As I sit to write this, it is several hours since President Obama delivered his inaugural address. I chose not to blog it, but to Tweet it instead, to capture the emotions of the moment. The speech made me joyous, both because it signaled the end of the old/the beginning of the new and because of its content.
As I think of the content of the day, something stuck out to me. I was happiest when things about Islam were mentioned. Perhaps it was my academic interest. Perhaps it was a parochialism, elevating my “tribe.” Perhaps it was something more.
During the invocation, Rev. Rick Warren gave a particularly Abrahamic opening. He said: “The Scripture tells us Hear, oh Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is one. And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.” He captured a Jewish prayer and a Muslim prayer. The shema is probably fairly well-known and he quotes it. The Muslim reference is to the basmallah: In the name of God, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful,“ an invocation that begins every Muslim prayer.
President Obama then made several references to Muslims, including: ”For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus—and non-believers.“
Finally, in the benediction, Rev. Joseph Lowery said: ”And as we leave this mountain top, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.“
These references, individually, speak to the changing religious landscape of America, and the public’s acknowledgment of that change. Collectively, these statements make a very different statement. The most recent President Bush was always very careful to make statements to prevent Muslim-Americans from feeling alienated in this country, although policy was always different.
President Clinton hosted dinners for Eid that showed Muslims were welcome. However, the statements at the inauguration were not a welcome, they were not toleration. They were a statement that Muslims-Americans are US. We are them. Collectively what was said is that we don’t need to talk about Muslim-Americans anymore when we talk about America; we just need to talk about Muslims, like we talk about Jews and like we talk about Christians (or Hindus, or atheists). The door is not just open; we are not sitting in the living room; there is a room for us in the house now.
I have never felt at odds with being Muslim and being American. I know that feeling is not shared by all, nor is it reciprocated. What happened yesterday was that now it does not matter. This is today’s America, where, as Colin Powell says, ”so what if you’re Muslim?“ I hope all Americans, Muslim and not, hear this message and seize the opportunity. I hope all Muslims, American and not, hear this message and seize the opportunity.
