Obama Name Games Painful to Muslims

National Public Radio ^ | April 20, 2008 | Jamie Tarabay

[2ndDivisionVet]

Barack Obama is not a Muslim, but a recent survey found that about 10 percent of Americans believe he is. That perception has been fueled by a campaign of rumors and innuendo. It's a campaign that has caused pain in many Muslim communities, including one in Pennsylvania, which holds a key presidential primary Tuesday.

Obama had a Muslim stepfather. As a child, he learned about Islam and sometimes went to mosque. Nevertheless, he's a devout Christian.

But his middle name, Hussein, has been used by opponents to imply that he's a Muslim.

In February, radio host Bill Cunningham spoke in Cincinnati at a campaign event for Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

"At some point the media will quit taking sides in this thing and maybe start covering Barack Hussein Obama," Cunningham said. McCain quickly condemned Cunningham's comments.

There are other examples. Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa, speaking on a local radio station last month, said: "I will tell you, if he is elected president then the radical Islamists, the al-Qaida and the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11th."

The trickle-down effect of such messages over radio, TV, the Internet and e-mail can be felt in West Philadelphia, in the city's Muslim community.

'No Shame to Be a Muslim'

"We felt sad," says Abdul Musaitif, who runs a Muslim pizzeria in Germantown. "It's no shame to be a Muslim."

Musaitif, a Palestinian from Ramallah, is now a naturalized U.S. citizen. He decries the idea that a reference to Obama being a Muslim could be seen as an accusation. But he says this is just the latest piece of negativity he has witnessed.

He adds: "They say this is a [democratic] country."

Musaitif also owns the butcher shop next door. His employees are all Muslim, and all the meat he serves, including pizzas, burgers and bacon, are halal — pork-free and Islam sanctioned. Despite everything though, Musaitif says he still feels very American.

"I've been here 24 years; my kids [were] born here," he says. "Everything I own is here."

Standing beside him is Khalil Abdul Jabbar. An African-American convert, he now wears the sort of garb — a long black tunic, prayer cap and unkempt beard — that singles him out as a devout Muslim. He says he's not surprised that labeling Obama a Muslim is considered a smear.

'One Bad Apple'

Jabbar says, "They'll say that ... 'his middle name is Hussein. We don't know about him becoming president because he might have ties.' What kind of ties? It has nothing to do with that. Once again, it's about the generalization of one bad apple with the entire group of people — it happens all the time in this country"

Germantown's Muslims have carved out a solid presence among businesses a little less pious. A bar is still open in the morning. There's music pumping into the street outside. A family emerges from a liquor shop pushing trolleys stacked with cases of wine and vodka.

But there's also an Islamic bookstore playing Quranic verses at full volume, and a boutique selling veils. Fatima Umbeke is going through the racks. She hates the negative attention Islam has gotten in this fracas over Obama's religion.

"It upsets me, you know ... that somebody would feel that way about a religion, and it's a religion of peace," she says. "But that's people for you."

'A Certain Fear Mongering'

For his part, Obama has repeatedly condemned the rumors, which have spread like weeds via e-mail.

"These e-mails are obviously not just offensive to me, somebody who is a devout Christian, who's been going to the same church for the last 20 years," Obama said on 60 Minutes last month. "But it's also offensive to Muslims, because it plays into, obviously, a certain fear mongering there."

The fear mongering, the feeling of distrust and suspicion is part of a wider problem, says Dalia Mogahed, who polls Americans for Gallup.

"Our data shows that only 34 percent of Americans say that they have no prejudice against Muslims," she says. "That figure compares to 74 percent who say they have no prejudice against Jews. So while anti-Semitism is certainly not a relic of the past, anti-Muslim sentiment is at an alarmingly high rate right now in America, and because of that it's used as a political tool against politicians."

Last month on 60 Minutes, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama's Democratic opponent, was asked about whether she believes he is a Muslim.

"No, no. Why would I?" she said. "There is nothing to base that on, as far as I know."

'It's Dirty Politics'

Obama says he believes American voters are smarter than some give them credit for.

