The claim made by two Muslim women that they were declined seating behind Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama at a recent rally in Detroit because they were wearing the Muslim hijab (headscarf) is entirely believable. It is also true that the incident may not reflect official campaign policy. Nevertheless there is increased sensitivity in Obama’s campaign to keep him far away from having any Muslim connection. It is a sad but understandable attitude given the negative - almost radioactive - climate surrounding Islam in our country. Much of it is based on misconceptions and lack of knowledge.

For example, well known writer Edward Luttwak recently suggested in the New York Times that Obama would be considered an apostate by Muslims, and therefore would fail to mend relations between US and the Muslim world - clearly one of the more far-fetched theories ever postulated.

Obama has never been a Muslim, practicing or otherwise. He was raised by his Christian mother and grandparents as a Christian. His past affiliation with the Afro-centric Chicago church, Trinity United Church of Christ, made him a devout Christian. That was long before he showed any desire to run for any office.

Another misconception is that being born to a Muslim father makes Obama a Muslim. Islam, like Christianity, is a confessional belief system and paternal or maternal faith is not necessary to being a Muslim. Although most children born to Muslim parents grow up Muslim, what is required at some point in life is a confession of faith in front of two witnesses that “God is one and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” Obama has never made that confession and why would he? He is a confessed and baptized Christian.

His biological father may have haunted his memories but had little influence on his upbringing. The words and actions of his father, as recorded by Senator Obama in his autobiography, Dreams from my Father, betray little interest in Islam. His stepfather, an Indonesian with whom he spent some of his childhood years, comes across as equally non observant. Neither appeared to have attempted to school him in the concepts and tenets of Islam. It is not unusual that Obama’s biological and stepfather were both Muslim only in name. As in every faith, there are Muslims of many different stripes. This is analogous to C&E Christians, Sunday Christians and others who are Christian in name only.

Nevertheless, Obama, unlike all of his opponents, actually lived in a Muslim majority country (Indonesia), has a Muslim relative or two, and has had Muslims as friends. He has recently traveled to African countries with substantial Muslim populations. To him, Muslims would not be the alien other. One would expect that he have an understanding of the diversity among Muslims, a sense of the rich texture of Muslim history and tradition and at least a rudimentary appreciation of the hopes and aspirations of Muslims. He would not imagine and stereotype Muslims in the fantasy-filled manner in which some in our country do.

Given the fact that the US and parts of the Muslim world are in conflict, a leader who understands the Muslim world and has at least some inkling of its political aspirations and cultural imperatives would be advantageous. His knowledge of Muslim societies would be an antidote for the cultural ignorance that is partly responsible for the current Iraq misadventure.

But presidential campaigns are a different type of pressure cooker. He has had to shoot down innuendo that the Indonesian school he attended as a child is a madrassa. Similarly, he had to battle the insinuation that pictures of himself in Somali attire, donned as a courtesy to his hosts, proved that he is a crypto-Muslim. But the insinuations do not go away.

In his desire to put as much separation between him and his Muslim connections, however tenuous they might be, Obama may lose a potential advantage he has over his opponents of understanding and contextualizing Muslim issues. Instead, Obama’s political needs may prevent him from taking thoughtful initiatives on foreign policy issues that affect the Muslim world. That would be a shame.

puck puck puckak puakaaaaak. Hah. American Muslims, they look so forlorn and depressed, marginalized again in the American elections. The untouchables, nobody is taking them seriously. AGAIN. Gosh, after all the years pouring money into the Bush Family coffers helping them to later on kill Arabs by the tankerload (no pun intended). They even claimed to have been the reason Bush won Florida seven years ago.

Tch tch tch. All these rich Pakistanian doctors and Arab intellectuals and Indian newswriters. Investing their life's work kissing up to the powerbrokers in the hope to be just recognized that they are part of the American fabric. All has come to nought. Phrrrrrt. What a tragicomedy. The president (-al candidate) even refuses to pretend that these Muslims actually exist. Ha ah ah ah hahha.

Reminds me of the Prophetic advice about not kissing too much non-Muslim botttamus because you could follow them into a lizard hole just to be liked by them and they would Never Never Ever like you. How prophetic indeed.

