Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir wasn't old enough to vote last November but on Tuesday night she sat at President Obama's left elbow, breaking her Ramadan fast, after he introduced her as "an inspiration to all of us."
Abdul-Qaadir, the 18-year-old Massachusetts standout headed for the University of Memphis, was asked to stand as Obama told her story to a group of about 70 invited guests in the State Dining Room of The White House. The dinner was the traditional Muslim iftar, the breaking of the daylong fast at sunset.
Speaking from a podium, Obama took note of several elected leaders and members of his cabinet, and to the mother of a slain Muslim American soldier, then began speaking about Abdul-Qaadir.
"She's not even 5-5," he said, scanning the room. "Where is Bilqis?"
"Right here," she said.
"Right here. Stand up Bilqis. I want everybody to know. She's got heels on. She's 5-5 ... She recently told a reporter, 'I'd like to really inspire a lot of young Muslim girls if they want to play basketball. Anything is possible. They can do it too.' As an honors student, as an athlete on her way to Memphis, Bilqis is an inspiration not simply to Muslim girls; she's an inspiration to all of us."
Abdul-Qaadir said afterward that she was surprised that the president singled her out in his remarks. "Just for me to be next to him was, like, thrilling. It was the time of my life, it felt like."
And what did they talk about over dinner? "We kind of talked about me challenging him to a game of H-O-R-S-E ... He said, 'You look a little bit too quick.' And he was like, 'We should play sometime.'"
The dinner of organic chicken, potato and leek puree, peas and oranges with lemon sorbet was preceded by a reception in the Grand Foyer of the White House where liveried waiters served dates and fruit juice.
Before the dinner, Abdul-Qaadir admitted being "just blown away" by the invitation, received only last Friday. She said she hadn't decided exactly what she wanted to say to the president, but planned to give him what she said is the best English translation of the Quran, the Muslim holy book.
In his eight-minute remarks, Obama noted that there is a tradition of holding iftar dinners at the White House. "Tonight's iftar is a ritual that's also being carried out this Ramadan at kitchen tables and mosques in all 50 states," Obama said. "Islam, as we know, is part of America."
Muslims fast during the daylight hours of the month-long holiday period of soul-searching and reflection so, for an athlete like Abdul-Qaadir, that means a big breakfast before dawn.
The 5-4 freshman was recruited from the new Leadership Charter School in Springfield, Mass., after she and six siblings were home-schooled by their mother. Playing in a head scarf and with arms and legs covered, she was the Western Massachusetts Player of the Year, was part of The Boston Globe's All-Dream Team and had scored a career 3,070 points from eighth grade to graduation this year.
(Contact Bartholomew Sullivan of The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., at sullivanb(at)shns.com.)
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