By Talib I. Karim
Muslim Link Contributing Writer
At 33 years of age, Democrat Andre Carson, U.S. Representative for Indiana’s 7th Congressional District, has become the second Muslim in Congress.
The 7th Congressional District encompasses Indiana’s city of Indianapolis and Marion County. While it is unclear the percentage of Muslims that make up the new Congressman’s congressional district, according to the Muslim Alliance of Indiana there are approximately 280,000 Muslims throughout the Hoosier state (Indiana). Indianapolis is Indiana’s most populous city, the 13th largest in the U.S.
Just more than 10 years ago, Carson converted to Islam and today, he takes a seat next to Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim elected to Congress.
There are clear similarities between the first Muslims in Congress. Both are African Americans who converted to Islam in their youth and attend masaajid associated with Imam W. Deen Muhammad. In addition, Ellison of Minneapolis and Carson of Indianapolis both have wives who are educators. However, Carson’s election and first acts in office reveal distinctions between he and the senior Muslim in Congress. Unlike Ellison, Carson follows in the political footsteps of his grandmother, legendary Indiana politician, Julia Carson, who died in December while serving as a Member of Congress for over a decade.
Congressman Carson was raised in his grandmother’s home, as a Baptist. Regarding the Congressman’s path to Islam, a close relative admitted that he didn’t know what inspired the conversion of faith.
However, the Carson relative recounts that while Julia Carson was not a Muslim, she had an open attitude to Islam. In reflecting on his grandmother, Congressman Carson has stated “She was a Christian woman…[b]ut she had a universal nature.”
Andre Carson is not the first Muslim to benefit politically from Julia Carson. Muslim Judge David Shaheed (possibly the first in Indiana) also credits the late Congresswoman Carson as being his political patron. According to one report, several years ago Shaheed, who today serves as a Marion Superior Court Judge, shared his interest in running for public office with the senior Carson. Later, Shaheed was invited to Julia Carson’s home, where she had gathered together some other of Indianapolis’ movers and shakers. Shaheed was, however, caught by surprise when, “[s]he [Julia Carson] introduced me around the room as her candidate for judge,” recalled Shaheed. The rest is history. Coincidentally, Congressman Carson is married to Judge Shaheed’s daughter, Mariamma.
After Julia Carson’s death, Andre Carson announced his intentions to run in the special election to serve out the remainder of his grandmother’s term in Congress. In the months prior to her passing, the senior Carson laid the foundation for her grandson to succeed her in office. Just a month before, Julia Carson announced her plans to retire at the end of the current congressional session. Thereafter, according to media reports, the ailing Congresswoman began appealing to her colleagues in Congress to support her grandson‘s election bid.
At Mrs. Carson’s funeral, one senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus recalled being told by the senior Carson, “If you love me, send my seed.”
With the full support of his grandmother’s legacy, Carson won the March 11th special election. He outperformed his nearest opponent, Republican Jon Elrod, by more than 9000 votes or 10 percentage points.
Prior to his election, political observers were skeptical about Carson’s chances to succeed his grandmother in office, not because of his faith but because Carson was relatively new to politics. Before his March 11 election, Carson was just in his first term of service on the City of Indianapolis and Marion County City-County Council. Ironically, Carson’s City-County Council seat was previously held by another Muslim, Patrice Abduallah.
Yet, despite his recent victory, Congressman Carson is not out of the euphemistic “political woods.” Carson will face another round of elections in less than 60 days, before squaring off against a Republican, who many expect will be Elrod, Carson’s opponent in the March 11 election.
Unlike with his first election, in the May 6, 2008, Democratic Primary election, Carson has three seasoned contenders: State Rep. Carolene Mays, a newspaper publisher; former state health commissioner Woody Myers; and State Rep. David Orentlicher.
Carson’s looming election campaign is a chief concern for him and likely shaped his recent Congressional swearing-in ceremony, according to one Muslim political insider.
On March 13, 2008, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), officiated a ceremony in which Carson took his oath of office on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Following the official swearing-in, Carson gave his first statements as a new Member of Congress. Carson thanked all of his colleagues for their past service with his grandmother and pledged to carry on her legacy of fighting for the common man and woman. “Our working families, our seniors, our children and our troops are counting on us to stand up and take responsibility for the changes we need in our country,” said Congressman Carson. In addition, Carson joined the call of other Democrats to end the U.S. military presence in Iraq. Carson stated, “Overseas, we must honor and care for our brave troops. And the best way to honor them is to change our direction in Iraq, end this war, and bring our troops home.”
Finally, Carson, in keeping with his grandmother’s legacy, announced his support for legislation to reduce the tax burden on working families and the poor. In Carson‘s words, “I am proud that today, as my first official legislative action, I am signing on to [a] bill to provide property tax relief. This will help families in Indianapolis and those who have been hit hard with high taxes.”
After his speech, the new Muslim Congressman posed with the Speaker of the House for a photo shoot, in a mock up of his official swearing-in ceremony. Many recall that for his mock swearing-in, Congressman Ellison laid his hand upon the Quran rather than the Bible as is customary for many in Congress. Ellison’s decision to use the Quran drew a firestorm of criticism that threatened to tarnish the first Muslim elected to Congress, even before his first day on the job. Yet in an act of brilliance, Ellison diffused the brewing political controversy by using for the mock ceremony a copy of the Quran that was personally owned by former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, a signer of the United States Constitution.
For his own mock ceremony, Congressman Carson chose to place his hand on a copy of the United States Constitution, the same document he pledged to protect and defend in his actual swearing-in, moments earlier on the floor of the United States House of Representatives.
Carson’s use of the U.S. Constitution did not offend Muslim leaders on hand to witness the history-making occasion. Those in attendance included ISNA’s Washington Representative, Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed; Publisher of Azizah Magazine, Tayyibah Taylor; and Imam Yusef Saleem, Resident Imam of Masjid Muhammad in Washington, D.C.
Azizah Magazine’s Tayyibah Taylor views Carson’s decision as evidence of his inclusion-based critical thinking. Such thought process is even reflected in the history of the Prophet Muhammad (prayers be upon him) when he solved a dispute amongst tribes in building the Kaaba through a solution that enabled all the tribes to participate, said Taylor. Similar wisdom was used by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the treaty of Hudubiyya, in which many concessions were made, such as scratching the reference of Prophet Muhammad (prayers be upon him) being the Messenger of Allah.
Imam Saleem also appreciated the Hikma of Congressman Carson’s decision and noted that some scholars have found evidence that the United States Constitution may have been inspired by the constitution of Islam, the Quran. Further, Imam Saleem stated that Carson’s election, following that of Ellison, is proof of the growing acceptance of Islam by average Americans. “Since his [Carson’s] constituency is not majority Muslim, we see today that the common person is realizing that Muslims can help [him/her] cope with unemployment, home foreclosures, high gas prices…the issues that plague the common person.”
Also, Carson can personally relate to the economic pains suffered by many Americans. According to a relative, although Carson has been blessed with an opportunity to serve in Congress at a young age, the Congressman did not grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth. Congressman Carson has confirmed in previous media reports that, during his childhood, he and his family experienced significant financial hardship. In an article from the Indianapolis Star on February 28, he acknowledged that at their low point, when Andre says he was a preschooler, he and his mother wound up living in a homeless shelter.
With Carson’s personal life experiences, the political capital inherited from his grandmother, and the excellent example of Prophet Muhammad (prayers be upon him), America’s newest Muslim in Congress takes his place in history. And, according to Taylor of Azizah, Congressman is well equipped to advance what is right and stand up against the wrong.
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