Plus all that money that could have been well spent elsewhere, how tragic.

i don't often (well, ever) agree with hajibaba, but i do this time.

there is no right to be seated behind a presidential candidate- and the determination of who sits behind a candidate changes with the weather- (remember when geroge bush had all latinos all the time behind him? i do)
look at all the contrived staged town hall meetings-

do we ever see any chinese people complaining that they were asked to move?
my goodness, if i opened my yap and whined every time i was sidelined because of hijab- i would never stop yipping-

these girls have made muslims look like over reactionary babies-

far from being supporters of obama- ive wondered if they were GOP plants-

could they have really been so politically clueless as to not be aware that their islamic persona would be associated negatively with obama?

it is sad that people are still writing about this-

the author writes-

"Obama may lose a potential advantage he has over his opponents of understanding and contextualizing Muslim issues. Instead, Obama’s political needs may prevent him from taking thoughtful initiatives on foreign policy issues that affect the Muslim world. That would be a shame."

how in the world would anyone anywhere lose thir ability to understand?
and how is it that obama loses any advantage?

it is muslims that lose the advantage- not obama-

it would not be obama's political needs (we have to assume he would be president to make such decisions) but the political CLIMATE in this country-

and the climate reflects the will of the majority- who are not muslim-

it is not obama's fault that muslims ar epreceived as outside of the mainstream-

let muslims stop worrying about making public relations statements, and actually do some activities that will make them inclusive-

in case the PR writers havent noticed- these PR pieces are falling on deaf ears because muslims are disengaged, not involved- and seem to have no interest in building PLURALISTIC concerns that contribute to this country.

when they (muslims) start to do that- americans will start to pay attention to their actions- as clearly- they are completely ignoring the words words words-

Barack Obama's foreign policy will have a positive impact on the Muslim world. I don't think that there is a front runner today in American politics that would be able to establish a cultural connection with the Muslim world which would equal to Barack Obama's aspirations. Many of the regions today affected by conflict in Africa and the Middle-East, would obvisouly benefit by having a President that would be inclined to promote dialogue and value "cultural awareness" while implementing foreign policy.
Unfortunately, running an official campaign to become President of the U.S. is an entirely different matter! Campaign's are based on public awareness and perceptions, the media plays a critical role in this process. I do not completely agree with the author, Javeed Akhter (June 2008), who presents the article as if Muslims were being "marginalized" in the U.S., as Black American's were in the South during the civil rights movement of the 1960's. It is certainly not an issue if the Muslim women where wearing a hijab or not, it's a matter of appealing to mainstream America. Eventhough, Muslim women were not present on center stage along with Barack during his recent campaign stop in Detroit (for the media), I think it is equally important to note; that Barack must appeal to mainstream America throughout the duration of his campaign. Barack, must conduct a public balancing act for the duration of his campaign if he plans on winning the election over his opponent.

I agree that as Muslims sometimes we need to chill out and stop complaining all the time. Barack also has the right to have whomever he wants to sit behind him and he has to take into consideration the political climate.

All Muslims have to do to show they have power is to put all their backing into the candidate they DON'T want elected.

Can you imagine the look on McCain's face when he finds out that MUSLIMS announce he is the best candidate for their needs?

If the kiss of death is the only thing these candidates understand, let's get ready to pucker up...

now that is an interesting proposition TarikwithaK
but i fear that most muslims would confusedly actually believe they were really supposed to be supporting McCain and end up voting for him for real like they did with bush-

Muslims need to be clear about some facts. If Fidel Castro is a threat to US ideals, its not like every Cuban and Unionist is a communist. If Latin America had some socialist revolutionaries, it doesn't make every Puerto Rican an untouchable.

If Muslims are marginalised, it is because they have marginalised themselves. Basic antagonism/intolerance to the country that they live in and the people that they live amongst. Basic lack of understanding of the operations of a liberal government and the vast possibilities of civic action in a free society makes us our own worst enemies. Tha shariah has not imagined a Kaafeer nation which respects and protects muslim ideals. So we are suddenly at a loss that theirs works better than ours.

Consider the trailblazers who despite strong condemnation from some quarters are very much widely loved and respected. Muhammad Ali, Louis Farrakhan, Malcolm X are leaders who despite being antagonistic are at the least considered forthright. I recently heard Sheikh Yusuf Estes speak in South Africa. He's arrogant and likeable and I can disagree with him on alot of his personal opinions. i.e. He is a typical American folkhero. To say that these people would harm a candidates chances truly attests to an inflated and vain sense of self.

f you are forthright, you will be considered forthright. If you build bridges, you will be welcomed. Your battle for Muslim respect is on your own turf and not in Iraq. And the Muslim world is in desperate need of more of those acts of goodwill and respect for Allahs pleasure. That is what has made us notoriously respected for centuries.

