The Obamas are expecting about 120 guests, including elected officials, religious and grassroots leaders in the Muslim-American community, and leaders of other faiths.
Word already leaked that Arizona Cardinals safety Hamza Abdullah and Minnesota Vikings safety Husain Abdullah were excused from practice to attend the White House iftar. The brothers drew national attention last year for fasting from food and drink throughout Ramadan (which coincides with National Football League training camps), a challenge for athlete on long, hot days.
“I’m still in shock over it,” Hamza Abdullah told the Arizona Republic. “I’m still waiting to get to the airport and they say, ‘OK, it’s fake.’ ”
Other guests include Rep. Keith Ellison (D) of Minnesota, the first Muslim elected to Congress, and Rep. André Carson (D) of Indiana, who is also Muslim.
Attendees in past iftars have included Dalia Mogahed, the director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies; Farah Pandith, the State Department’s special representative to Muslim communities; Ambassador Akber Ahmed, a professor of Islamic studies at American University; and Ingrid Mattson, the director of the Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut.
