MINNEAPOLIS, 18 September 2006 — Keith Ellison, who could become the first Muslim to win a seat in the US Congress, is a former Catholic who says both religions and family roots in the civil rights movement shaped a fiery liberal philosophy.
The chance to make history thrust the 43-year-old lawyer into the spotlight last week when he won the Democratic nomination to run for the US House of Representatives.
Ellison’s faith hardly came up in the campaign in a heavily Democratic district but his former ties to controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan were discussed.
Ellison said he had renounced Farrakhan and his group long ago because of their “bigoted and anti-Semitic ideas.” But the issue may not die down.
His Republican opponent, Alan Fine, said after the primary he was “personally offended, as a Jew, that we have a candidate like this running for US Congress.” Fine called Ellison a follower of the “known racist” Farrakhan who is a person who “believes that Jews are the scourge of the earth.” Ellison told the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas in a letter in May he got involved with Farrakhan 11 years ago because he cared about personal responsibility and self-sufficiency among black men.
He said he “wrongly dismissed” concerns a Jew, I would always have concerns about Farrakhan, but I never felt Keith shared those views. It just never occurred to me that Keith Ellison would be hostile to the Jewish community or anti-Semitic,” he said.
Ellison worships at Masjid An-Nur, a mosque in Minneapolis that is undergoing a $1.5 million renovation to give it a dome and minaret.
Imam Markram El-Amin said Ellison attended the mainstream Muslim services “as often as he can.” Ellison was raised a Catholic in Detroit and converted to Islam while attending university. He says his “strength and moral courage” come from both religions.
“I am inspired by the Qur’an’s message of an encompassing divine love and a deep faith life every day,” he said.
His grandfather risked lynching to work registering black voters in Louisiana. Ellison said that “helped inspire my commitment to justice and equal rights.” Ellison is a heavy favorite to win the November election. He would also be the first black Minnesotan ever elected to a federal position.
Zafar Siddiqui, president of the Islamic Resource Group in Edina, Minnesota, said, “The Muslim community feels a sense of empowerment and inclusion from this race. The realization that there is a place for them at the table is very edifying and constructive development.”
