[Vision2020] Barack Obama's Muslim Childhood

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Sat Oct 25 10:18:48 PDT 2008


Barack Obama's Muslim Childhood
by Daniel Pipes

As Barack Obama's candidacy comes under increasing scrutiny, his
account of his religious upbringing deserves careful attention for
what it tells us about the candidate's integrity.

Obama asserted in December, "I've always been a Christian," and he has
adamantly denied ever having been a Muslim. "The only connection I've
had to Islam is that my grandfather on my father's side came from that
country [Kenya]. But I've never practiced Islam."
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/12/22/531492.aspx

 In February, he claimed: "I have never been a Muslim. . . . other
than my name and the fact that I lived in a populous Muslim country
for 4 years when I was a child [Indonesia, 1967–71] I have very little
connection to the Islamic religion."
http://elections.jta.org/2008/02/25/obama-reaches-out-to-jewish-leaders/

"Always" and "never" leave little room for equivocation. But many
biographical facts, culled mainly from the American press, suggest
that, when growing up, the Democratic candidate for president both saw
himself and was seen as a Muslim.

Obama's Kenyan birth father: In Islam, religion passes from the father
to the child. Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. (1936–1982) was a Muslim who
named his boy Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. Only Muslim children are named
"Hussein".

Obama's Indonesian family: His stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, was also a
Muslim. In fact, as Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng explained to
Jodi Kantor of the New York Times: "My whole family was Muslim, and
most of the people I knew were Muslim."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/us/politics/30obama.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

An Indonesian publication, the Banjarmasin Post reports a former
classmate, Rony Amir, recalling that "All the relatives of Barry's
father were very devout Muslims."
http://www.indomedia.com/bpost/072006/9/depan/utama4.htm

The Catholic school: Nedra Pickler of the Associated Press reports
that "documents showed he enrolled as a Muslim" while at a Catholic
school during first through third grades.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html

Kim Barker of the Chicago Tribune confirms that Obama was "listed as a
Muslim on the registration form for the Catholic school."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0703250340mar25,1,6469645,print.story?ctrack=4&cset=true

A blogger who goes by "An American Expat in Southeast Asia" found that
"Barack Hussein Obama was registered under the name 'Barry Soetoro'
serial number 203 and entered the Franciscan Asisi Primary School on 1
January 1968 and sat in class 1B. . . . Barry's religion was listed as
Islam."
http://laotze.blogspot.com/2007/01/tracking-down-obama-in-indonesia-part-3.html

The public school: Paul Watson of the Los Angeles Times learned from
Indonesians familiar with Obama when he lived in Jakarta that he "was
registered by his family as a Muslim at both schools he attended."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo

Haroon Siddiqui of the Toronto Star visited the Jakarta public school
Obama attended and found that "Three of his teachers have said he was
enrolled as a Muslim." Although Siddiqui cautions that "With the
school records missing, eaten by bugs, one has to rely on people's
shifting memories," he cites only one retired teacher, Tine Hahiyari,
retracting her earlier certainty about Obama's being registered as a
Muslim.
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/225233

Koran class: In his autobiography, Dreams of My Father, Obama relates
how he got into trouble for making faces during Koranic studies,
thereby revealing he was a Muslim, for Indonesian students in his day
attended religious classes according to their faith. Indeed, Obama
still retains knowledge from that class: Nicholas D. Kristof of the
New York Times, reports that Obama "recalled the opening lines of the
Arabic call to prayer, reciting them [to Kristof] with a first-rate
accent."
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/opinion/06kristof.html?_r=4&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

Mosque attendance: Obama's half-sister recalled that the family
attended the mosque "for big communal events." Watson learned from
childhood friends that "Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the
local mosque." Barker found that "Obama occasionally followed his
stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers." One Indonesia friend,
Zulfin Adi, states that Obama "was Muslim. He went to the mosque. I
remember him wearing a sarong" (a garment associated with Muslims).

Piety: Obama himself says that while living in Indonesia, a Muslim
country, he "didn't practice [Islam]," implicitly acknowledging a
Muslim identity. Indonesians differ in their memories of him. One,
Rony Amir, describes Obama as "previously quite religious in Islam."
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/12/23/voter-asks-obama-about-muslim-background/

Obama's having been born and raised a Muslim and having left the faith
to become a Christian make him neither more nor less qualified to
become president of the United States. But if he was born and raised a
Muslim and is now hiding that fact, this points to a major deceit, a
fundamental misrepresentation about himself that has profound
implications about his character and his suitability as president.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apr. 29, 2008 update: This article builds on two prior ones on the
matter of Barack Obama and Islam. First, "Was Barack Obama a Muslim?"
considered the implications of his Muslim childhood; second,
"Confirmed: Barack Obama Practiced Islam" responded to a critique of
the first article. This third one brings the evidence together in a
single place.

Aug. 25, 2008 update: I review the confusion of Muslim reactions to
Obama in "Barack Obama through Muslim Eyes."
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/5544



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