That’s a really good point that I don’t think I’ve heard too much about.
Most people, when picking their own name when they’re a teenager, or later, typically don’t pick the most Muslim sounding name if they’re not Muslim. And it wasn’t an either /or thing. He had to go out of his way to change it to the more Muslim sounding name.
Next time someone challenges, say, he picked it out himself when he was 15 or 20 or whenever it was.
He did it after college.
There are plenty of good reasons to think of him as a Muslim. But this is just one of those tremendous inconsistencies - not a big thing in itself - but taken as a whole?
Lew Alcinder ..... Kareem Abdul Jabaar
Cassius Clay ..... Muhammed Ali
etc When changing to Muslim
Barry Obama ..... Barack - when changing to Christian?
Ah - OK - so is he the one guy in North America who did this? Still possible - but then he is also the guy who people question his religion - ...... the data keeps stacking up on one side.