East Room of The White
House
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
everybody. Please, please
have a seat. Good evening,
everyone. And welcome to the White House.
Of all the freedoms we
cherish as Americans, of all
the rights that we hold
sacred, foremost among
them is freedom of religion, the right to worship as we
choose. It’s enshrined in
the First Amendment of
our Constitution -- the law
of the land, always and
forever. It beats in our heart -- in the soul of the
people who know that our
liberty and our equality is
endowed by our Creator.
And it runs through the
history of this house, a place where Americans of
many faiths can come
together and celebrate
their holiest of days -- and
that includes Ramadan.
As I’ve noted before, Thomas Jefferson once
held a sunset dinner here
with an envoy from Tunisia
-- perhaps the first Iftar at
the White House, more than
200 years ago. And some of you, as you arrived
tonight, may have seen our
special display, courtesy of
our friends at the Library
of Congress -- the Koran
that belonged to Thomas Jefferson. And that's a
reminder, along with the
generations of patriotic
Muslims in America, that
Islam -- like so many faiths
-- is part of our national story.
This evening, we’re
honored to be joined by
members of our diplomatic
corps, members of
Congress -- including Muslim American members
of Congress, Keith Ellison
and Andre Carson -- as well
as leaders from across my
administration. And to you,
the millions of Muslim Americans across our
country, and to the more
than one billion Muslims
around the world --
Ramadan Kareem.
Now, every faith is unique. And yet, during Ramadan,
we see the traditions that
are shared by many faiths:
Believers engaged in
prayer and fasting, in
humble devotion to God. Families gathering together
with love for each other.
Neighbors reaching out in
compassion and charity, to
serve the less fortunate.
People of different faiths coming together, mindful
of our obligations to one
another -- to peace, justice
and dignity for all people --
men and women. Indeed,
you know that the Koran teaches, "Be it man or
woman, each of you is
equal to the other." And by the way, we’ve
seen this in recent days. In
fact, the Olympics is being
called "The Year of the
Woman." (Laughter.) Here
in America, we’re incredibly proud of Team
USA -- all of them -- but we
should notice that a
majority of the members
are women. Also, for the
very first time in Olympic history, every team now
includes a woman athlete.
And one of the reasons is
that every team from a
Muslim-majority country
now includes women as well. And more broadly --
that's worth applauding.
(Applause.) Absolutely.
More broadly, we’ve seen
the extraordinary courage
of Muslim women during the Arab Spring -- women,
right alongside men, taking
to the streets to claim their
universal rights, marching
for their freedom, blogging
and tweeting and posting videos, determined to be
heard. In some cases,
facing down tanks, and
braving bullets, enduring
detentions and
unspeakable treatment, and at times, giving their
very lives for the freedom
that they seek -- the liberty
that we are lucky enough
to enjoy here tonight.
These women have inspired their sisters and
daughters, but also their
brothers and their sons.
And they’ve inspired us all.
Even as we see women
casting their ballots and seeking -- standing for
office in historic elections,
we understand that their
work is not done. They
understand that any true
democracy must uphold the freedom and rights of
all people and all faiths. We
know this, too, for here in
America we're enriched by
so many faiths, by men and
women -- including Muslim American women.
They’re young people, like
the student who wrote me
a letter about what it’s like
to grow up Muslim in
America. She’s in college. She dreams of a career in
international affairs to help
deepen understanding
between the United States
and Muslim countries
around the world. So if any of the diplomatic corps
have tips for her. She says
that "America has always
been the land of
opportunity for me, and I
love this country with all my heart." And so we’re
glad to have Hala Baig here
today.
They are faith leaders like
Sanaa Nadim, one of the
first Muslim chaplains at an American college -- a voice
for interfaith dialogue
who's had the opportunity
to meet with the Pope to
discuss these issues. We're
very proud to have you here.
They are educators like
Auysha Muhayya, born in
Afghanistan, who fled with
her family as refugees to
America, and now, as a language teacher, helps
open her students to new
cultures. So we're very
pleased to have her here.
They are entrepreneurs
and lawyers, community leaders, members of our
military, and Muslim
American women serving
with distinction in
government. And that
includes a good friend, Huma Abedin, who has
worked tirelessly --
(applause) -- worked
tirelessly in the White
House, in the U.S. Senate,
and most exhaustingly, at the State Department,
where she has been
nothing less than
extraordinary in
representing our country
and the democratic values that we hold dear. Senator
Clinton has relied on her
expertise, and so have I.
The American people owe
her a debt of gratitude --
because Huma is an American patriot, and an
example of what we need
in this country -- more
public servants with her
sense of decency, her grace
and her generosity of spirit. So, on behalf of all
Americans, we thank you
so much.
These are the faces of Islam
in America. These are just a
few of the Muslim Americans who strengthen
our country every single
day. This is the diversity
that makes us Americans;
the pluralism that we will
never lose. And at times, we have to
admit that this spirit is
threatened. We’ve seen
instances of mosques and
synagogues, churches and
temples being targeted. Tonight, our prayers, in
particular, are with our
friends and fellow
Americans in the Sikh
community. We mourn
those who were senselessly murdered and
injured in their place of
worship. And while we
may never fully
understand what
motivates such hatred, such violence, the
perpetrators of such
despicable acts must know
that your twisted thinking
is no match for the
compassion and the goodness and the strength
of our united American
family.
So tonight, we declare with
one voice that such
violence has no place in the United States of America.
The attack on Americans of
any faith is an attack on
the freedom of all
Americans. (Applause.) No
American should ever have to fear for their safety in
their place of worship. And
every American has the
right to practice their faith
both openly and freely,
and as they choose. That is not just an
American right; it is a
universal human right. And
we will defend the freedom
of religion, here at home
and around the world. And as we do, we’ll draw on the
strength and example of
our interfaith community,
including the leaders who
are here tonight.
So I want to thank all of you for honoring us with
your presence, for the
example of your lives, and
for your commitment to
the values that make us
"one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all." God bless you. God bless
the United States of
America