Feature of the Month: September 2007
Muslim Americans are becoming increasingly involved in U.S. politics
Religious Diversity - Observing Ramadan
"Islam is a peace-loving faith that is practiced by more than one billion people, including millions of American Muslims. These proud citizens contribute to the diversity that makes our country strong, and the United States is grateful for the friendship and support of many Muslim Nations that are vital partners in the global coalition to fight against terrorism.
The Qur'an teaches that Ramadan is a time for fasting, prayer, worship, and contemplation. Muslims observe this month by renewing their dedication to caring for those in need, doing good deeds, and strengthening family and community ties. These actions reflect many of the values that Muslims share with people of other faiths across our Nation and around the world, including courage, compassion, and service.
America remains committed to freedom, justice, and opportunity for all people. During this season of reverence and examination, we continue to work together for a future of peace, tolerance, and understanding." (President George W. Bush)
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The Islamic Center of Washington |
President Bush is greeted by Imam Abdulah Khouj of the Islamic Center |
“For those who seek a true understanding of our country, they need look no farther than here" (President Bush at the Mosque of Washington) |
Background
In 1983, the World's Parliament of Religions was held in Chicago as part of the Columbian Exposition. This important event in world religious history had a founding principle - no religious group should be pressured into sacrificing its truth claims. In 1944, the U.S. Federal Council of Churches created the Commission to Study the Bases of a Just and Durable Peace. The Commission developed the "Six Pillars of Peace" that mixed tactical measures such as the "reformation of global treaties" and "control of military establishments" with principles such as "autonomy for subject peoples" and the "right of individuals everywhere to religious and intellectual liberty." Another group, the U.S. Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), helped promote the inclusion of religious freedom in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948.
In addition to the Universal Declaration, three other significant international documents were developed in the 20th century with the aim of promoting principles of religious liberty: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966); the U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief (1981); and the Vienna Concluding Document (1989). Each of these documents promotes religious freedom by expounding rights of such significance that they should be universal.
Of the four major international documents that universalized the principle of religious liberty in the 20th century, the most central is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948. This landmark document recognizes several important religious rights.
"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance." (Article 18)
Later documents went further in creating a legal obligation to comply with its broad principles. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), ratified to date by 144 nations, prohibits religious discrimination, as stated in Article 2 (1), "without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status." Article 20 prohibits incitement of hatred against others because of their religion, and Article 27 protects members of ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities from being denied the enjoyment of their own culture.
The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, adopted in 1981, provides (in Articles 1 and 6) a comprehensive list of rights regarding freedom of thought, conscience and religion. These include the right (1) to worship or assemble in connection with a religion or belief, and to establish and maintain places for these purposes; (2) to establish and maintain appropriate charitable or humanitarian institutions; (3) to make, to acquire and to use to an adequate extent the necessary articles and materials related to the rites or customs of a religion or belief; (4) to write, to publish and to disseminate relevant publications in these areas; (5) to teach a religion or belief in places suitable for these purposes; (6) to solicit and receive voluntary financial and other contributions from individuals and institutions; (7) to observe days of rest and to celebrate holy days and ceremonies in accordance with the precepts of one's religion or belief; and (8) to establish and maintain communications with individuals and communities in matters of religion and belief at the national and international levels.
Finally, the 1989 Vienna Concluding Document contains provisions similar to the 1948, 1966 and 1981 documents, urging respect for religious differences, especially among various faith communities.
These international documents are already shaping human rights law in participating nations, and represent a key feature of a developing and, hopefully, more peaceful world order.
The U.S. and Religious Freedom
One of the root principles of the United States - religious liberty and the separation of church and state, was incorporated into the Bill of Rights as the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. At the time the Republic was founded more than two centuries ago, the overwhelming majority of Americans were Christians. Since that time, however, the United States has become the world's most religiously diverse society, especially during the last three decades.
In the past 30 years massive movements of people both as migrants and refugees have reshaped the demography of the United States. The dynamic global image today is not the so-called clash of civilizations but the marbling of civilizations and peoples. "We the people of the United States" -the first words of the U.S. Constitution- now form the most profusely religious nation on earth. In the truly pluralist American society this great diversity becomes the very source of its strength. The framers of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights could not possibly have envisioned the scope of religious diversity in America at the beginning of the 21st century. America today is an exciting place to study the dynamic history of living faiths. The motto of the Republic, E Pluribus Unum, "From Many, One," is an ideal that Americans continue to claim. The story of America's many peoples and the creation of one nation lies on the ideals articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution which are continually brought into being. This pluribus is more striking than ever -- the races and faces, the Islamic minarets and Hindu temple towers, Mormon temple spires and golden gurdwara domes... Amid this plurality, the expression of the unum, the oneness, requires many new voices, each contributing in its own way. Each part of the composite picture of a new religious America may seem small, but each contributes to a new self-portrait of America.
As Muslims become more numerous and visible in American society, public officials have begun to shift from speaking of "churches and synagogues" to "churches, synagogues, and mosques." The annual observance of the Ramadan month of Muslim fasting now receives public notice and becomes the occasion for portraits of the Muslims next door in the Dallas Morning News or the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The fast-breaking meals called "iftar" at the close of each day have become moments of recognition. In the late 1990s there were iftar observances by Muslim staffers on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and in the State Department. In 1996 the White House hosted the first observance of the celebration of Eid al-Fitr at the end of the month of Ramadan, a practice that has continued. The same year also saw the U.S. Navy commission its first Muslim chaplain, Lieutenant M. Malak Abd al-Muta' Ali Noel, and in 1998 the U.S. Navy's first mosque was opened on the Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia, where Lieutenant Noel was stationed. When 50 sailors attend Friday prayers at this facility, they signal to all a new era of American religious life.
"People from different religious backgrounds can achieve a better understanding of one another’s beliefs and cultural traditions through interfaith dialogue. Talking to other faiths makes us stronger in our convictions and helps us to understand our neighbors better. Because religion is primarily a private matter, a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, etc., can all pray the way they deem fit and appropriate for their faith tradition, and all still be American.” (complete text)
U.S. State Department official Kareema Daoud
VIDEO
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Under Secretary Hughes on U.S. Outreach to the Muslim World
08 Aug 2007
00:04:30
Read transcript: Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes makes remarks during a June 27 appearance at the Washington Foreign Press Center following President Bush's remarks at the Islamic Center of Washington.
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Rutgers Students Build Religious Tolerance
01 Aug 2007
00:03:06
Read transcript: Join reporter Desiree Taylor as she interviews residents of the Middle East Coexistence House, a Rutgers residence hall that promotes religious tolerance.
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PHOTO GALLERY
- CELEBRATING RAMADAN IN AMERICA
LINKS
- "Muslim Life in America" (IIP online publication)
- Young Muslims in US Observe Ramadan on University Campuses
- The 2006 International Religious Freedom Report
- Interfaith Youth Core
- Islamic Center of Washington Boasts a Rich History
- U.S. Respects Religious Diversity, Muslim Publisher Says
- Democracy Dialogues: Freedom of Religion (a global conversation about democracy)
- U.S. College’s “Coexistence House” Promotes Religious Tolerance (IIP/USInfo article)
- Eisenhower’s 1957 Speech at Islamic Center of Washington
- American Mosques: Muslim Life in America (publication)
- The White House: Ramadan 2006
- The Meaning of Ramadan (The White House)
WEBCHAT
- Interfaith Dialogue (to be available soon)
Since its completion in 1991, The Islamic Cultural Center has become a landmark in downtown New York City. (© Wolfgang Hoyt/Esto/Architect Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill)
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