US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ‘refuses to hold Ramadan event’ in break with tradition

Donald Trump’s Secretary of State has refused to host an event to mark Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, seemingly breaking with a long bipartisan tradition.

Rex Tillerson turned down a request to hold a reception to coincide with the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the end of the month of fasting, according to officials.

Since 1999, Republican and Democratic secretaries of state have nearly always hosted either the reception or an iftar dinner to break the day’s fast during Ramadan.

Mr Tillerson turned down a request from the State Department’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs to host the Eid reception, two unnamed US officials said.

The Office of Religion and Global Affairs requested in April that the Secretary of State delivered remarks at an Eid reception this year, and suggested a two-week range of dates in July.

The event would serve to “highlight State Department initiatives and the importance of Muslim engagement”, its memo said.

Several weeks later, the office was alerted that Mr Tillerson had declined the request. His rejection of the request suggests there are no plans this year for any high-profile Ramadan events at the State Department.

Members of Congress, Muslim community leaders, diplomats from Islamic countries and senior US officials usually attend the State Department’s Ramadan event, a symbol of the US government’s diplomatic efforts with Muslim countries and people.

Muslim activists have previously accused President Donald Trump’s administration of a hostile attitude toward Islam, encapsulated by its attempts to ban citizens of several Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

Mr Trump referenced terrorism repeatedly in his statement issued this week commemorating Ramadan. The Trump administration has said it opposes only Islamist militants, rather than Islam itself.

Ramadan 2017 began on the evening of Friday 26 May, with the month of fasting and prayer for Muslims truly getting underway on Saturday.

Asked to comment on Mr Tillerson declining to host an Eid reception in June, a State Department spokesman said: “We are still exploring possible options for observance of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the month of Ramadan.

“US ambassadors are encouraged to celebrate Ramadan through a variety of activities, which are held annually at missions around the world.”

Aides pointed to Mr Trump’s visit this month to Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, where he addressed the leaders of more than 50 Muslim countries.

Former US diplomat Farah Pandith, who helped plan Ramadan events at the White House and State Department during the Bush and Obama administrations, said breaking with tradition could send a signal “that it is not as important to this administration to engage with Muslims”.

Mr Tillerson issued a statement on Friday to mark the start of Ramadan, which he called “a month of reverence, generosity, and self-reflection”.

Several prominent Muslim-American groups in the Washington area who are normally invited to the Ramadan event told Reuters they had yet to receive an invitation from the State Department, which they said was unusual.

“If they’re having one, we haven’t been invited,” said Rabiah Ahmed of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Washington. A representative for her group has been invited to the State Department event in the past, she added.

Mr Trump’s administration has had a fraught relationship with Muslims. As a presidential candidate, the Republican urged a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US, called for more surveillance of mosques and warned that radical Muslims were “trying to take over our children”.

The President has since toned down his rhetoric and courts have halted his temporary travel ban on people from six Muslim majority countries.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright started the tradition of America’s top diplomat hosting a public event for Ramadan 18 years ago. The sitting secretary of state usually gives remarks on the meaning of the holy month.

White House officials did not respond to a request for comment on whether they would continue the tradition this year of hosting a Ramadan-related event at the White House.