Advertisement Close

Remarks by President Obama at White House Iftar Dinner

posted on: Aug 14, 2010

Good evening, everybody. Welcome. Please, have a seat. Well, welcome to the White House. To you, to Muslim Americans across our country, and to more than one billion Muslims around the world, I extend my best wishes on this holy month. Ramadan Kareem.

I want to welcome members of the diplomatic corps; members of my administration; and members of Congress, including Rush Holt, John Conyers, and Andre Carson, who is one of two Muslim American members of Congress, along with Keith Ellison. So welcome, all of you.

Here at the White House, we have a tradition of hosting iftars that goes back several years, just as we host Christmas parties and seders and Diwali celebrations. And these events celebrate the role of faith in the lives of the American people. They remind us of the basic truth that we are all children of God, and we all draw strength and a sense of purpose from our beliefs.

These events are also an affirmation of who we are as Americans. Our Founders understood that the best way to honor the place of faith in the lives of our people was to protect their freedom to practice religion. In the Virginia Act of Establishing Religion Freedom, Thomas Jefferson wrote that “all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion.” The First Amendment of our Constitution established the freedom of religion as the law of the land. And that right has been upheld ever since.

Indeed, over the course of our history, religion has flourished within our borders precisely because Americans have had the right to worship as they choose -– including the right to believe in no religion at all. And it is a testament to the wisdom of our Founders that America remains deeply religious -– a nation where the ability of peoples of different faiths to coexist peacefully and with mutual respect for one another stands in stark contrast to the religious conflict that persists elsewhere around the globe.

Now, that’s not to say that religion is without controversy. Recently, attention has been focused on the construction of mosques in certain communities -– particularly New York. Now, we must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of Lower Manhattan. The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country. And the pain and the experience of suffering by those who lost loved ones is just unimaginable. So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. And Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground.

But let me be clear. As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. (Applause.) And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the Founders must endure.

We must never forget those who we lost so tragically on 9/11, and we must always honor those who led the response to that attack -– from the firefighters who charged up smoke-filled staircases, to our troops who are serving in Afghanistan today. And let us also remember who we’re fighting against, and what we’re fighting for. Our enemies respect no religious freedom. Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam -– it’s a gross distortion of Islam. These are not religious leaders -– they’re terrorists who murder innocent men and women and children. In fact, al Qaeda has killed more Muslims than people of any other religion -– and that list of victims includes innocent Muslims who were killed on 9/11.

So that’s who we’re fighting against. And the reason that we will win this fight is not simply the strength of our arms -– it is the strength of our values. The democracy that we uphold. The freedoms that we cherish. The laws that we apply without regard to race, or religion, or wealth, or status. Our capacity to show not merely tolerance, but respect towards those who are different from us –- and that way of life, that quintessentially American creed, stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of those who attacked us on that September morning, and who continue to plot against us today.

In my inaugural address I said that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus —- and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and every culture, drawn from every end of this Earth. And that diversity can bring difficult debates. This is not unique to our time. Past eras have seen controversies about the construction of synagogues or Catholic churches. But time and again, the American people have demonstrated that we can work through these issues, and stay true to our core values, and emerge stronger for it. So it must be -– and will be -– today.

And tonight, we are reminded that Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity. And Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been a part of America. The first Muslim ambassador to the United States, from Tunisia, was hosted by President Jefferson, who arranged a sunset dinner for his guest because it was Ramadan —- making it the first known iftar at the White House, more than 200 years ago.

Like so many other immigrants, generations of Muslims came to forge their future here. They became farmers and merchants, worked in mills and factories. They helped lay the railroads. They helped to build America. They founded the first Islamic center in New York City in the 1890s. They built America’s first mosque on the prairie of North Dakota. And perhaps the oldest surviving mosque in America —- still in use today —- is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Today, our nation is strengthened by millions of Muslim Americans. They excel in every walk of life. Muslim American communities —- including mosques in all 50 states —- also serve their neighbors. Muslim Americans protect our communities as police officers and firefighters and first responders. Muslim American clerics have spoken out against terror and extremism, reaffirming that Islam teaches that one must save human life, not take it. And Muslim Americans serve with honor in our military. At next week’s iftar at the Pentagon, tribute will be paid to three soldiers who gave their lives in Iraq and now rest among the heroes of Arlington National Cemetery.

These Muslim Americans died for the security that we depend on, and the freedoms that we cherish. They are part of an unbroken line of Americans that stretches back to our founding; Americans of all faiths who have served and sacrificed to extend the promise of America to new generations, and to ensure that what is exceptional about America is protected -– our commitment to stay true to our core values, and our ability slowly but surely to perfect our union.

For in the end, we remain “one nation, under God, indivisible.” And we can only achieve “liberty and justice for all” if we live by that one rule at the heart of every great religion, including Islam —- that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

So thank you all for being here. I wish you a blessed Ramadan. And with that, let us eat.

President Obama
Friday August 13, 2010

Attendees at the White House Iftar Dinner:

This evening, the President will continue a White House tradition of hosting an Iftar celebrating Ramadan in the State Dining Room. This is the second Iftar hosted by the President. The Iftar is the meal that breaks the day of fasting, when Muslim families and communities eat together after sunset.

