muslims (and many other communities) by this Trump team, a
symbolic participation that does not involve any opportunity to preach
or make a statement does not qualify as engaging or correcting the
wrongdoers, but rather enabling them and providing them with a token
cover for their bigotry," Ayloush said in a statement.
Ayloush
also said that Magid's role in the prayer service "undermines the
courageous and principled activism of so many Muslims and allies" who
have challenged Trump's rhetoric and proposals.
In
response, Magid said the role of religious leaders is "to share the
truth and values of Islam to everyone, including those in power. "
"Do
not assume that the efforts to engage those who have misconceptions of
Islam are in any way contradictory to other efforts to influence public
opinion," the imam said. "Rather they go hand in hand."
Muslim-Americans
need to share their message both through public protests and private
meetings with government officials, Magid said, implying that the
Prophet Mohammed would agree.
"Many
people came to do harm to Prophet Mohammed, and after engagement and
getting to know him they changed their mind in a positive manner."
No comments:
Post a Comment