Barack Obama joined Muslim prayers at school, teacher says
By Anne Barrowclough
From Times Online
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
November 8, 2010 8:53 AM
US President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama visit
Humayun’s Tomb in New Dehli, India. Source: AFP
AS a schoolboy in Jakarta, Barack Obama attended Muslim
prayer sessions with his classmates against the wishes of
his mother.
The US President’s former grade three teacher said that
Mr Obama - who was known as “Barry” when he attended the
Menteng One school in Jakarta - studied the Koran and
went to classes on Islam, despite the objections of Ann
Dunham, a Catholic.
The teacher’s recollections will add to speculation about
Mr Obama’s links to Islam during his much-anticipated
visit to Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim
nation, as part of his ten-day tour of Asia.
His middle name, Hussein, and the fact that his
stepfather was a Muslim, have combined to perpetuate
rumours about Mr Obama’s religious leanings. The number
of Americans who think that he is a Muslim has grown
since his inauguration to one in five.
Mr Obama moved to Indonesia with his mother and
Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, when he was 6, and
lived there for four years. In his memoirs he recalled
his time in the country as the “bounty of a young man’s
life” and there is affection and pride among Indonesians
for the boy who ended up as President of the United
States.
The teacher, Effendi, who taught at Menteng One for 29
years, remembers Mr Obama as a “fat, curly-haired,
curious boy”. The school had an international mix of
pupils, including Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and
Muslims.
Mr Obama attended classes on Islam while the Christians
attended classes on Christianity, said Effendi. Barry, he
said, was alone among the pupils in that he insisted on
attending both.
“His mother did not like him learning Islam, although his
father was a Muslim. Sometimes she came to the school;
she was angry with the religious teacher and said ‘Why
did you teach him the Koran?’” said Effendi.
“But he kept going to the classes because he was
interested in Islam. He would also join the other pupils
for Muslim prayers.”
Questions over Mr Obama’s religion were fuelled, in part,
by comments about his Muslim roots made by Hillary
Clinton during the Democratic party leadership campaign.
The conservative American media took the speculation
further by claiming that Mr Obama attended a madrassa -
Islamic school - as a child. Mr Obama’s former
classmates, however, have dismissed the claims as
nonsense.
The US President - who has cancelled a scheduled trip to
Indonesia twice before - may be stymied again by air
traffic disruption caused by an ash cloud emitted from
Mount Merapi.
The volcano has been erupting since October 26, killing
at least 117 people.
Mr Obama is due to arrive in Jakarta tomorrow after three
days in India.
A third cancellation would not be welcomed in Indonesia,
where some offence has already been taken at the brevity
of the visit.
The homecoming anticipated so keenly by Indonesians has
been reduced to less than 24 hours; the shortest amount
of time he will spend in any country on the Asia
itinerary.
Pupils at Menteng One, who have been rehearsing songs and
dances for more than a year, will be particularly
disappointed.
Their headmistress has not yet had the heart to tell them
that Mr Obama will not, after all, visit their school.
“When I told them in March that he had cancelled his trip
again some of the children cried and asked why?” HJ
Hasimah said. “I don’t know what I will tell them this
time.”
The Times
82 comments