It’s great to see another successful effort made by the White House to reach out to the American Muslim community. In emphasizing the similarities between faiths, celebrating as an interfaith community and in honoring American Muslims for their contributions the President himself can set a good example for creating a sense of community between the many different faiths in the United States. For too long, religion has been used to justify violence and hatred around the world. By improving dialogue and communication between different religious communities, we have the opportunity to try and reverse this trend.

http://tanenbaumcenter.wordpress.com/

Sheesh, why don't you just propose to him. Do they actually pay you to write pieces like this?

prophetofdoom.net/Islamic_Quotes_Racism.Islam

and hijab is not cultural , otherwise it wouldnot be followed by malaysians and pakistanis who are non arabs

As a committed person of faith, it is amazing how scared and prejudiced so many of your readers are. Stop and think, to trot out tired labels and accusations, it shows such fear and trembling on the part of your these respondents.

I for one commend the Administration for realizing our shared humanity and ideals.

Unfortunately, the fearful displays from these commenters only demonstrate how a variety of religions - Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic - are plagued with bigots and low lifes.

God bless, shalom, salaam and have a nice day Mr. Patel, good work once again.

I would like to report Mr Eboo Patel's article as deeply offensive to all of Islam's innocent victims. Mr Patel: please stop offending our humanity and our clear thinking. You are either ignorant of what Islam stands for or have chosen to be fully deceitful. In either case you do not deserve to report for The Washington Post.

As the senselessness and brutality of Muslim terror violence grows, so does some Muslims' (like Mr. Patel) respect for Islam. It almost seems with each terrorist act, Muslims get bolder and prouder.

Fromtexas and Eboohoo,

You wrote, "I have been reading in a Quran translation which talks about solidarity between "people of the book" (ie. Jews, Christians and Muslims)."

How the he*l is that even close to tolerance? The majority of the world is Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Zoroastrian, etc...NOT of the Abrahamic faiths.

Hmmm. You found some reference to "solidarity" between people of the book and we are supposed to be impressed by that as evidence of tolerance. This is evidence of the depth of intolerance that is in the heart of Islam and Christianity. Fix the intolerance and supremacism that Islam and Christianity have brought and polluted the whole world of spirituality.

Eboohoo: there you go again and again
"I have often said that Islam and America were made for each other."
America's greatness is based on principles not known in Islam. When Islam corrects its fundamental flaws of intolerance, it will finally find peace. You and your Hindu Indian ancestors will also find peace of mind.

Mr. Patel - good luck to you as you work on building bridges between Muslims and Jews/Christians/Hindus/others in the US. No doubt many muslim countries are a lot less tolerant than America. But that is not consistent with what I have been reading in a Quran translation which talks about solidarity between "people of the book" (ie. Jews, Christians and Muslims).

WHile current muslim leaders may not get it, I am glad to see that American Muslims like you are going back to the basics.

Keep it up! And, ignore the ignorant bigots who are in fact no different from muslim-bigots that they rant against.

The most liberal nation on Earth and the most intolerant religion on Earth are made for each other? Mr. Patel, you must have been smoking something when you penned this article. America and Islam are definitely NOT made for each other.
Islam is all about martyrdom, flogging, beheading, threats, and now, suicide bombings. Islam and religious intolerance are two sides of the same coin. Please publish the same article for an audience in an Islamic country. You would probably be beheaded.

Coloradodog,

Hmmm, read the numbers of innocents killed by or because of the bloody theology of Islam. They change daily as noted in the partial listing of dead body counts.

Most majority Muslim societies/nations are extremely intolerant. The Paki Musilms (formerly Indian Muslims-whom Patel described as very tolerant and compassionated) want death penalty for leaving Islam and insulting mohamed (recent poll).

Most Muslim nations call themselves "Islamic republics" thus openly insulting any non-Muslims still living there. Most of them have severe restrictions on how women dress, gays, non-Muslims...

"I have often said that America and Islam were made for each other". - Patel. " America is NOT a Christian nation." - Obama.
National Prayer breakfast - Obama:"No time for that!" Ramadan dinner - Obama: "Im starved!" Finding a home Christian Church - Obama: "Christian Church? Can't find one in DC that damns America!"

Meanwhile,
(CNN) -- A judge has ordered mediation in the case of a teen girl who says her family threatened to kill her for converting from Islam to Christianity. Rifqa Bary, 17, ran away from her family in Columbus, Ohio, in July. She claims her father threatened to kill her.

