Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on Friday shared a tweet with part of a prayer from the Quran, which literally translated to "We belong to Allah and to Allah we shall return."
Inna lilahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. This is chilling news to wake up to. In the face of this horror, I’m mourning with, and holding our community extra close today.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 15, 2019
We must not live in fear. I will be at Jumu’ah today and I hope others will too. Jummah Mubarak.
The Hill wrote a piece about Omar's tweet, which was literally nothing more than a translation of what she said.
Ilhan Omar shares Muslim verse after New Zealand mosque shootings: ‘We must not live in fear” https://t.co/BRzmJ78uma pic.twitter.com/NHmjETh9iL
— The Hill (@thehill) March 15, 2019
Omar seemed to take offense to the article because she felt she was being singled out. At the end of the tweet where she slammed The Hill, Omar included another short Muslim prayer about redemption. "I seek forgiveness from Allah," is what it translates to.
What is a “Muslim verse”?
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 16, 2019
Why did you have a need to signal it out?
And more importantly, are Muslims not allowed to say a prayer for our dead?
This is lazy and “othering”. Do better!
Astaghfirullah ??????? https://t.co/B8otmRHZzh
There was nothing offensive about what The Hill wrote. Absolutely nothing. All they did was share what Omar said and where it came from.
From their piece:
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Friday expressed support for victims of a mass shooting in New Zealand, tweeting that the devastating attack that killed an estimated 49 people in Christchurch would not force Muslims to "live in fear."
Omar, who along with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) is one of the first two Muslim women elected to the House, tweeted that she would attend traditional Friday prayers and urged others to do so as well.
"Inna lilahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. This is chilling news to wake up to. In the face of this horror, I’m mourning with, and holding our community extra close today," Omar wrote.
"We must not live in fear. I will be at Jumu’ah today and I hope others will too. Jummah Mubarak," she added.
Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) have both said we live in a Judeo-Christian nation, because it's true. The majority of Americans practice some branch of Christianity. Very few of us know prayers from the Quran. Stating that fact shouldn't be frowned upon. Journalism serves to keep people informed and, in some cases, educate readers on other topics. In this case, The Hill informed readers about something they, more than likely, new nothing about.
Omar wants to continually to push this theory that everyone is against her because she's Muslim, which is the furthest thing from the truth. People have condemned her anti-Semitic tropes. No one has said anything about her faith. If anything, she has been persecuting people for their faith.
Do better, Ilhan Omar. Do better!
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