Helena Murray agrees.

"His middle name is Hussein ... I'm aware of that, but I just think, once again, it's dirty politics," the retired Lancaster schoolteacher says while flower shopping west of Philadelphia. "I was a women's libber and I was somebody that wanted a woman in the White House, but I prefer Obama now."

[2ndDivisionVet]

Comments?

[rickmichaels]

Musaitif also owns the butcher shop next door.

Gee, what a surprise. Perfect career choice for the pre-martyr MooSlime.

[DieHard the Hunter]

> Obama had a Muslim stepfather. As a child, he learned about Islam and sometimes went to mosque. Nevertheless, he’s a devout Christian.

Not if he goes to Rev. Jeremiah’s church he ain’t. No Devout Christian asks God to dam’n America.

> “It upsets me, you know ... that somebody would feel that way about a religion, and it’s a religion of peace,” she says. “But that’s people for you.”

Awwwwwwww. Somebody fetch her the Whaaaaaaaaaambulance! Where was she on 9/11 I wonder? Dancing in the streets with the rest of the Religion of Peace?

[bill1952]

“At some point the media will quit taking sides in this thing and maybe start covering Barack Hussein Obama,” Cunningham said.

McCain quickly condemned Cunningham's comments.

Another good reason not to vote for McCain.
Mustn't let the truth get in the way of losing a historic campaign.

[Eurale]

National Putrid Radio. Who’s surprised? They’re fffeeeeeellliiinnnggg again. But wait, we’re paying for this drivel.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

Nevertheless, he's a devout Christian.

They must have changed the meaning of "devout" to read "baby-killing racist."

[patch789]

has Hussein renounced Allah?

when was Hussein baptised?

[penelopesire]

Well, according to one Muslim quoted in the piece..there is only ‘one bad apple’ among the billion or so of them. (eye roll)

[Emperor Palpatine]

""Our data shows that only 34 percent of Americans say that they have no prejudice against Muslims.... anti-Muslim sentiment is at an alarmingly high rate right now in America."


Ever wonder why? Or have these imbeciles forgotten so soon?

[libstripper]

The creep’s a closet Muslim. If he’d actually renounced Islam and accepted Jesus as his personal savior, he’d be an apostate. As such, he’d be subject to execution or, at the least, complete ostracism by all Muslims. Instead, throughout the world, they support him and want him to become our (their???) next POTUS. That, alone, proves he’s a closet Muslim, an anti-American, and a very dangerous man who shouldn’t even be near the presidency.

[YellowRoseofTx]

...it's about the generalization of one bad apple with the entire group of people — it happens all the time in this country"

One bad apple? No, millions of them.

...it happens all the time in this country"

Gee, I can't imagine why

[mylife]

[Rome2000]

Obama's Militant Muslim Brother Abongo Is Luo Activist

...

In this Obama Family photo are: (bottom row, from left) half-sister Auma, her mother Kezia Obama, Obama's step-grandmother Sarah Hussein Onyango Obama and unknown; (top row, from left) unknown, Barack Obama, half-brother Abongo (Roy) Obama, and three unknowns. (Sun Times)

Barack Obama stands behind Kezia (stepmother) in a Kenyan family shot. Included in the photo is brother Abongo "Roy" Obama who is a Luo activist and a militant Muslim who argues that the black man must "liberate himself from the poisoning influences of European culture."

"Abongo's new lifestyle has left him lean and clear-eyed, and at the wedding, he looked so dignified in his black African gown with white trim and matching cap that so me of our guests mistook him for my father," Obama wrote in Dreams From My Father.

Barack Obama's cousin Raila Odinga is accused of ethnic cleansing and is currently battling for power in Kenya.

Barack has stated his support for Luo Opposition Leader in Kenya RaRaila Odinga (who signed a Shariah pact with Muslims and claims to be Obama's cousin) and is married to Ida Odinga. They have four children - two sons and two daughters. His oldest son, Fidel, is named after Fidel Castro.


