Why Trump Needs a Stroll to the Supreme Court
By: Haider Umar/Arab America Contributing Writer
In 2017, president Donald Trump made history when he declared a nationwide Muslim ban. The Muslim ban, caused massive outrage amongst the American Muslim communities because it seemed as if president Trump had singled out a religion’s followers as unfit to enter the U.S.
This law to most appeared to be against first amendment rights, as it obstructs freedom of religion. But Sadly, the Bill passed as it was deemed “fit” under congressional review, but it is about time average Americans understood the significance of Islam in matters of legal reasoning and the Respect Muhammad has been given by the U.S.’s most powerful judicial authority, the supreme court.
The United States is a nation that has been built upon many different individuals and ideologies working together. Even though, the U.S. is a secular nation our constitution makes it immoral and illegal to judge, persecute, favor or oppress any specific religion or the people that follow it.
To explain further, the law of the land is the constitution, and the people who uphold the meaning of the constitution reside at the U.S. Supreme court. These nine immensely powerful judges and the Judiciary branch itself over time have celebrated the legendary Lawgivers of societies in the past. In honor of such legal scholars, there is a sculpted mural in the Supreme court’s courtroom that depicts these critical individuals. This mural honors many great legal scholars including the Prophet Muhammed.
This simple yet powerful gesture signifies the importance of Muhammed on the legal world and the respect that he is given even amongst American legal scholars.
The ability to Utilize all facets of society to benefit U.S. legal reasoning has enabled our nation to strive for many generations. Equality and unbiased Justice is the “American Dream,” and our countries open acceptance of such ideas and idea givers has propelled it to sit at the pinnacle of modern society.
“The addition of carvings depicting Confucius and Muhammad may honor religion, or particular religions, to the extent that the First Amendment does not tolerate. Placement of secular figures such as Caesar Augustus, William Blackstone, Napoleon Bonaparte and John Mar-hall alongside these three religious leaders, however, signals respect not for great proselytizers but for great lawgivers”-The Washington Post
The Sculpture
While the Qur’an forbids idol worship, it doesn’t expressly forbid depictions of the Prophet. So though the statue at one point did get a few Muslims collations rallied up in protests, the supreme court stood up for its decision to place it in the courtroom when then-Chief Justice, William Rehnquist, produced a statement declaring it was, “unlawful to remove or in any way injure an architectural feature in the Supreme Court building”. Comments as such these exemplified the significance of the sculpture making it a nationally protected artifact. The statue later also gained the approval of Muslim American’s when a Fatwa, a ruling on the point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority, was produced by the chairman of the Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) Council of North America, Taha Jaber al-Alwani.
“What I have seen in the Supreme Courtroom deserves nothing but appreciation and gratitude from American Muslims. This is a positive gesture toward Islam made by the architect and other architectural decision-makers of the highest Court in America. God willing, it will help improve some of the unfortunate misinformation that has surrounded Islam and Muslims in this country,”– Jaber al-Alwani.
So now that you know the importance Islam has on the legal world don’t you find it ridiculous that some people (President Trump), dare to propose and implement a Muslim ban? As if Muslims are all deranged and lawless individuals? If your answer is yes, then we should really look into getting him into the supreme court so he can witness the respect his predecessors have shown towards the religion and establisher of Islam.