(This commentary is the last in a MinnPost Voices series highlighting “What We Can Do Week“ — an effort to bridge divides and reject political violence. Participating organizations include the Citizens League, Majority in the Middle, the University of Minnesota Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, the Minneapolis Regional Chamber and the St. Paul Area Chamber.)
I remember the stir in November 2006 when stories of Keith Ellison’s decision to take his oath of office on the Quran started making national news.
Could the first Muslim congressman swear his oath on the Quran? The debate was intense. Then came Ellison’s powerful response. He reached out to the Library of Congress and requested Thomas Jefferson’s Quran.
Suddenly, Americans were reminded that one of the nation’s most influential Founding Fathers owned a copy of the Quran. Jefferson bought the English translation of the Quran in 1765 as a law student. His intellectual curiosity was reflected in his interest in understanding different religions, cultures and legal systems. This curiosity shaped his vision for America as a country where citizenship and religious liberty extended to people of all faiths.
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Jefferson’s Quran reminds us that Muslims have been part of America’s religious liberty story from the nation’s earliest debates over belief, citizenship and public life. The promise of our country was that people of different faiths could live as equal citizens under the law.
That promise takes on added significance when a minority faith is misunderstood, maligned or treated as foreign. Today, that test feels especially urgent for American Muslims.
Recently, Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith joined a chorus of politicians using hostile language about Islam and Muslims. He said, “I hate Islam” and described Islam as a “demonic death cult.” Some other members of Congress have made similarly hostile comments about Muslims and Islam.
We should not need to imagine such language aimed at another faith community to recognize how dangerous it is. No religious community should have to hear elected officials describe its faith as evil or its members as a threat.
When elected officials repeatedly portray an entire religious community as a threat, those words shape public attitudes and normalize hate. Demonization is where the violence starts.
In May, three people were killed at a mosque in San Diego County in what authorities are investigating as a suspected hate crime. Among the victims was a security guard and father of eight who gave his life protecting children attending the mosque’s school.
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The 250th anniversary of our founding should not be punctuated by acts of hatred, nor marked by officials whose oath to the Constitution stops short of defending all Americans.
Jefferson’s Quran stands for a promise worth defending for the next 250 years.
Zafar Siddiqui is a Minnesota community leader, writer and co-founder of the Islamic Resource Group. He has spent more than three decades working to build understanding across faith communities and has served on numerous nonprofit and community boards. He writes frequently on faith, leadership, civic engagement and public affairs.
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