Posted on 10/11/2012 11:41:24 AM PDT by mojito
....TheBlaze decided to speak with experts at some of America’s leading universities. One academic, a professor at Duke University, provided a candid assessment, but asked to remain off-the-record. Based on the images and analysis present in the WND report, he said that the script present on Obama’s ring appears to be Arabic and that it does, indeed, include the first portion of the shahada.
“I think this is accurate,” he said of the description surrounding the ring.
(Excerpt) Read more at theblaze.com ...
I am not an arabic scholar, but I did have to take arabic from kindergarden though my final years of school, even Yeshiva.
The Arabic for “allah” is not symetrical. In the clear photos, this just appears to be a curved line.
There might be some sort of symbolic script I don’t know about, but it just looks like a design to me.
One more thing, I understand that muslim men to not wear gold, as this is forbidden under their religion.
Rather, they wear platinum or silver rings.
They are also forbidden to wear wedding rings, at all.
I would also note that muslim men are forbidden from wearing gold, at all, and typically do not wear wedding rings.
“My Muslim Faith” obumpa
I believe 0bama is a Muslim. Two Islamic scholars independently confirmed the inscription on the ring. Yet you choose to trust your "faith" in some 0bama supporter who knows nothing about Islam or Arabic script but who runs an "urban myths" website. Besides, your contemptuous reference to the Savior is all I need to know about you and what you believe.
But Osama wore a huge gold ring.
Muslim rules are broken as easily as they are made.
He takes it off every year for Ramadan and claims to be sending it to the jewelers for repair. Actually, I think that Michelle may do the same thing, but I cannot remember for sure. It’s just not something, that I have paid much attention to.
Expedited Trial for Declaratory Relief and Permanent Injunction from allowing Candidate Obama on IN Ballot or alternatively for any votes to be counted for Obama is ordered to be held by Honorable judge Sherry K. Reid in the Superior Court, Indianapolis Indiana on October 22, 10 am. see order attached..
CURRENTLY I RECEIVED $362.20. THIS IS NOT ENOUGH FOR ONE TICKET TO INDIANA.
Why doesn’t Free Republic stop blocking Orly’s site.
It’s only contemptuous if you actually believe Jesus is appearing to people in toast. You didn’t really say one way or another.
I have no idea who this “urban myths” person is. I don’t count on “experts” to tell me what I can see with my own eyes.
I look at the actual picture of the ring, and what I see is a nice ring adorned with two things that look like snakes, one of which has been beat up as you’d expect a ring to get over the years, so it is scratched.
I’ve seen the “expert” overlays, where the supposed muslim characters are put next to the scratched-up picture. And my own eyes tell me they are projecting.
I’m waiting for one of those who believe this story to actually put the character overlay onto the focused picture of the ring, rather than the unfocused, blurry, low-res image. The reason I don’t expect them to do so is that it will be very clear that they are seeing things that aren’t there.
The fact is, people see patterns where they don’t exist. A lot of people were convinced that Obama was using a robo-signer for condolence letters. They even posted low-res pictures of different letters, supposedly “proving” that they were the same.
Unfortunately, if you overlayed the letters, it was clear the signatures were NOT the same, they just were seeing what they wanted to see.
Likewise, here you are seeing what you want to see. Now, I’d love to find out that Obama had revealed his affinity for muslim beliefs in this way. I just don’t find it useful to have our side made fools of time and again by WND and Corsi.
If he can recite the prayers he definitely knows what the symbol on the ring means.
At the next debate Romney should say “Mr. President, that is a beautiful ring. I’ve never seen one like it. Where did you get it?” The press would have to comment on it. Of course they’d say it’s a ring supporting dog lovers.
Worn on the left finger, means you are gay and looking.
Worn on the right means gay, but married a beard, so be cool.
The ring is a composite. It is made up of jewelry from different women (or men?) Obama knew as an adolescent, before his arranged marriage to Michelle.
Here's what the article says about the unnamed Duke scholar:
Based on the images and analysis present in the WND report, he said that the script present on Obama’s ring appears to be Arabic and that it does, indeed, include the first portion of the shahada.
The WND report was based on low-resolution, heavily-shaded, off-angle images. The high-resolution, head-on image that has been repeatedly posted in this thread clearly shows a symmetrical squiggle pattern that bears little to no resemblance to the arabic script that WND claims to have found in the low-res photos. I don't care if the picture happens to have been posted by a left-wing "urban legends" site, and I haven't even read the "urban legends" analysis of the photo - I can look at it myself and draw my own conclusion.
That rule only applies to the working class. The ruling elite, here as well as there, can do as they please.
Also note that wearing gold (Lots and lots of gold...) is very popular with the American black Muslim posse. Seems rather hypocritical, doesn't it ?
I'm simply suspicious about the sudden appearance of this “high definition” image. It could be that WND had access to it, and chose to ignore it because it didn't fit their story.
But there are other possibilities. Perhaps the WH provided the photo to “urban myths” in order to discredit the story. The story in urban myths didn't say where or from whom the photo was obtained. Color me suspicious on that account. Also, who is this person at “urban myths” to pronounce what may, or may not be an example of a highly stylized and abstract example of Arabic?
What many are choosing to ignore is the vast tradition in Islam of highly abstract renditions of written Arabic, many examples of which I've linked in earlier posts, because Islam forbids the depiction of images of the “real” world. Design and calligraphy comprise almost all of Islamic art, and words can take on highly abstract forms with many, many variations. Written Arabic adopts itself to to this kind of abstraction.
It's certainly possible that Corsi has duped me, and others, again. It's also possible that his charges are substantially correct. I want to see how WND responds to this high res photo, and if other experts corroborate or shoot down the “squiggle” as Arabic.
I can only say that to my very much non-expert eyes, the lower “squiggle” in particular could be a stylized “Allah.” The drops and loops all correspond to the examples I've linked.
The ring appears to be handcrafted from multiple bands of wire. It was probably made in Pakistan or Indonesia. He likely purchased while there, at a time in his life that made it special to him, and so he still wears it. Maybe someone special gave it to him. Who knows?
Is this the ring that Obama had ‘in the shop’ being repaired, or was that his other wedding ring? Is the photo before or after any such repairs ?
Those are the important questions.
This is WND and Corsi. On their worst days, obama is more accurate than them.
Why do you need an expert? You've seen the caligraphy, and you've seen the high-res picture. Can't you tell for yourself that the upper half of the ring is simply scraped up, and the squiggles only marginally match the caligraphy as posted?
Here is the best way for you to play detective. Forget the caligraphy. Get the hi-res picture of the ring, and print it out. Then take a pencil, and some transparent paper, and sketch for yourself what lines YOU think you see. When done, compare it to the caligraphy.
You don't need to be an expert of arabic, you simply need to know how to trace.
I’ve looked at it. And lots of examples of Arabic calligraphy in many styles.
It’s not just “squiggles.”
The lower half is clearly “Allah.” The strokes line up exactly.
OK, maybe you are right. Some people shouldn’t trust their own eyes.
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