Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem
(In the name of God, the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful)

Dr. Rice, honored guests, KARAMAH family,
Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Peace be with you.

You just heard my niece, Faiza El-Hibri recite a translation of the beautiful meanings of two verses in the Qur’an. There are many more that call for dialogue, communication and connection. For example, one verse calls for kalimatin sawaa’ (a word of equity) with the people of the book (Christians and Jews). Another tells us that words can change the hearts of others towards us. So, today, as American Muslims increasingly experience bias and hate speech, we in KARAMAH turn the other cheek and call for more not less dialogue.

To those who condemned our religion and slandered our Prophet, we say, let us have a word of equity with you. Let us tell you about our religion and yours. For you too come from an Abrahamic religion, which believes in loving even your enemies. So as we hear you speak ill of us, we remember your devout predecessors in this country who struggled for freedom of conscience, not only theirs, but those of others, until it became part of the First Amendment of our Constitution.

It is this philosophy of communication which allowed KARAMAH to raise important issues with the President of this country on two occasions. First, we asked that proper guidelines for charitable giving be provided by the Administration, so that Muslims can fulfil their zakat (tithing) obligation. Second, we asked that the President speak out about our religion as he did only few days after September 11, 2001. On the second occasion with the President, not only did the President remember that we had broached these matters with him, but assured us that the first was resolved. As it turned out, the charitable giving guidelines were issued as we were discussing the matter. On the second issue, two days later in a meeting with the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Anan, the president spoke out about Islam, as a religion of Peace and Compassion. Dialogue works.