Malik Obama, older brother to Barack Obama, holds an undated picture of Barak, left, and himself, middle, and an unidentified friend in his shop in eastern Kenya. (Karel Prinsloo, AP)

Related... Dan Riehl has the strange new Obama ad about all of the "Muslims rounded up" without the benefit of an attorney.

Via Instapundit,

[Rome2000]

Was Obama Ever a Muslim?

“I’ve always been a Christian,” said Obama, focusing on his own personal lack of practice of Islam as a child to deny any connection to Islam. But Muslims do not see practice as key. For them, that he was born to a line of Muslim males makes him born a Muslim. Further, all children born with an Arabic name based on the H-S-N trilateral root (Hussein, Hassan, and others) can be assumed to be Muslim, so they will understand Obama’s full name, Barack Hussein Obama, to proclaim him a born Muslim.

More: family and friends considered him as a child to be Muslim. In “Obama Debunks Claim About Islamic School,” Nedra Pickler of the Associated Press wrote on January 24, 2007, that

Obama’s mother, divorced from Obama’s father, married a man from Indonesia named Lolo Soetoro, and the family relocated to the country from 1967-71. At first, Obama attended the Catholic school, Fransiskus Assisis, where documents showed he enrolled as a Muslim, the religion of his stepfather. The document required that each student choose one of five state-sanctioned religions when registering – Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic or Protestant.

Asked about this, Obama communications director Robert Gibbs responded by indicating to Pickler that

he wasn’t sure why the document had Obama listed as a Muslim. “Senator Obama has never been a Muslim.”

Two months later, Paul Watson of the Los Angeles Times (available online in a Baltimore Sun reprint) reported that the Obama campaign had retreated from that absolute statement and instead issued a more nuanced one: “Obama has never been a practicing Muslim.” The Times looked into the matter further and learned more about his Indonesian interlude:

His former Roman Catholic and Muslim teachers, along with two people who were identified by Obama’s grade-school teacher as childhood friends, say Obama was registered by his family as a Muslim at both schools he attended. That registration meant that during the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class.

The childhood friends say Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque. “We prayed but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played,” said Zulfin Adi. … Obama’s younger sister, Maya Soetoro, said in a statement released by the campaign that the family attended the mosque only “for big communal events,” not every Friday.

Recalling Obama’s time in Indonesia, the Times account contains quotes that Obama “went to the mosque,” and that he “was Muslim.”

Summarized, available evidence suggests Obama was born a Muslim to a non-practicing Muslim father and for some years had a reasonably Muslim upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian step-father. At some point, he converted to Christianity. It appears false to state, as Obama does, “I’ve always been a Christian” and “I’ve never practiced Islam.” The campaign appears to be either ignorant or fabricating when it states that “Obama never prayed in a mosque.”-Daniel Pipes

OBAMA WAS BORN MUSLIM AND PRAYED TO MECCA AS A BOY

[gbunch]

WARNING: BS meter is PEGGED!

I wanna see Barack HUSSEIN Obama state on national TV "I AM NOT A MUSLIM" while eating a big greasy plate of bacon, with ham on the side.

Even then I won't believe him.

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[nyyankeefan]

the f’n muzzies preach hate and state God Damn America in the mosques....

b. HUSSIEN ~ a so-called devout Christian ~ minister preaches hate and states God Damn America in his church (which b. HUSSEIN) is a parishoner.....

so ~ how does b. HUSSEIN triangulate there is any difference!!!!

[aruanan]

Nevertheless, he's a devout Christian.

Depends on the meaning of "devout". As irreligious as many on the left are, Obama's church attendance, regardless of the content of the church's message, makes him "devout."

[Beckwith]

...he's a devout Christian

Now, that's funny!

[Beckwith]

Obama had a Muslim stepfather.

No mention of a Muslim father from the Lebanese Muslim writer?

That proves it -- Obama is the result of an immaculate conception and really is "he who we have been waiting for."

[Beckwith]

when was Hussein baptised?

There is no record of an Obama baptism anywhere -- although he has referred to "a baptism" -- I think the statement appears on his website somewhere also.

Go to this link and search on "1992" for the details of his "conversion":