Obama’s mosque visit prompts celebration, criticism, and of course, Islamophobia

Making his first visit to a us mosque as POTUS, President Obama scolded the TV networks for not doing their part to portray Muslims in series storylines other than ones about national security.

Real-estate mogul Donald Trump said Wednesday that President Barack Obama may have visited a Maryland mosque “because he feels comfortable there”. “It’s not who we are”.

“Recently we’ve heard inexcusable political rhetoric against Muslim-Americans that has no place in our country”, Obama told the members of the Islamic Society of Baltimore, without specifically naming anyone. The anti-Muslim rhetoric permeating American political discourse, he warned, is directly harming American citizens, and the USA itself.

Obama also urged Muslims to be vigilant in their communities and to shun terrorist groups like al Qaeda and ISIS. “That’s not who we are”, the president said.

Fox News also quotes Zuhdi Jasser, of the American islamic Forum for Democracy, who argues that particular mosque isn’t the best representative of tolerance in the faith community.

“We have to understand that an attack on one faith is an attack on all of our faiths”, Obama 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. “This is a moment when, as Americans, we have to truly listen to each other and learn from each other”. “It’s no surprise then that threats and harassment of Muslim Americans have surged”.

Obama will also be sending a signal to the world, which has been watching the campaign closely, that the USA has not abandoned its commitment to religious pluralism, Ahmed said.

Fear of terrorist attacks on American soil has risen after attacks in San Bernardino, California, and Paris. “We can’t be bystanders to bigotry”.

President Obama’s visit to a USA mosque Tuesday was welcomed by Minnesota’s Muslim community, but many considered the gesture “late”. Over the course of his presidency, some people have said he is a Muslim pretending to be a Christian.

MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images Obama said many Americans have a “hugely distorted impression” of Muslims in America, and added that “an attack on one faith is an attack on all our faiths”.