In First Visit to American Mosque, Obama Condemns Anti-Islamic Prejudice

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States after a California couple who killed 14 people last December were described by authorities as radicalized Muslims inspired by Islamic State militants.

While Obama’s mosque visit was labeled “historic” by some media, he was not the first USA president to set foot in a Muslim house of worship, said Odeh Muhawesh, a software company CEO and adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas.

Obama’s first visit to a United States mosque was long overdue, according to McCaw, who said the president has “definitely been timid in approaching the Muslim community publicly”.

“Inexcusable political rhetoric against Muslims that has no place in our country”, Obama said.

“That’s not who we are”, the president said.

“We’ve seen children bullied, we’ve seen mosques vandalized”, Obama said, warning that such unequal treatment for certain groups in society tears at the nation’s fabric.

Mr Obama, a Christian, outlined the tenets of Islam, and gave a brief history of Muslims in America.

The visit, Obama’s first to a USA mosque, was aimed at showing Americans another side of Islam.

He urged not to equate Muslims and terrorists.

The survey also showed that many Americans think a substantial segment of the US Muslim population is anti-American. Same goes for adults (or else we get, say, any of the Republican candidates).

CAIR praised the president for visiting the mosque, saying, “With the tremendous rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in our country, we believe that it will send a message of inclusion and mutual respect”. “No, it’s true. Look it up”. “Many Americans hear of Islam only in connection with terror”, Obama said in the city of Baltimore.

The children led the audience, with some men in prayer caps and most women in head scarves, in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Ahead of his speech at the suburban Islamic Society of Baltimore, Obama met with Muslim university chaplains, community activists and public health professionals to discuss religious tolerance and freedom.