ISNA Commemorates President Obama’s Inauguration on Martin Luther King Day

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) joins our fellow Americans and world leaders in congratulating Barack Obama on his inauguration to a second term as the President of the United States.  It is fitting that this inauguration takes place on the same day that our nation remembers Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the legacy he left us. In these past four years, President Obama has taken several important steps, such as expanding the White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to improve outreach to minority communities across the United States. He also made progress internationally when he outlined a new beginning for U.S.-Muslim World relations in his 2009 speech in Cairo.  Throughout his first term, President Obama has struggled to address a number of challenges, such as the economic downturn, climate change, and inadequate access to health care.  While much more work needs to be done, we congratulate him for some of his efforts thus far. The next four years will be a pivotal time to continue efforts to boost the economy, prevent hate crimes and gun violence, and address a number of other critical issues. We ask all Americans to join us in praying that President Obama provides the nation with outstanding leadership during this next term, acting with conscience and compassion for all people and upholding the rights of the people he serves. Throughout his second term, the Islamic Society of North America prays that he will further Dr. King’s dream for justice and peace by addressing a number of pressing issues that our world faces.  Among other things, we urge President Obama and his Administration to bring about the following, with a reminder of Dr. King’s words:

• Take measures to prevent racially and religiously based discrimination and violence across the country, especially among members of federal and local law enforcement

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

• Provide more effective and robust poverty assistance for those still struggling from the economic downturn

“True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. ”

• Enact strong legislation to curb gun violence

“By our readiness to allow arms to be purchased at will and fired at whim, by allowing our movie and television screens to teach our children that the hero is one who masters the art of shooting and the technique of killing, by allowing all these developments, we have created an atmosphere in which violence and hatred have become popular pastimes.”

• Close the prison at Guantanamo Bay

“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”

• Comprehensively address climate change by reducing pollution, supporting clean energy solutions, and preserving our national resources

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

• Bring about comprehensive immigration reform

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” We look forward to working with the President and his Administration on these and other issues to strengthen our union and better our world.