Five reasons to stop questioning Obama’s faith

The question is an insult, not to the president or the Muslim faith, but to the American Constitution.

Faheem Younus March 22, 2012
I thought the question was so absurd to begin with, that it would go away on its own.

I was wrong.

Four years later, that absurd question, “Do you think Barack Obama is a Muslim?” keeps nagging the American psyche in national and regional polls - despite ample data to the contrary. In 2009, a Pew Research Center poll showed that one in 10 Americans believed President Obama was a Muslim; the number jumped to one in five by 2010. So when last week, one in two Republican voters in the states of Mississippi and Alabama reaffirmed the same phobia, I had to say something.

Enough!

Data isn’t enough to convince these pollsters, it seems. So here are my top five reasons to stop painting the president as an undercover Muslim by asking this question:

1. The president has answered the question, repeatedly.

They alleged that his father was a Muslim; he denied, saying his father was an atheist. They alleged that he attended a Muslim school in Jakarta for two years; he provided evidence of also attending a Catholic school for the same duration. They alleged his liking for the sound of the Azan – the Muslim call to prayer; he presented his 20-years long association with the United Church of Christ. They alleged he was a Muslim by birth; he responded that he was “a Christian by choice.”

2. If a bunch of loose correlations are enough to call Mr. Obama a Muslim, then you might as well declare Thomas Jefferson to be a Muslim too!

Jefferson’s view of God, Jesus, and biblical miracles is far more aligned with the Muslim understanding than the Christian doctrine. Like Muslims, Jefferson believed in a Creator whom he invoked in his writings. Like Muslims, Jefferson believed Jesus to be a reformer and not the son of God. Like Muslims, he believed that Jesus never even claimed to be the son of God. Like Muslims, he did not believe in the biblical miracles of Jesus literally walking on water or resurrecting to the skies. And like Muslims he owned a personal copy of the Quran. Who knows? He may have used it to incorporate the principles of equality (4:125), life (5:33), liberty (10:100) and pursuit of happiness (62:11) in the Declaration of Independence.

Isn’t it ironic that President Obama, a man who has repeatedly declared his commitment to Christianity faces unending questions about his faith, but Jefferson, a man who repeatedly denounced core Christian beliefs, stands tall and revered in a monument? Anyway, back to number three.

3. The question is a dirty trick; a trick that does not work.

The demise of Donald Trump’s presidential bid followed by the political decline of Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain and Rick Perry – all guilty of demonising Muslims -- are a testament that voters are not seduced by this “every-Muslim-is-an-enemy” mentality. And don’t be fooled by the recent success of Rick Santorum. His campaign will soon end up right next to Newt Gingrich’s; on life support.

4. The question is an insult, not to the president or the Muslim faith, but to our Constitution.

A document that allows any American born citizen over the age of 35 to run for the office of the president, regardless of his or her religion, a document that codifies the presidential oath to office to make it faith-neutral, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States…” is too sacred to be trivialised by such bigoted questions.

5. We know the right question to ask.

Surprisingly the right question did not come from the Muslims, or the Democrats, or atheists but from the core of Republican party itself: Colin Powell. During a 2008 “Meet the Press” interview, Powell pushed back: Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be president (one day)?

I neither plan to invite President Obama to a Friday prayer service nor wish to posthumously convert Thomas Jefferson to Islam. I just would like the pollsters to ask the right question in the future polls: Is there something wrong with a Muslim running for the president of United States?

Many seven-year-old Muslim Americans are waiting for the answer.

This post originally published here.

Read more by Faheem here.
WRITTEN BY:
Faheem Younus The writer is clinical associate professor at University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA. The author can be followed @Faheem http://twitter.com/#!/FaheemYounus
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (21)

New Yorker | 12 years ago | Reply 5 reasons why I know he is a Muslim: 1) He is rational being who believe a God like a Muslim 2) He tried to distant himself from Muslim voters during election, if he was so comfortable with his belief and faith – why would he do that? 3) He visited Egypt and Indonesia and must have more than a soft corner for Islam! 4) His father’s extended family members are Muslim and he did visit them as a senator. He has Muslim blood in him. Period. 5) All Christians are Muslims they just don’t know it yet. Christians are waiting for the second coming of Jesus and Muslims also believe Jesus (i.e. Prophet Isa) will return to guide them in their faith. When Jesus comes back (some believe he already did http://islamforwest.org/), Obama will have no choice but to accept Islam openly if he is true follower of Jesus!
Rex Minor | 12 years ago | Reply It matters not wheather he declares himself as a christian or a muslim, deeds are which determins his performance as a person and a leader. He was brought up in the black suberbs of Alcapone famous city of Chicago. After his inauguration, the Bishop of the church which baptised his children abondoned him and his performance has shown that as suspected he is an imposter. He is definitely not what people around the world thought about him? The majority want him now to be the one term president? Rex Minor
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