Obama makes first visit as president to a United States mosque

President Obama mounted a defense Wednesday of American Muslims who have found themselves under scrutiny amid the rise of ISIS, using his first visit to a mosque while in office to proclaim that “we are are one America family”.

“We’ve seen children bullied, we’ve seen mosques vandalized”, he said.

And “an attack on one religion is an attack on all religions”.

The president condemned anti-Muslim rhetoric, such as proposals by Republican presidential candidates to prohibit Muslims from entering the United States and calls to subject American mosques to government surveillance.

Addressing the Islamic Society of Baltimore during what was his first visit to a mosque in the US, Obama reiterated his commitment to freedom of religion and asked his countrymen to show that America truly protects all faiths, reported PTI.

Obama has criticized the increasing anti-Islamic sentiment in the US before, implicitly calling out certain presidential candidates and recent comments from the 2016 campaign trail.

Obama also decried hostility towards Muslims following last year’s shooting attack in San Bernardino, California. But Trump has continued to attract controversy on questions surrounding Obama and his background.

However, four-in-ten want the next president to speak bluntly about Islamic extremists even if the statements are critical of Islam as a whole, the survey said, adding that blunt talk is preferred by 65 per cent of Republicans and those who lean toward the Republican party.

Mr Obama’s visit was aimed at showing Americans another side of Islam. “The first thing I want to say is two words that Muslim-Americans don’t hear often enough and that is thank you”.

“I’m in good company”, he said.

Barack Obama also moved to reassure Muslim American youth about their place in the nation.

“We have to be consistent in condemning hateful rhetoric and violence against everyone, and that includes against Muslims here in the United States of America”.

However it was not only the trolls who voiced their dissapointment at Obama’s speech in the mosque, with some members of the Muslim community saying that they felt he dwelled too much on extremism.