By Lea Terhune, USINFO (U.S. Department of State) Staff
Writer
Representative Keith Ellison
says his Muslim faith “opens doors”
Washington – Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison
is surprised that his Muslim faith became an issue during his successful
campaign for a congressional seat.
“I never bring it up,” he told USINFO,
although he discusses it when asked. His first impulse was to downplay religion
in favor of discussing the issues, which are his priority. Now he freely
discusses Islam, “because it may have the effect of building understanding. I
hope it does.”
Ellison, a Democrat and the first Muslim elected to
the U.S. Congress, says he was elected for his values. “I have to continue to
elevate the common good, the public interest, education, health, peace. These
are the things that they want me to work on,” he said. By electing him, he said,
his constituents meant, “We don’t really care what your religion is. This is
what we are into, if you can promote and execute and advocate these things, you
can represent us.” (See related article.)
His values derive from his Christian upbringing and
Islam, which he has practiced for nearly 25 years. “The values that underlie
Islam are not unique to Islam. They are shared by all faith traditions. Belief
in charity, in giving to others in need and facing adversity, the belief in
equality and justice -- there is no religion, including Islam, that has a
monopoly on these ideas,” he said.
Ellison said true Islamic values harmonize with the
democratic process. “These are universal ideas. In fact, they’re not just
compatible with democracy; they drive us toward a society in which there is
consultation, in which there is input and approval from the populace.” He asks,
“How can you have a just society where one person or only a limited set of
people make the laws for their benefit and yet other people who had no role in
making the law have to abide by it? That’s fundamentally unjust.”
He quoted from memory a Quranic verse, Surah 49:13:
“Oh humanity, we created you from a single pair, male and female, and fashioned
you into tribes and nations, so that you would know each other and get to know
each other and not hate and despise each other. Surely the most honored among
you is the one who is most righteous and just.”
“Now that is an English translation of the Quran
which essentially affirms the equality of men and women,” he said. Diversity
often brings conflict “as we engage in chauvinistic attitudes,” he said, but
actually is meant to “spark our curiosity about the difference so we would get
to know each other. And the differences are not so that we would find ways to
oppress and degrade each other.
“This is fundamental to Islam and fundamental to
democracy,” he said. Likewise, he added, the Quran says religion is a matter of
choice and not compulsion. “It should be free, voluntary and open.”
When mutual respect and justice are replaced by
dictatorship, he said, “It just means that we are putting our desire for
domination, power, money, hegemony above the Divine injunction that we should
love ye one another, love your neighbor as yourself.”
African Americans long have been attracted to Islam.
(See related article.)
As to why, Ellison offered, “[T]here are certain
inescapable American realities to look at. People want to be affirmed in their
humanity. And during Jim Crow, I think it’s fair to say it was not affirming of
African-American humanity.” So-called Jim Crow laws institutionalized
inequality, segregating blacks from whites, a situation the civil rights
movement fought to rectify.
His Minneapolis constituency includes diverse ethnic
groups, among them the largest Somali immigrant community in America, but the
people who voted him into office are “overwhelmingly white and Christian,”
descendants of Norwegians, Swedish and German immigrants.
When asked who has inspired him in his public
service, he immediately named the late Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, who
worked to involve young people, the poor and minorities in politics.
Although he admires Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm
X, John Brown and John F. Kennedy, he said, “I never met those people.” He knew
Wellstone. “I saw a real life, practical example of somebody who could combine
community, grassroots activism and electoral politics,” he continued.
“I used to think if you get elected to office that
you couldn’t maintain your value system. You’d get into that meat grinder and
get chewed up. You’d end up something else from what you went in. But he proved
it’s not true. You can do the right thing.”
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
... Payvand News - 2/6/07 ... --
