Using Islamophobia to discredit Obama is shameful

DawudWalid Leave a Comment
Sun & News (Hastings, Michigan)
October 5, 2013

Using Islamophobia to discredit Obama is shameful;  From Our Readers Local Citizens Speak Out On Issues
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 7
LENGTH: 451 words

To the editor: A letter printed in the September 28 edition of the Sun & News titled “Who is running America?” which was critical of President Obama is riddled with numerous fallacies about Islam.
The Qur’an encourages freedom of thought and good relations with people of various persuasions, not conversion through force nor wanton violence against any religious group. The Qur’an clearly says in chapter 2, verse 256, “Let there be no compulsion in religion, for right guidance is clear from error.” It also says in chapter 5, verse 32 that whoever kills a soul is like killing all of humankind and whoever saves a life is like saving humanity.
A cursory reading of the Qur’an will also show that the vast majority of verses provide spiritual inspiration, parables and stories of prophets such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus Christ. Few verses in the Qur’an are of legalistic nature such as avoiding consumption of pork and alcohol to inheritance rules. Sharia, which means path towards faithfulness, is not a strict codex of laws, which the author misrepresents, nor are American Muslims lobbying to have Islam become the law of the land.
Furthermore, that President Obama, a Christian, has surrounded himself with Muslim Brotherhood members is an unfounded Islamophobic meme. Huma Abedin, for instance, who was an aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and wife to Anthony Weiner, who is Jewish, passed strict security clearances in order to have her job and served our country with honor. Congressman Michelle Bachman, R-Minnesota, who launched the vile attach against Abdein was condemned by members of her own party including Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senator John McCain from Arizona.
Religious liberty is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court recognizes figures with religious affiliation including Prophet Muhammad in the chamber as enlightened people who influenced our jurisprudence. America by virtue of it being a nation of immigrants continues to be shaped by groups of varying ethnicities and religions.
Our country also has a history of certain groups being maligned based upon religious affiliation. Catholic, Jews and Mormons have had their faiths smeared by conspiracy theories that they had grand schemes to subvert American law. It is shameful that many have not learned from history and resort to broad-brush portrayals of American Muslims, which are inaccurate.
I hope that we can rise to a higher level of discourse about the issues that challenge us as Americans without demonizing fellow Americans, including American Muslims, in the process.
Dawud Walid, Executive Director Council on American-Islamic Relations -Michigan Southfield

DawudWalid

Dawud Walid is currently the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), which is a chapter of America's largest advocacy and civil liberties organization for American Muslims and is a member of the Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC) Imams Committee. Walid has been interviewed and quoted in approximately 150 media outlets ranging from the New York Times, Wall St Journal, National Public Radio, CNN, BBC, FOX News and Al-Jazeera. Furthermore, Walid was a political blogger for the Detroit News from January 2014 to January 2016, has had essays published in the 2012 book All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim, the 2014 book Qur'an in Conversation and was quoted as an expert in 13 additional books and academic dissertations. He was also a featured character in the 2013 HBO documentary "The Education of Mohammad Hussein." Walid has lectured at over 50 institutions of higher learning about Islam, interfaith dialogue and social justice including at Harvard University, DePaul University and the University of the Virgin Islands - St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses as well as spoken at the 2008 and 2011 Congressional Black Caucus Conventions alongside prominent speakers such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Congressman Keith Ellison. In 2008, Walid delivered the closing benediction at the historic 52nd Michigan Electoral College in the Michigan State Senate chambers and gave the Baccalaureate speech for graduates of the prestigious Cranbrook-Kingswood Academy located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Walid was also a featured speaker at the 2009 and 2010 Malian Peace and Tolerance Conferences at the University of Bamako in Mali, West Africa. He has also given testimony at hearings and briefings in front of Michigan state legislators and U.S. congressional representatives, including speaking before members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C. Walid has studied under qualified scholars the disciplines of Arabic grammar and morphology, foundations of Islamic jurisprudence, sciences of the exegesis of the Qur’an, and Islamic history during the era of Prophet Muhammad through the governments of the first 5 caliphs. He previously served as an imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit and the Bosnian American Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, and continues to deliver sermons and lectures at Islamic centers across the United States and Canada. Walid was a 2011 - 2012 fellow of the University of Southern California (USC) American Muslim Civil Leadership Institute (AMCLI) and a 2014 - 2015 fellow of the Wayne State Law School Detroit Action Equity Lab (DEAL). Walid served in the United States Navy under honorable conditions earning two United States Navy & Marine Corp Achievement medals while deployed abroad. He has also received awards of recognition from the city councils of Detroit and Hamtramck and from the Mayor of Lansing as well as a number of other religious and community organizations.

More Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *