Ilhan Omar recites Islamic prayer at 'multi-faith' event in Catholic church in throwback video she posted on Thanksgiving
To celebrate Thanksgiving, Rep Ilham Omar (D-MN) posted a throwback video of her reciting an Islamic prayer at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Washington, DC, during a service she attended in January.
The event that was described as a "multi-faith" gathering had a number of high profile attendees, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Rep. Donna Shalala (D-FL) and more.
"Alhamdulillah [praise be to Allah] for the opportunity to serve my constituents, to care for my children and have a wonderful love in my life," Omar captioned the video.
"This is a prayer I read on the start of Congress and feel grounded in its blessings. Thank you all for standing with me and for our progressive movement!" she added.
The video showed the freshman lawmaker taking the stage at the event and reciting part of an Islamic prayer. "There is a prayer in Islam that says, 'Allah, put courage into my heart, and take away all that might hinder serving you'," Omar shared in the video.
"Free my tongue to proclaim your goodness, that all may understand me. Give me friends to advise and help me, that by working together our efforts may bear abundant fruit," she continued.
"And, above all, let me constantly remember that my actions are worthless unless they are guided by your hand. Allah, may everything that I do start well and finish well. Sustain me with your power," she added.
Omar has come under fire for proclaiming "Israel has hypnotized the world" and stating, "Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel" in a now-deleted tweet from 2012.
After facing considerable backlash for her comments, the Democratic representative has backtracked her comments and attributed her remarks to ignorance.
The issue got media attention after President Donald Trump publicly slammed Omar for her anti-semitic comments, which prompted Israel's government to deny her and Michigan representative Rashida Tlaib entry to their country in August this year.
She held a press conference following the ban, where she told reporters: "When you are a United States citizen, your president, your ambassadors, your state department [work] on your behalf."
"They defend you and fight for your right to freedom of speech [and] to freedom of movement. To have an administration and a president and an ambassador that is not doing that puts fear in many people’s hearts," she shared.
Omar added: "We must be asking, as Israel's ally, that Netanyahu stop the expansion of settlements on Palestinian land and ensure full rights for Palestinians if we are to give them aid."