Ghulam- here's his website- there's an active (but moderated) live chat room that i just happened to be in when i read this-

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/

peace

There are internal issues facing the Muslim community in the U.S. that are influenced by social, political and ideological forces, these internal factors, lead to the marginalization of Muslims and contribute to the lack of community and unity that Muslims are facing in America. Unfortunately, due to the World's political climate, the many conflicts that we are engaged in inside the Muslim world, have created a public image, associating Islam and Muslims with the "other", and in the this context it is "us" vs. "them."

I am not speaking for intellectuals and on behalf of the educated classes of American society, but for mainstream America, the masses and these are the people that are mostly influenced by the mainstream U.S. media. Afterall, they are the principle voting population for the U.S.

In politics and in the public sphere of influence, perception is nearly everything. This has nothing to do with a Muslim woman wearing the "hijab", but represents the mainstream image that Muslim's represent for many Americans. Many associate Muslims with conservative Islam, the Islamists that tend to assume these literalist interpretations of Islam, who conform to more traditionalist teachings which, unfortunately, divide the world into two spheres; dar al-islam ('house of Islam') and dar al-harb ('house of war'), which represents the domain of the non-believers or kuffar.

I disagree with Ghulam; I do not agree with a political candidate runing for the Office of President, associating himself with activists that represent a minority grouping seeking to accomplish their own personal agendas. The needs for the Muslim world, are not necessarily the needs of American society...

From Oregon.

Correction to my Blog Posting from July 5th, 2008:

There are internal issues facing the Muslim community in the U.S. that are influenced by social, political and ideological forces, these internal factors, lead to the marginalization of Muslims and contribute to the lack of community and unity that Muslims are facing in America. Unfortunately, due to the World's political climate, the many conflicts that we are engaged in inside the Muslim world, have created a public image, associating Islam and Muslims with the "other", and in the this context it is "us" vs. "them."

I am not speaking for intellectuals and on behalf of the educated classes of American society, but for mainstream America, the masses and these are the people that are mostly influenced by the mainstream U.S. media. Afterall, they are the principle voting population for the U.S.

In politics and in the public sphere of influence, perception is nearly everything. This has nothing to do with a Muslim woman wearing the "hijab", but represents the mainstream image that Muslim's represent for many Americans. Many associate Muslims with conservative Islam, the Islamists that tend to assume these literalist interpretations of Islam, who conform to more traditionalist teachings which, unfortunately, divide the world into two spheres; dar al-islam ('house of Islam') and dar al-harb ('house of war'), which represents the domain of the non-believers or kuffar.

I disagree with Ghulam; I do not agree with a political candidate runing for the Office of President, associating himself with activists that represent a minority grouping seeking to accomplish their own personal agendas. The needs for the Muslim world, are not necessarily the needs of American society...

From Oregon.

>> Sheikh Yusuf Estes speak in South Africa. He's arrogant and likeable and I can disagree with him on alot of his personal opinions. <<

you mean he's not a "tablighi". Which makes him arrogant.

The adage of 'my enemy's enemy is my friend' is at force here in a twisted sense: 'my enemy's friend is my enemy'.
In the eyes of most Americans (ill-informed you may call them) What hurts Obama is not so much that he is a Secret Muslim or even that he likes Muslims, but that THEY like him!

if muslims are your enemy weisskopf- what could possibly be motivating you to post on a muslim blog?

it could not be a noble motive, as you demonstrate repeatedly your unapologetic hatred of muslims, even now calling them your enemy...

and you come to a muslim board and imply that there must be something wrong if muslims like him?

how boorsihly crude- are you a masochist perhaps?

Mrs. A - lift up the Burka and read my comment again.

I did not say Muslims were MY enemy, I said Barrack's problem is that many Americans think Muslims are their enemy and by that fact, Muslims wanting so badly to be in the Obama camp is a huge liability for the Obama campaign - because last time I checked, Obama still needed AMERICAN votes to win the election not European or middle eastern votes!