Barack Obama's Muslim Childhood

The Middle East Forum ^ | April 29, 2008 | Daniel Pipes

[Paleo Conservative]

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." 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."

"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." 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."

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."

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."

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.

[Paleo Conservative]

Barack Obama's Catholic
school in Jakarta.




Barack Obama's public
school in Jakarta.

[Piquaboy]

Once a Muslim always a Muslim. We do not need a stinking Mooselimb as president.

[Tex Pete]

Awwww, c’mon. What’s wrong with a little taqqiya every now and then?! [/s]

[Eva]

A reporter from the Washington Post called me to ask about my posts on FreeRepublic, regarding Obama’s Muslim background. He said that I was one of the earliest people to point it out, asked if I still considered it important. I told him, no not particularly, except for the fact that he is lying about it.

[roses of sharon]

A reporter from the WP reads FR? How did he get your phone #?

[Eva]

He figured out who my husband was through posts that I had made on FreeRepublic and called him at work.

[freespirited]

Indonesians Report Obama Was More Active as a Muslim than He Admits

You may have to scroll down a little to find the article.

I agree with you; the most significant issue here is his lying, not his childhood religion. IMO, Obama's talent for lying is at least as extraordinary as his oratory.

[TomGuy]

except for the fact that he is lying about it.

Isn't there something in the Koran that makes it permissible to 'lie to the infidels' whenever necessary?

[That comes to mind every time I read of or hear of Obama denying his father's religion. Curiously, Rev. Wright seems to have had significant studies of Islam. So, is it just co-winky-dink that both the Rev. Wright and Obama have ties with Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam? Obama has/had some NoI members as advisers, and Rev. Wright recently had NoI members as bodyguards.]

[GourmetDan]

"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."

What is it that the moslems do to someone who has become apostate?

[Tex Pete]

"Isn't there something in the Koran that makes it permissible to 'lie to the infidels' whenever necessary?" Yep. Taqiyya.

[maine-iac7]

I understand that even when he was enrolled in the Catholic school, he was listed as muslim?

We all generally know this - but the sheeple must be reminded and he must be made to answer - as well as why the sounds of the call to prayers at, was it sunrise or sunset?, is the most beautiful sound in the world? He said that in the not to distant past...

and we need to FREEP Hannity, Rush - et al = I give up on O’Reilly - he's too wishy washy = wimps out when it really counts

[Big Horn]

He figured out who my husband was through posts that I had made on FreeRepublic and called him at work.

That is scary to me about your privacy.
I have no faith in BHO and have many questions about his credibility. How such a shady person could be one step away from being CIC is stunning. So much for the MSM and freedom of press. They are worthless.

[PhilDragoo]

[Eva]

Have you heard about the Obamometer? When Obama was at Harvard, the other students were amused at Obama's talent for brown nosing the professors, and said that he set the standard for being able to tell a professor what he wanted to hear, so they gaged everyone one else on the Obamometer. If a student was really doing a good snow job on the prof, they were said to be a ten on the Obamometer.

In other words, sincerity is not one of Obama's best traits. Usually though, it is more like lawyerly obfuscation than out and out lie. He is out and out lying about his Islamic background though.

Frankly, I don't think that Obama considers himself to be a Muslim. I don't think that he has considered himself a Muslim since his childhood. I think that he considers himself an atheist. So, that makes all the stories about being a Christian a lawyerly obfuscation. Black Liberation Theology claims to be Christian, but it is only christian.

[roses of sharon]

Wow, too bad the Washington Post can't do such investigative reporting on B. Hussein Obama, or OBL’s whereabouts, or Saddam's WMD movements, or Iran's nuke capabilities.....

Instead of an American citizen's posts on a political forum.

[Eva]

Yes, I stupidly gave out information on a public forum that I should not have given. We tend to think that no one reads FreeRepublic from the outside. We are wrong. They must have spent days, reading my posts on FreeRepublic.

You can now search google for anyone’s posts on FreeRepublic, by screen name. Just put in posts by ..... and your page of posts comes up. It’s scary and we should all be aware of it.

The scariest aspect of the prospect of an Obama presidency is the fact that Black Liberation Theology opposes all use of the military by the US. How can someone who doesn’t believe in the use of the military for any reason, be CIC?

[Eva]

I don’t think that Obama is a Muslim any longer. I think that he is an atheist. Rev. Wright explained in the same article that is referenced by Daniel Pipes that Trinity was a good place for apostate Muslims and former gang members. The reason that is so is because Black Liberation Theology doesn’t recognize our God as a supreme being, but rather as a moral guide. BLT also doesn’t recognize the concept of personal sin. In BLT, the only sin that an “oppressed” person can be guilty of is failure to resist the oppressors. It’s pure post modernism. Life is nothing but a cultural meta narrative to be rewritten at will. It’s just like Bill Clinton’s answer that it all depends on what the meaning of “is” is.

[Eva]

Did you see my post that anyone can find all the posts from any poster on FreeRepublic, now, by googling posts by ...... ?

Yeah, scary. There are some posters here, who best be a lot more careful of what they say. It can easily come back to bite them.

[processing please hold]

Yeah, scary. There are some posters here, who best be a lot more careful of what they say. It can easily come back to bite them.

What, and muzzle free speech?

obamassiah can just bite me!

(However, if you're talking about guns, I agree. :))

[snowsislander]

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."

What perhaps many non-Islamics are missing in this statement is that recitation of the call to prayer (the "Adhan") includes the Shahada, the Islamic profession of faith.

Simply reciting the Shahada is *all* that is required to be a Muslim --- and reciting it sincerely is not only necessary but it alone is sufficient to require the reciter to be considered an active and professing Muslim.

Since Senator Obama must be quite aware of this, his recitation of the Shahada to Mr. Kristof can *only* be interpreted as that he is professing to be a Muslim.

If Mr. Kristof's report is correct, then I regard this event to be the perhaps the most single significant event in this whole campaign.