Two Muslims in the House
by Mona Eltahawy
The second real Muslim was elected to Congress last month.
I say “real” because Andre Carson, a Democrat who won a special election in Indiana to replace his grandmother who represented the state in Congress for 11 years until her death in December 2007, is not a closet or “stealth” Muslim as right wing commentators and opponents of Barak Obama have tried to make him.
Obama, who continues to lead Hillary Clinton in the race to become the Democratic candidate in presidential elections later this year, has said countless times he is Christian. His Kenyan father was born to a Muslim family but was an atheist. Obama’s opponents have ignored all that and have “accused” him of being a Muslim, as if it were a crime. Such rumor-mongering is a sad indictment of the fear and ignorance of Muslims that sadly exists among too many in the U.S.
Which is where Carson, 33, and the Keith Ellison (D-Minn), 44, the first Muslim congressman, come in.
Both men African-American converts to Islam. Comfortable as both Muslims and Americans, they are proof that not all Muslims in the U.S. are immigrants or newcomers who don’t understand American values.
When he took the oath standing next to his wife and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Carson said he was a “proud Muslim, a proud American and a proud Hoosier”.
Their comfort with both their American and Muslim identities makes them great role models and examples of why more Muslims in the U.S. should enter politics. They show young American Muslims that it is possible to be elected, despite the hateful comments of the right wing. And they are hopefully deterrents to the hateful comments of some of their fellow elected officials, some of whom have urged the bombing of Muslim holy sites while others have tried to paint all Muslims as terrorists.
Despite the fear-mongering surrounding Obama, it was a relief to hear that Carson’s faith was not an issue during his campaign.
A reporter at the ceremonial swearing-in asked Carson if he took the oath on the same Quran that Ellison used when he became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress in 2005.
Carson held up the book he took the oath on and replied “It’s the U.S. Constitution” and smiled broadly.
It was a brilliant move because it so beautifully connected his election to the democratic principles that the U.S. Constitution defines.
Carson’s move was as wise as Ellison’s move to use for his ceremonial oath a Quran that used to belong to Thomas Jefferson.
After Ellison was elected, Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) warned in a letter to a constituent “if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran”.
When I interviewed Ellison last year, he told me that one of his supporters had found out that Jefferson owned a copy of the Quran that was kept at the Library of Congress and suggested he use it for his ceremonial oath as a way of connecting himself to American history that would deflate the accusations of his opponents, like Goode.
“Thomas Jefferson felt there was something he had to learn from the Quran and it was really a joy just looking through the two volumes set,” Ellison told me. “It was a fascinating experience (to look through it). I don’t think most Americans knew that Thomas Jefferson owned a Quran, I didn’t know and so now people know it and know that at the very founding of this society religious tolerance was an important value. So this religious intolerance that we see prevalent today is new and doesn’t go to the roots of the country.”
Carson has just 10 months in Congress as he fills out the remainder of his grandmother’s term. To remain in Congress, he must contest a pre-election in Indiana which will determine who runs in November for the next full two-year term.
Let’s hope he wins so that the two real Muslims remain in the House. Their role is of immense value.