(RNS) The first Muslim elected to Congress has become the first sitting member of that body to travel to Mecca for the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest sites.
“It was transformative. It was a wonderful experience,” Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., told the Associated Press. “I learned a lot about myself, about my faith.”
Ellison traveled to the Saudi Arabian city for the annual pilgrimage attended by millions of Muslims from across the globe. He said he was impressed by how diverse Muslims were “kind of the same” as they made the pilgrimage together.
“You had people of all backgrounds, all races, all descriptions,” he said. “You had people there who were clearly well-to-do, you had people who were desperately poor.”
Ellison, D-Minn., had planned the trip for more than a year, his spokesman Rick Jauert told the Star Tribune newspaper. He didn’t expect that Congress would be addressing possible assistance for the auto industry in the midst of a tough economy.
“The plans were made not anticipating there would be a lame-duck session at all, and if there was, it wouldn’t be this late,” Jauert said. “He had let the speaker and majority leader know that he was going, and they were OK with that. If they knew they were going to bring up something on which his vote was essential, he probably wouldn’t have gone.”
Ellison, who was elected in 2006, was accompanied by members of his mosque, Jauert said, but his wife, who is Catholic, and two sons remained at home.
The congressman paid for the journey with his own funds.
“It was a personal trip, a pilgrimage,” Jauert said.
By Adelle M. Banks
Copyright 2008 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission
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posted December 16, 2008 at 5:55 pm
“U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn-r) takes his oath of office by swearing on a Holy Qur’an during a ceremonial swearing in with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (l) and his wife Kim (c) at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 4, in Washington, D.C. Ellison is the first Muslim elected as a U.S.”
posted December 16, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Quote: You had people of all backgrounds, races, all descriptions. You had well-to-do and people who were desperately poor.
Sounds like the Episcopal Church we belonged to in California in the 90′s.
posted December 16, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I’m not sure about you, cknuck, but I feel a lot more comfortable with him being sworn in using the Kuran. Sure he could be sworn in on a KJVB, but the oath wouldn’t mean a thing. I remember an athletics coach in high school use to have us pray. As an agnostic at the time, I had no problem with it, seeing as how I didn’t believe in a Judeo-Christian God, so I just ‘went along’. At least if he has taken a legitimate religious oath to Allah, then he’ll try and make good on it.
posted December 16, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Yes, what’s your point cknuck?
posted December 17, 2008 at 10:16 am
Well, that does it. Mr. Ellison will now never be able to run for president. The right wing nuts will say he was sworn in on the Koran and went to Mecca, and they will be right, in this instance. Of course, I don’t know why that matters, but that doesn’t seem to be important.
posted December 17, 2008 at 10:47 am
ck,
The Bible is not – as I have said before – a magic talisman of truth. It is a book – like any book – but this one is about the sotry of one people’s understanding of God’s role in human history. Compelling someone of another faith to use it for swearing in is inapporpriate. I am sure Jewish congress folk are not compelled to use the New Testament. What is wrong with using the Qur’an? Jesus is prominent in it, too.
Personally, I think swearing on any literature other than the Constitution is inappropriate. It is the Constitution they are promising to uphold, not any religious doctrine, dogma, or scripture. Some day we will mature enough as a nation to realize that and not misappropriate scripture for secular matters.
Meanwhile, does the Congressman get a new title? Would he now be Rep. Haj Ellison? That honorific is usually bestowed on any who have made the Hajj. I applaud him, bless him, and hope he represents only the beginning of a new acceptance and openness to Moslem participation in our national governance.
posted December 17, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Personally, I was impressed by the fact he used his own money for this trip, and didn’t pretend it was a trip to investigate terrorists or something in the Middle East.
Next, what difference does it make what book(books) if any, he was sworn into office on? If he felt Webster’s dictionary was “holy” then that would be fine.
I tend to agree with you, jestrfyl, that swearing on any book makes no sense. It has never made sense to me that a person who has to testify in a court has to “swear to tell the truth” on a Bible. What’s with that? It is just an object.
I wish this man the best,and am glad he was able to make his religious journey.