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Chaplain LTC Abdul Rasheed Muhammad Addresses Gathering at Pentagon Iftar

Written by: Brother Saleem Abdul-Mateen for the Muslim Journal

O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you that you may learn self-restraint.  Holy Qur’an 2:264, The Heifer.

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic (lunar) calendar. Historically it is the month in which the Qur’an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, PEACE be upon him.

In 2010 it is the month in which more than 1 billion Muslims fast from daybreak to sunset.  Iftar or fast breaking at sunset is performed nightly. As the national Commander for the Muslim American Veterans Association I was invited to attend the Iftar held at the Pentagon. Lieutenant Colonel Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad was to give the keynote address. Chaplain Muhammad was affirmed into the U.S. Army as the first Islamic Chaplain in the U.S. Armed Forces at the Pentagon on 3 December 1993.

 In his opening remarks from his talk “Diversity Is Our Strength” Chaplain Muhammad quoted a verse from the Qur’an.

Al-Hujurat (The Dwellings)

49:13(Asad) O men! Behold,We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware.

The Chaplain prefaced his remarks with comments about the controversy over the proposal to build a mosque two blocks away from “Ground Zero” in Manhattan. He went on to quote the Prophet Muhammad (SAS)in his last sermon:

 “All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab has any superiority over a black, nor does a black have any superiority over a white except by piety and good action”.

 The Iftar was attended by several distinguished guest from various countries in the Muslim world including Oman, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq and American dignitaries. Chaplain Muhammad stated that:

 The Blessed month of Ramadan is time for reflection, a time to demonstrate our gratitude to ALLAH (SWA) through giving in charity in its many forms.

Time to exercise Patience and Perseverance of whatever we must endure.

The time to remain true to the best of what we were created to be, that is our good human nature, that was created by GOD Almighty.

I found it interesting to note that he cited an early quote on Religious Diversity from the Presbytery of Hanover, VA in their first General Assembly on October 7, 1776 in his conclusion.

“In this enlightened age and in a land where all of every denomination are united in the most strenuous efforts to be free, we hope and expect that our representatives will cheerfully concur in removing every species of religious, as well as physical bondage. Certain it is that every argument for civil liberty gains additional strength when applied to liberty in the concerns of religion; and there is no argument in favor of establishing the Christian religion but what may be pleaded, with equal propriety, for establishing the tenets of Mohammed by those who believe in the Al Coran” (The Annals of America, Vol. II, Section: 109, pg 454)