He would be banned from America if Donald Trump lives up to his campaign promises, but a Muslim imam has just spoken at the new President’s inaugural service.
Imam Mohamed Magid, executive director of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, read two passages from the Quran during an interfaith service on Sunday attended by the Republican, who has previously said “Islam hates us.”
Magid, a well-respected figure in the Muslim community, read from Surat Al-Hujarat and from Surat Ar-Rum, giving the Arabic and then the English.
The Imam received criticism from within the Muslim community for his contribution to the service in honor of an allegedly Islamophobic figure. However, the former head of the Islamic Society of North America took the opportunity to send a message to Trump about tolerance and celebrating diversity.
The first extract he read highlighted that God “made you into nations and tribes and communities, that you may know one another.” The second emphasised that "among the signs of God is the creation of heaven and earth, and the variation in your languages and your colors."
"After the election, when a lot of things were said about Muslims, and there were questions about Muslims' loyalty, these verses were intended to convey the message that we must come together and respect diversity -- that God made us this way," said Rizwan Jaka, board chairman at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society.
Trump has previously been accused of stirring anti-Muslim sentiment after he called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. The businessman has also suggested that he would “absolutely” keep a registry of Muslims in the country. While Trump’s team may have tried to play down these promises following the election, the new President did not hold back in his inauguration speech, in which he called for the eradication of “radical Islamic terrorism.”
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