For most of his presidency, Barack Obama declined to visit an Islamic place of worship in the US. But calls by some Republican presidential candidates, most prominently Donald Trump, to bar all Muslims from entering the country and to impose religious tests on refugees, seem to have stirred Obama into action after seven years of ignoring appeals from American Muslims to visit a mosque.
So, in a public show of support for Muslim Americans, Obama visited a mosque in the US on Wednesday, in Baltimore, for the first time since becoming president. Scheduling such a visit has proven tricky for Obama who nearly one in three Americans believe to be a closet Muslim himself. There’s nothing wrong with being a Muslim, except that Obama is a Christian.
Obama’s visit comes amid growing Islamophobia in the US. First there were the horrific terror attacks in Paris, then San Bernardino. Those events on their own stirred up anti-Muslim sentiment. At the same time came Obama’s decision to allow tens of thousands of Syrian refugees into the US. Republican politicians running for president cranked up the hate to alarming levels. For example, Trump has made banning all Muslims from entering the US and warrantless surveillance of American Muslims who live in the US a cornerstone of his campaign. The message he’s sending is that every Muslim is a potential threat to the nation.
This has the effect of making American Muslims feel as if their acceptance in American society is conditional, and it feeds into the message that American Muslims are presumed guilty of somehow perpetuating violent extremism until proven otherwise.
Several US politicians and media outlets like Fox News smear Muslims as much as possible with the goal being to marginalize them from every aspect of American society. When you combine fear of Muslims with the hateful words of these politicians and news organizations, it yields a dangerous mixture that could be deadly. That’s one of the main reasons Obama has chosen now “to celebrate the contributions Muslim Americans make to our nation and reaffirm the importance of religious freedom to our way of life”.
The fact that Muslims were in America before it was even created – 15 percent of the slaves were Muslims – and yet are still simply trying to be seen as part of the American fabric is astounding. Citing instances of “inexcusable political rhetoric against Muslim Americans that have no place in our country,” Obama sought to show solidarity with a community that has been thrust into the campaign debate over national security. Obama’s visit sent a message that American Muslims are part of the American fabric.
The hope is that the visit can help foster understanding at a time when the US is seeing an alarming spike in anti-Muslim rhetoric and hate crimes. Typically there are 12 anti-Muslim hate crimes a month in the US, according to the FBI. However, after the Nov. 18 Paris attack, there were close to 40 in the six weeks that followed.
Obama has visited mosques in other countries, so one more visit, to a mosque in the US, should be viewed no differently. But the climate there has become so toxic and hateful recently that it has reached danger levels. He might also have felt that now that he’s at the end of his presidency he can safely express support for Muslims without suffering political consequences. But the fact that this is even a consideration he would have to make shows why this visit was so important.
Ultimately, this has never been a more challenging time for Muslim Americans. Obama’s visit was a powerful affirmation that Muslims belong in the US and that saying or acting otherwise is a betrayal of everything America stands for.
