Recognizing Islam As One of the Great Religions of the World

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Green, Congressman Green, Chairman Green, Judge Green, Pastor Green, public servant Al Green.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my colleagues' resolution recognizing Islam as one of the great religions of the world.

I commend my friend, Representative Green, for honoring Islam. This action helps to honor the millions of Muslims of many different backgrounds who proudly call America home.

Mr. Speaker, as one of three Muslims currently serving in Congress, it is my great privilege to speak here today in the people's House about a special faith. Though we are a minority in this country, we have participated fully in the story of our Nation since its earliest days. Even before America's founding and our Declaration of Independence, this brilliant declaration enshrined freedom of faith and religion for all of us.

Today, there are Muslims in all parts of the country who are business owners, who are teachers, construction workers, engineers, lawyers, judges, elected officials.

The first Muslim in Congress, my friend, comes to mind--Keith Ellison. We now have sisters Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, and the list goes on, statewide and locally.

Throughout this COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Speaker, you would be hard- pressed to find a hospital in this great Nation without a Muslim healthcare worker on the front lines serving fellow Americans, not just in urban centers, but in suburbia, in rural parts of our country.

As more and more Muslims call America home, Mr. Speaker, we will continue working tirelessly, guided by our faith, to ensure our great country lives up to the principles of equality, compassion, and opportunity for all. Our faith keeps us motivated every day to advance these great goals.

Around the world, billions of Muslims are also engaged in this struggle, also using their faith as a guide. We have seen what has happened with Uighur Muslims. We are seeing the dispute in Kashmir. We are seeing conflict dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian question. And, sadly, we still see Muslims who endure hurtful stereotypes and discrimination on this journey.

But our faith teaches us to be bold, to be brave, and to always choose love over hate. We will not be deterred, Mr. Speaker.

I am a proud Muslim. I am a proud American. I am honored to be a member of a very diverse and growing global community, and I am thankful to live in a country that enshrines the right to practice this faith.

We wouldn't have the foundation for American Muslims in this country, Mr. Speaker, were it not for the contribution of African-American Muslims. Scholars say 30, 40, maybe even 50 percent of the slaves who were brought here from West Africa were Muslim.

We see Muslims as first responders. I was one of them. We see Muslims who were a part of responding to the call to fight against terrorism in the post-9/11 reality, oftentimes thwarting potential attacks that you will never hear about in the news. Muslims are on the front lines in our law enforcement community and in our intelligence services.

Muslims have been critical in this country with establishing Islam and promoting self-respect, self-determination, creating your own enterprises and businesses. We hear terms now like ``stay woke.'' I submit to you, Mr. Speaker, that that terminology came from the contributions and the foundations laid by African-American Muslims.

It began as a kernel in the inception of this country, and it started to blossom in the early 1920s and 1930s, during the Great Depression. During those times, you had variations of Islam that was not Arabized. Because if it was an Arab presenting Islam, it wouldn't have been attractive. It certainly wouldn't have been attractive to me.

But the Islam that was presented was created in a way to fight against the poison and toxicity of white supremacy. Now, you have a beautiful religion with an interfaith coalition with Christian brothers and sisters, Jewish brothers and sisters, Sikhs, Hindus, atheists, Buddhists, all coming together to make America a better place.

Now, some people are comfortable with talking about Islam, and in their critiques of Islam, they overlook the hypocrisy of their own faith. You cannot really call yourself a lover of God and show hate for others of a different faith. You cannot call yourself an elected official and a representative of the people if you are only committed to serving and representing one segment of the population. You certainly can't call yourself a true public servant without recognizing the contributions that have been made by this wonderful community.

I salute Representative Green for his bold leadership, for his visionary leadership, as a proud Christian man in the tradition of Jesus Christ, knowing that in my Father's house, there are many mansions.

To stand up and recognize the wonderful religion of Islam, I commend him, I thank him, because we are America.

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