Below is a list of some of the expected attendees at tonight’s White House dinner celebrating Ramadan:

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

The Honorable Andre Carson, United States Representative (Indiana 7th)

The Honorable John Conyers, United States Representative (Michigan 14th)

The Honorable Rush Holt, United States Representative (New Jersey 12th)

COMMUNITY MEMBERS

Ms. Saleha Abedin

Mr. Ahmed Ahmed

Dr. Akbar Ahmed, American University

Mrs. Anila Ali, Council of Pakistan American Affairs

Mr. Bill Aossey, Midamar Corporation

Mrs. Fatema Bayat

Mr. Salam Al Marayati, Muslim Public Affairs Council

Rev. Chloe Breyer, Interfaith Center of New York

Mr. Hasan Chandoo, Oppenheimer & Co.

Ms. Sarah Darwish

Dr. Mahmoud Eboo, Aga Khan Council of the United States

Mr. Walter Edwards, Harlem Business Council

Mrs. Sana Fadel

Mr. Imad Hussain

Mr. Hassan Jaber, Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services

Mr. Muhammad U. Khan

Ms. Saaliha Khan

Imam Mohamed Hag Magid, All Dulles Area Muslim Society

Mrs. Shahnaz Masumi

Dr. Ingrid Mattson, Islamic Society of North America

Mr. Farooq Mitha

Ms. Dalia Mogahed, Director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies

Mr. Mohamedraza Moledina

Mrs. Shabnum Moledina

Mrs. Laila Muhammad

Ms. Naheed Qureshi, Muslim Advocates

Mrs. Ranae Quraishi, Muslim Public Service Network

Ms. Intisar Rabb, Boston College

Dr. Jane Ramsey, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs

Ms. Nadia Roumani, American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute

Mrs. Sally Steenland, Center for American Progress

Ms. Sadaf Syed

Mr. Mustafa Tameez

Mr. Ibrahim Vajzovic, United Bosnian Association

Mrs. Sara Najjar Wilson, Arab American anti-Discrimination Committee

ADMINISTRATION MEMBERS

The Honorable Dan Poneman, Deputy Secretary of Energy

The Honorable Ron Sims, Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Ms. Huma Abedin, Deputy Chief of Staff, Department of State

Mr. Mustafa Javed Ali, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Mr. Arif Alikhan, Assistant Secretary for Policy Development, Department of Homeland Security

Mr. Mazen Basrawi, Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Department of Justice

Technical Sergeant Sabrina Marie Bullock-Labaran, U.S. Air Force

Sergeant Major Agha Jalil Durrani, U.S. Army

Ms. Rehana Hakeem, Department of State

Chaplain Abdullah Hulwe, U.S. Army

Mr. Rashad Hussain, U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference

Mr. Adnan Kifayat, Department of Treasury

Ms. Sehreen Noor Ali, Department of State

Ms. Farah Pandith, Special Representative to Muslim Communities, Department of State

Ms. Hannah Rosenthal, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Department of State

Mr. Irfan Saeed, Department of Homeland Security

Lt. Commander Abuhena Saifulislam, U.S. Marine Corps

Mr. Osman Shinaishin, National Science Foundation

Mr. Kareem Shora, Department of Homeland Security

Mr. Shaarik Zafar, National Counter Terrorism Center

DIPLOMATIC CORPS

Mrs. Shamim Jawad, Spouse, Embassy of Afghanistan

His Excellency Yashar Aliyev, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan

His Excellency Akramul Qader, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

His Excellency Roble Olhaye, Ambassador of the Republic of Djibouti

His Excellency Sameh Hassan Shoukry, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt

His Excellency Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See

Her Excellency Meera Shankar, Ambassador of India

His Excellency Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida’ie, Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq

His Excellency Erlan A. Idrissov, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan

His Excellency Avni Spahiu, Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo

His Excellency Ali Suleiman Aujali, Ambassador of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

His Excellency Aziz Mekour, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco

Her Excellency Hunaina Sultan Ahmed Al Mughairy, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman

His Excellency Ali Bin Fahad Faleh Al-Hajri, Ambassador of the State of Qatar

His Excellency Adel A.M. Al-Jubeir, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia

His Excellency Husain Haqqani, Ambassador of Pakistan

His Excellency Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak, Ambassador of the Russian Federation

His Excellency Habib Mansour, Ambassador of Tunisia

His Excellency Ilhomjon Tuychievich Nematov, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan

His Excellency Abdulwahab A. Al Hajjri, Ambassador of the Republic Yemen

His Excellency Ufuk Gokcen, Ambassador and Permanent Observer, Organization of the Islamic Conference

The Honorable Deitan Mish, Chargé d’Affaires at Interim of the Republic Albania

The Honorable Ali Alaoui, Chargé d’Affaires at Interim of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

The Honorable Tesfaye Yilma Sabo, Chargé d’Affaires at Interim of Ethiopia

The Honorable Salman Al Farisi, Chargé d’Affaires at Interim of the Republic of Indonesia

The Honorable Walid Rahman J. Al Hadid, Chargé d’Affaires at Interim of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

The Honorable Noraini Hamid, Chargé d’Affaires at Interim of Malaysia

The Honorable Bello Ringim, Economic Minister, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

The Honorable Suleyman Gokce, Chargé d’Affaires at Interim of the Republic of Turkey

The Honorable Dominick Chilcott, British Chargé d’Affaires at Interim