Is President Obama a Muslim?
Is President Obama a Muslim?
President Obama’s comment backing the proposed Islamic centre and mosque near Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan has fuelled a religious debate. Obama said at the White House iftar party, “as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country”. Obama’s ‘audacity of hope’ might have made him the first African American President of the United States of America, but his faith is still being questioned.
President Obama is facing what many other Muslims have been facing since 9/11. If you have Ahmed, Mohammed or Ali in your name, or any other Muslim name for that matter, chances are that someone or the other has questioned you about Jihad and Islamic terrorism. Born to a Muslim father, Barack Hussein Obama has had to prove his patriotism. Obamania had gripped the nation back in 2007 and he might have managed to break down a lot of walls and win a lot of hearts in his journey to the White House, but he still couldn’t escape Islamophobia.
Republican Rick Lazio, the front-runner in the race for New York governor has conveniently made Obama’s comment an election issue. He said, “We do not believe in turning our backs on the victims of 9/11.” How is this turning their backs on the victims of 9/11? Can Lazio provide statistical data to prove that there were no Muslims among the victims?
9/11 was an “act of terror”- acts of terror are driven not by religious faith, they’re politically motivated. Acts of terror do not choose their victims; they kill Christians, Hindus, Muslims, atheists indiscriminately. Acts of terror are not acts by believers of Islam but acts by those who have been systematically indoctrinated to vicariously extract personal vendetta.
Miss USA, Rima Fakih decided to play it safe, “I also agree that it shouldn’t be so close to the World Trade Center. We should be more concerned with the tragedy than religion.” It’s a mosque they are talking about, not a centre for terrorism. Have the lines blurred so much that we can’t differentiate one from the other? Islam by definition stands for peace, a mosque is a place of worship – opposing a mosque near Ground Zero reeks of religious intolerance- it’s as blatant as saying, every Muslim is a terrorist and every mosque harbours a terror mastermind.
Why should we be apologetic about practicing our religion because some people somewhere have decided to misinterpret the Quran to achieve their political agendas? Vulnerable minds have been systematically brainwashed to blow themselves up in the name of religion. Each and every time a terror attack happens, some unsuspecting Muslims are asked, “As a Muslim, what do you think is the logic behind this act of terror?” As a Muslim, I have no answer because terror has no religion.
It’s ironical when the line between the reel and the real blurs. I can actually picture the U.S. President say, “My name is Barack Hussein Obama. And I am not a Muslim.”
