4 Responses to “A Bigger Problem”

1. Samn, on November 19th, 2007 at 5:59 pm Said:

   But what about the problem that Obama could easily be construed as an apostate Muslim under most interpretations of Islamic law? I mean, technically speaking, if your father (even absentee) is Muslim, so are you and probably doubly so if your stepfather is too (I don’t know enough about the details of his biography for that.) If Obama were elected and this became popularly known in, say, Pakistan, this would cause all kinds of problems……

2. kranza, on November 19th, 2007 at 6:16 pm Said:

   I don’t think Obama is an apostate because he was not a Muslim after the age of six, and there’s some sort of grace period for young kids.

   But that’s just in terms of literal apostasy; the fact that he is descended from Muslims in the non-West but has become Christian and Western is still not the kind of thing to which I’d expect the Muslim world to thrill.

3. Daniel Larison, on November 19th, 2007 at 6:48 pm Said:

   I agree that he isn’t an apostate and couldn’t *correctly* be considered one since he was never himself a Muslim, but to all those Muslims who take their religion very seriously I think the fact that Obama was familiar with Islam to some degree from an early age and then chose a different religion will not sit terribly well. (We also can’t rule out that the “Obama was a Muslim” meme here could help create an equally ill-informed “Obama is an apostate” meme among Muslims–neither one is true, but both could be circulated as if they were true.)

   For many of these pundits, his father’s and grandfather’s religion is evidence of Obama’s diverse background and is therefore wonderful; it is also proof that he can “understand” the Islamic world in a way that others cannot. From the perspective of many Muslims, I would guess that the reaction is quite the opposite: he may never have been a Muslim, but given where he spent some of his earliest years in Indonesia it will seem even more strange that he was not, and it will hardly inspire an outpouring of goodwill to know that someone was familiar with your religion and then chose something else instead in later life. At best, I think he would be received politely or indifferently–until people learn about his views on various Near Eastern questions. Rejecting something that is entirely unknown or largely foreign to your experience can be expected; rejecting something you grew up around, even if only for a few years, takes on a different meaning.

4. Eunomia » “Important And Even Profound”, on February 11th, 2008 at 3:07 pm Said:

   [...] Obviously, I am not an Obama supporter, nor do I think for the most part that an Obama victory in November would be “good for the country” in foreign relations or domestic politics, so I sometimes have to remind myself that the people repeating these stories actually like Obama and are not working overtime to undermine his candidacy.  While I have denounced the false claim that Obama is a Muslim, since it is false and clearly intended to do damage to his reputation, I have said on numerous occasions that it is folly for Obama’s elite admirers both here and overseas to keep emphasising just how “globalised” Obama is.  The more people you have stressing how “important” and “profound” Obama’s middle name is to Palestinian Muslims and the like, the worse it will be for Obama come November (should he be the nominee).  I agree with what Scott wrote in the 1/28 issue: This world-man aura is not without appeal, especially after eight years of a president deaf to what foreigners think and feel. But taken as far as Obama does, it would be an electoral liability.    [...]

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