The Daily Sigh

Trump's Iftar

President Donald Trump will host an iftar dinner at the White House next week to recognize the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to a White House official, a departure from last year’s decision not to host the traditional post-sundown meal.

The iftar dinner is scheduled for Wednesday. The White House official declined to provide a list of attendees.

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset and they break the fast with a meal known as an iftar.

The White House faced criticism last year for neglecting to host an iftar dinner, breaking with a long-standing tradition embraced by Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Imam Talib Shareef of the Nation’s Mosque in Washington, DC, told Newsweek at the time: “It is disappointing because that’s been a good tradition.”

"To stop it doesn’t send a good message. You get the chance to go golfing and all this other kind of stuff. How come you don’t have time for a population of your society that needs some assistance? The message that it sends is that we’re not that important.”

Trump’s decision not to hold an iftar last year came despite commenting on the campaign trail that it wouldn’t bother him to hold a White House iftar, as his predecessors had done.

Trump has a tense relationship with the Muslim community, as he has a long history of making inflammatory statements about Muslims. During his campaign, he told an interviewer, “I think Islam hates us.”

He repeatedly insinuated over the years that former President Barack Obama might be a Muslim, and in 2015 he said he would seriously consider closing mosques. Late that year, he issued his call for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” and as president he issued a series of travel bans that mostly targeted Muslim nations.

However, in a statement issued last month marking the start of Ramadan, Trump said, “Ramadan reminds us of the richness Muslims add to the religious tapestry of American life.

“Our Constitution ensures Muslims can observe Ramadan in accordance with the dictates of conscience and unimpeded by government. By doing so, the Constitution also furnishes varied opportunities for all Americans to deepen their understanding of the human soul,” he continued. “As so many people unite to celebrate Ramadan, Melania and I join in the hope for a blessed month.  Ramadan Mubarak.”

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Alhamdulillah, Fasting teaches us self-restraint, so I'll refrain from saying my real feelings about that guy right now lol. And in the spirit of fasting, I'm sure many many Muslims would abstain from attending this. Of course there will be some sellouts, and some people who claim they want to have a dialogue with him to make things better (but really it'll just be for themselves, not society or Muslims in America/worldwide and or anyone else).

Not to mention, we're almost guaranteed to have some controversy come from this. Trump or someone he lets speak will say something really offensive and demeaning, the sellouts in attendance will have no guts to speak out against it, and they'll probably be seated next to someone who should be there. He'll probably want to be surrounded by fellow Islamophobes and racists, I wouldn't be surprised if he boasts about moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and then blame the Palestinians for being murdered by the Israeli snipers and have a really condescending tone, and let's not forget his self praising and all that.

Blaaaaaaah. Skip.

(For the record, I've never been a fan of the WH Iftar thing under any president lol)