The teenager, in a sworn affidavit, claims her father, 47, was pressured by the mosque the family attends in Ohio to "deal with the situation." In the court filing, Rifqa Bary stated her father said, "If you have this Jesus in your heart, you are dead to me!" The teenager claims her father added, "I will kill you!"

Here's what the author leaves OUT of his story...
-- Guest list to include leader of unindicted co-conspirator organization ISNA's Ingrid Mattson
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/09/01/ramadan_dinner_at_the_white_ho.html?nav=rss_email/components
-- this is the same Ingrid Mattson who appeared to defend the idea of an Islamic supremacist caliphate in an October 2001 CNN chat by stating that "the overthrowing of the caliphate... was a plan of European powers for many years. This deprived the Muslim world of a stable and centralized authority, and much of the chaos that we're living in today is the result of that."
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/COMMUNITY/10/18/mattson.cnna/
-- you know, the same "caliphate" that Barack Obama stated he opposed in August 2007, when he stated that America's enemies "seek to create a repressive caliphate"
http://www.barackobama.com/2007/08/01/the_war_we_need_to_win.php

Islam is so great and accepting. I guess thats why Christians are so welcome in the diverse and accepting countries of Iran, Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, etc...

Muslims are wonderfull. I want to see an Easter celebration at Mecca. A heartwarming affair for all to witness.

Torture for CCNL1: Take away his ability to "cut and paste"

Thank you Mr. Patel for this post ... I saw a part of Pres Obamas speech online and I thought it was a beautiful expression of the potential of Muslims in America.

Ramadan is such a joyful time for Muslims, its nice to see posts like this describing that spirit!

Mr.Patel should write science fiction and leave religious matters alone.

"I have often said that Islam and America were made for each other. Both have a profound emphasis on binding together that which was previously separated."

Nice joke, Sir.

Mr. Patel noted:

"I have often said that Islam and America were made for each other."

Give us a break!!!

The reality of Islam and how it is draining the world of resources by its bloody theology using a partial body count as evidence:

1a) 179 killed in Mumbai/Bombay, 290 injured

1b) Assassination of Benazir Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh

2) 9/11, 3000 mostly US citizens, 1000’s injured

3) The 24/7 Sunni-Shiite centuries-old blood feud currently being carried out in Iraq, US Troops 3,469 killed in action, 871 non-combat and 93,040 – 101,537 Iraqi civilians killed, http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ and
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf

4) Kenya- In Nairobi, about 212 people were killed and an estimated 4000 injured; in Dar es Salaam, the attack killed at least 11 and wounded 85.[2]

5) Bali-in 2002-killing 202 people, 164 of whom were foreign nationals, and 38 Indonesian citizens. A further 209 people were injured.

6) Bali in 2005- Twenty people were killed, and 129 people were injured by three bombers who killed themselves in the attacks.

7) Spain in 2004- killing 191 people and wounding 2,050.

8) UK in 2005- The bombings killed 52 commuters and the four radical Islamic suicide bombers, injured 700.

9) Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, US troops killed in action, 562, 176 non-combat. It is also estimated that 20-30,000 Afghan civilians have been killed in this war against the Muslim/Sunni Taliban.

Mr.OBAMA ıs a optımıstıc leader.He knows
that a serıous muslim actıvıty ıs goıng on
to convert USA.populatıon to the müslim.
there are many person ınusa who have been
converted to müslım.
İslam has obsolute laws..that ıs not sımılar to chrıstıanıty..call SHARIA.
THESE ARE WELL DESCRIBED IN QURAN VERSES.
I DONT ADVİCE TO READ THEM.
So ıts a polıtıcal ısue.Mr.Obama mustbe
ellect..enother 5 year.

Hijab/scarf/veil has nothing to do with Islam, so why make it a symbol of Muslims?

"I have often said that Islam and America were made for each other." Really? It's nice to have Iftar at the White House. Just think about celebrating a Christian, Jewish or Hindu festival or religious ceremony by a head of state in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Oman, Yeman, UAE, Somalia, Libya, Sudan, Qatar, Bahrain or Malaysia. In some of these Islamic countries, you can be legally executed if you convert from Islam to other religions or severely punished if you possess any religious texts or articles. So, where is the comparison?