President Obama to Make First Presidential Visit to American Mosque
United States President Barack Obama is set to make his first ever presidential visit to an American mosque on Wednesday. Obama will be talking with Muslim leaders of the Islamic Society of Baltimore in Catonsville, per the Baltimore Sun.
"The President believes that one of our nation's greatest strengths is our rich diversity and the very idea that Americans of different faiths and backgrounds can thrive together, that we're all part of the same American family. As the President has said, Muslim Americans are our friends, and neighbors; our co-workers, and sports heroes - and our men and women in uniform defending our country," White House spokesman Keith Maley said in a statement.
The report indicated that attacks against Muslims prompted a meeting between administration officials and Muslim leaders at the White House back in December. Muslims have received a lot of media attention as of late due to the fear of terrorist attacks, as well as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's proposition to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
In a report by the Washington Post, many Muslim American leaders have attempted to persuade Obama to visit a mosque, even taking it further by claiming that he has Islamophobia. Former president George W. Bush visited the Islamic Cultural Center of Washington in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks that put fear on American about Muslims.
On the other hand, the president's critics have accused him of being a Muslim pretending to be Christian. In a recent poll by the post, the result showed that 29 percent of Americans and about 45 percent of Republicans think that Obama is a Muslim.
The president addressed the anti-Muslim sentiment of presidential candidates and fellow Americans during his final State of the Union address last month. "When politicians insult Muslims, whether abroad or our fellow citizens, when a mosque is vandalized or a kid bullied, that doesn't make us safer," Obama said.
"It's just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals. It betrays who we are as a country," Obama added.
According to its official website, the Islamic Society of Baltimore is one of the largest Muslim communities in Maryland. It was established by several families back in 1969 and grew bigger during the next few years.
The Masjid Al-Rahmah mosque was built in 1987 with the ISB Quran Academy and Sunday School created the next decade.
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