I know President Obama is not Muslim, but I am tempted nevertheless to
think that he is, as are most Muslims I know. In a very unscientific oral poll,
ranging from family members to Muslim acquaintances, many of us feel, just as
African-Americans did for the non-black but culturally leaning African-American
President Bill Clinton, that we have our first American Muslim president in
Barack Hussein Obama.
I know it's odd to say this. At first, I thought I was the only Muslim
engaging in this folly, and I am reluctant to express it lest right-wing zealots
try to use "Muslim" as a smear and cite my theory as proof of an Islamic traitor
in the White House or some such nonsense. But, since Election Day, I have been
part of more and more conversations with Muslims in which it was either
offhandedly agreed that Obama is Muslim or enthusiastically blurted out. In
commenting on our new president, "I have to support my fellow Muslim brother,"
would slip out of my mouth before I had a chance to think twice.
"Well, I know he's not really Muslim," I would quickly add. But if
the person I was talking to was Muslim, they would say, "yes he is." They would
cite his open nature and habit of reaching out to critics, reminiscent of the
Prophet Muhammad's own approach, and also Obama's middle name, Hussein. Most of
the Muslims I know (me included) can't seem to accept that Obama is not
Muslim.
Of the few Muslims I polled who said that Obama is not Muslim, even they
conceded that he had ties to Islam. These realists said that, although not an
avowed and practicing Muslim, Obama's exposure to Islam at a young age (both
through his father and his stint in Indonesia) has given him a Muslim
sensibility. In my book, that makes you a Muslim--maybe not a card-carrying one,
but part of the flock for sure. One realist Muslim ventured that Obama worships
at a Unitarian Church because it represents the middle ground between
Christianity and Islam, incorporating the religious beliefs of the two faiths
Obama feels connected to. Unitarianism could be Obama's way of still being a
Muslim. (And let's not forget that the church Obama worshiped at for so many
years had a minister who reminds most Muslims of their own raving, excitable
ministers. Even if Obama really is Christian, he picked the most Muslim-esque
minister out of the bunch to guide him.)
The rationalistic, Western side of me knows that Obama has denied being
Muslim, that his father was non-practicing, that he doesn't attend a mosque.
Many Muslims simply say back, "my father's not a strict Muslim either, and I
haven't been to a mosque in years." Obama even told The New York Times
he could recite the adhan, the Islamic call to prayer, which the vast
majority of Muslims, I would guess, do not know well enough to recite.
I think many of us Muslims see Obama as Muslim, or at least of Muslim
heritage, because his background epitomizes one of the major Muslim
experiences--a diverse upbringing that eludes any easy classification as
specifically one religion or one culture.
So many of us Muslims around the world have Islam in common, but an
altogether different culture from one another. Many Muslims share a culture with
a Christian, Hindu or Buddhist community but not the same religion. When faced
with such diversity, there are no hard and fast rules for Muslim identity.
The Qur'an speaks often of the umma, or the worldwide community of
Muslims. In the early days of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad led the small
umma. Every decision, every effort, everything was for the
umma--people who were often unrelated by blood but had become related
by choice as Muslims. In those early days, many Muslims had gone against the
wishes of their own families in converting to Islam, pitting brother against
sister, father against child. Perhaps that's why the concept of umma
became so dear and is still echoed today--in my opinion, echoed more than that
Western favorite jihad--in Muslim homes, whether those homes are in the
United States or in Palestine.
Perhaps it is my--and most Muslims'-- loyalty to the umma that is
behind our insistence on seeing Obama as Muslim. Islam survived and continues to
survive because Muslims believe we have to respect and take care of each other,
as members of the umma. If we were to start excluding members, or
revising our broad guidelines for admittance, the very essence of the community
feeling that is important in Islam, that gives me and other Muslims comfort
everyday, would be undercut. So when Obama says he's not Muslim, my
umma mentality says I know better. Once you have a Muslim parent,
especially a dad, you're in. Whether you like it or not, Muslims all over the
world see you as one of them.
I work with my father, and, once, we were seeking business with a white
American man who had married a Muslim woman. Noticing how much fond attention my
dad paid to this man, I asked him why he liked the man so much. My dad responded
that, in his marriage to a Muslim woman (who wasn't related to us), "He's our
brother-in-law!" So if that white, middle-aged man can be my brother-in-law,
then Obama can certainly be my Muslim president.
Forbes Magazine