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In the last few decades of 20th century and into this 21st century, American presidents have tried to stem the anti-Muslim tide that believers in the right to freedom of religion fear is gripping this country and defeating the vision of the original founders of the nation. To a man, every president all the way back to the creation of this nation and founders before that, has fought with words for Muslims to be able to practice their faith in this country.
The latest was President Obama in his speech Feb. 3, at the Islamic Society of Baltimore, where he pointed to those framers of the Constitution to make his case against Islamophobia, which Muslims, Sikhs and other communities say is growing especially over the last few months following the terrorist attacks in Paris, France and more recently, San Bernardino, California.
His concern is not new. Shortly after 9/11 and the backlash against Muslims in the country, a backlash most violently felt by Indian-American Sikhs sporting turbans and beards, the Library of Congress came out with a study exploring this historical relationship between Islam and the creation of the United States of America. It noted how influential framers of the Constitution, were for religious freedom that included equal rights for Muslims, Jews, and Hindus.
Founding Fathers
Entitled “The Founding Fathers and Islam: Library Papers Show Early Tolerance for Muslim Faith,” the study notes thousands of slaves of Islamic faith may have been brought into the country in the course of the slave trade from Africa. Even though founders may have not known that, ” it is clear that the Founding Fathers thought about the relationship of Islam to the new nation and were prepared to make a place for it in the republic,” the study concludes.
The main framer of the U.S. Constitution and later president, Thomas Jefferson, following on the heels of his idol, English philosopher and political thinker John Locke, demanded recognition of the religious rights of the “Mahamdan,” the Jew and the “pagan.” Jefferson was supported by his ally, Virginia statesman Richard Henry Lee, who in 1776, called for American colonies to declare independence from Britain and said, “True freedom embraces the Mahomitan and the Gentoo (Hindu) as well as the Christian religion.” Two hundred and twenty three years later, in 2007, the first Muslim to be sworn into the U.S. Congress, Democrat Keith Ellison of Minnesota, demanded and was sworn in on Jefferson’s copy of the Koran.
President George Washington, the first to lead this nation, looked for ways Muslims could be fairly taxed and declared he would welcome “Mohometans” to Mount Vernon (his home) if they were “good workmen.”
By no means was the nation universally welcoming of Muslims, with ordinary populace differing radically over what Islam meant and propagated, the Library of Congress study shows. But, “The Founders of this nation explicitly included Islam in their vision of the future of the republic,” it says. “Far from fearing Islam, the Founders would have incorporated it into the fabric of American life,” the study contends.
Matters Foreign & Domestic
The U.S. has been dealing with Islam on the foreign policy front since early in its birth as a nation. On Nov. 4, 1796, President John Adams, authored Article 11, in the U.S. treaty with Tripoli on “Harmony Despite Religious Differences,” which said, “As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen,-and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”
Enter, The 20th Century
President George Herbert Walker Bush, was confronted in a question-and-answer session with Arab-American groups Sept. 24, 1990, at the White House, on the issue of discrimination against Muslims in the wake of U.S. engagement in the First Gulf War, against Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.
“Today, some Americans are the victims of appalling acts of hatred. This is a sad irony that while our brave soldiers fight aggression overseas, a few
hate-mongers here at home are perpetrating their own brand of
cowardly aggression,” including death threats, physical attacks, vandalism,
religious violence, and discrimination against Arab-Americans, he said adding it had no place in a free society. “I condemn such acts, and I
will continue to condemn them,” the senior Bush said, noting that his administration had supported enactment of “Hate Crimes” legislation, “because bigotry and hate still exist in this country. Hate breeds violence, threatening the security of our entire society. As I said when I signed the bill, all Americans must join together to rid our communities of the poison of prejudice, bias, and discrimination.” Like Christians and Jews, millions of Muslims were free to worship according to their traditions. “Surely,
the multinational troops — men and women of every religion and color — who are now on duty in the glare of the desert sun, are an example to us right here at home. They prove that a crisis abroad is no excuse for discrimination at home.”
On March 8, 1991, during an interview with Middle Eastern journalists, the senior Bush spoke of the “shared values” of America and Islam. Admitting he was not a student of religion, he said, “but I don’t find anything in what the principal teachings of Islam that put us in contradiction at all.” The principles are the same, “… it’s kindness, it’s be good to your neighbor, it’s love, and it’s take care of children. It’s all these things that—so there’s no anti-Islam,” he added.
Response To Terror Attacks
President Bill Clinton’s term saw frequent attacks by terror groups proclaiming Islamic leanings, on the World Trade Center in 1993, and on American outposts in 1998. Clinton gave the seminal speech decrying the claims of a “Clash of Civilizations,” during a media interview Nov. 14, 2000, less than a year before 9/11. “I have never bought the thesis—on an inevitable collision course with the Islamic societies, or that the 21st century had to be dominated by terrorists with highly sophisticated weapons, fueled by broad popular resentment from people who are both disenfranchised and poor. I don’t think it has to be that way, and I think if we could really make a big dent in this problem, it would give confidence to the forces of reason and progress throughout the region.”
Prescient words, even if disproved by America’s involvement and intervention in the Middle East.
Fastest Growing Religion
Just 3 months after terror attacks on U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya Aug. 7, 1998, Clinton extended “warm greetings” to the “six million Americans” of the Islamic faith on Dec. 18, noting Islam was “one of our nation’s fastest-growing religions,” and urged that “It is time … for recognizing our common humanity.”
Barely 7 months into his presidency, George W. Bush and the nation suffered the worst terror attack on 9/11. Just days later on Sept. 17, Bush, in an attempt to stem hate crimes, the first being the assassination of Balbir Singh Sodhi in Arizona on Sept. 15, came out in defense of Islam. “These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith. And it’s important for my fellow Americans to understand that,” he said. “The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace. They represent evil and war. When we think of Islam we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. Billions of people find comfort and solace and peace. And that’s made brothers and sisters out of every race — out of every race,” George W. Bush said. He repeated his belief that Islam preaches peace and that the Muslim faith is a peaceful faith in subsequent days, asserting Muslims loved America and saluted its flag just like he did.
“There are thousands of Muslims who proudly call themselves Americans, and they know what I know — that the Muslim faith is based upon peace and love and compassion. The exact opposite of the teachings of the al Qaeda organization, which is based upon evil and hate and destruction” George W. Bush added. “The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself. The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends. It is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them.”
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