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Megha Cherian

By Megha Cherian

Citizenship

Obama is visiting an American mosque for the first time, why this matters

In a time of increasing anti-Muslim rhetoric, Obama sends an important message.

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Megha Cherian

By Megha Cherian

US President Barack Obama is visiting an American mosque for the first time in his presidency. The visit is part of an ongoing effort to address Islamophobia and religious intolerance in the US.

According to a White House statement, the president will visit the Islamic Society of Baltimore, located in Catonsville, Maryland, on Wednesday.

A visit to another religion’s place of worship isn’t the first for Obama, who is a Protestant Christian. He also visited a synagogue in May of last year.

The purpose of the mosque visit is to “celebrate the contributions Muslim Americans make to our nation and reaffirm the importance of religious freedom to our way of life,” said a White House official.

Muslims are an important minority community in the US, with over 3.3 million Americans identifying as members.

In his last year in office, President Obama is appealing to Americans to reject growing anti-Muslim sentiments.

Anti-Muslim comments have become common in this year’s presidential election, mostly spurred by Republican candidates such as Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Trump has openly called for a complete ban on Muslims entering the country, while Cruz has suggested Muslim refugees should not be allowed to seek asylum in the US.

The Republican political discourse against Muslims is arguably worse than ever before. Even Obama’s predecessor, President Bush, visited a mosque after 9/11 to say “Islam is a religion of peace.”

Obama’s message of peace and tolerance is very relevant in the aftermath of the Iowa Caucus. In a poll of Iowa voters, over half of Republicans believed that Islam should not be legal in the US.

This trend points to a rise in Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate crimes over the past year. After last year’s terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, hate crimes against Muslims have tripled. 38 crimes have been reported so far, including acts of vandalism and physical attacks.

The Obama administration has since met with Muslim and Sikh American leaders to discuss how to stop the backlash (Sikhs are also targeted in hate crimes because they’re often mistaken for being Muslim).  

Reactions to the planned mosque visit have been mixed.

Conservative media are already linking the Baltimore mosque to terrorists.

Obama's decision to visit the mosque has symbolic meaning. When the most powerful American visits a pillar of the Muslim community, it challenges the notion that Islam does not belong in America.

With this visit, he "will reiterate the importance of staying true to our core values: welcoming our fellow Americans, speaking out against bigotry, rejecting indifference and protecting our nation's tradition of religious freedom," the White House said.

World leaders like Obama can set the tone on how people around the world regard Muslims. More fundamentally, his attitude of inclusiveness and respect is something all global citizens should follow.

TopicsCitizenshipReligionBarack ObamaUnited States
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