Pres. Barack Hussein Obama Celebrates Ramadan at the White House

Source: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/09/68498271/1

Dates, the desert fruit that traditionally break Muslims' day-long fast during Ramadan, were at the top of the White House menu last night as President Obama hosted a dinner honoring Islam's American believers during their faith's holiest month. (There was also organic chicken, potato and leek puree and late summer peas, followed by sorbet and cookies. "I am sure it will be good," Obama assured his guests before diving in.)

Obama is shown here welcoming Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, a University of Memphis student who, the president noted in his remarks "broke Rebecca Lobo's record for the most points scored by any high school basketball player in Massachusetts history." You can read more about Bilquis' sports feats on USA TODAY's high school sports blog.

Other guests whom Obama singled out included Nashala Hearn, who won a lawsuit against her Oklahoma school district for the right to wear a hijab, Muslim women's traditional head covering, and Elsheba Khan, whose son, Kareem, joined the military out of high school and was killed in Iraq.

"The contributions of Muslims to the United States are too long to catalog because Muslims are so interwoven into the fabric of our communities and our country," Obama said. "American Muslims are successful in business and entertainment; in the arts and athletics; in science and in medicine. Above all, they are successful parents, good neighbors, and active citizens."

Guests at the dinner included the U.S. Congress' first two Muslim members: Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and Andre Carson, D-Ind., ambassadors of a number of Muslim nations and many top-ranking U.S. government officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Indiana's Sen. Richard Lugar, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Also among the invitees were members of the president's ecumenical Council on Faith-Based and Community Partnerships: Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism; Eboo Patel of the Interfaith Youth Core out of the president's hometown of Chicago; and Joel Hunter, the pastor of an evangelical mega-congregation in central Florida.

Obama also acknowledged an absent invitee, the boxing Olympian who is perhaps the nation's most famous convert to Islam. Here's what the president said:

While Muhammad Ali could not join us tonight, it is worth reflecting upon his remarkable contributions, as he's grown from an unmatched fighter in the ring to a man of quiet dignity and grace who continues to fight for what he believes -- and that includes the notion that people of all faiths holds things in common. I love this quote. A few years ago, he explained this view -- and this is part of why he's The Greatest -- saying, "Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams -- they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do -- they all contain truths."

Breaking News -- Obama: "My Muslim Faith"

We knew it all along. First, it was Obama's half-brother in Kenya who confirmed the Democratic standard bearer's Muslim faith. Now Obama confirms this himself, even if unwittingly...


Obama's verbal slip fuels his critics
Christina Bellantoni (Contact)
The Washington Times
Sunday, September 7, 2008


ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Sen. Barack Obama's foes seized Sunday upon a brief slip of the tongue, when the Democratic presidential nominee was outlining his Christianity but accidentally said, "my Muslim faith."

The three words -- immediately corrected -- were during an exchange with ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week," when he was trying to criticize the quiet smear campaign suggesting he is a Muslim.

But illustrating the difficulty of preventing false rumors about his faith from spreading, anti-Obama groups within one hour of the interview had sliced it out of context and were sending it around via email. They also were blogging about it.

Mr. Obama, who is a Christian and often proudly speaks about how his faith has influenced his public service, said he finds it "deeply offensive" that there are efforts "coming out of the Republican camp to suggest that perhaps I'm not who I say I am when it comes to my faith."

The exchange came after Mr. Obama said that Republicans are attempting to scare voters by suggesting he is not Christian, which McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said was "cynical."

Asked about it on ABC, Mr. Obama said, "These guys love to throw a rock and hide their hand."

"The McCain campaign has never suggested you have Muslim connections," said Mr. Stephanopoulos, who repeatedly interrupted Mr. Obama during the interview.

"I don't think that when you look at what is being promulgated on Fox News, let's say, and Republican commentators who are closely allied to these folks," Mr Obama responded, and Mr. Stephanopoulos interrupted: "But John McCain said that's wrong."

Mr. Obama noted that when Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin "was forced" to talk about her pregnant 17-year-old daughter, he issued a forceful statement to reporters that the line of inquiry was "off limits." But he said the McCain campaign tried to tie him to "liberal blogs that support Obama" and are "attacking Governor Palin."

"Let's not play games," he said. "What I was suggesting -- you're absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith. And you're absolutely right that that has not come."

Mr. Stephanopoulos interrupted with, "Christian faith."

"My Christian faith," Mr. Obama said quickly. "Well, what I'm saying is that he hasn't suggested that I'm a Muslim. And I think that his campaign's upper echelons have not, either. What I think is fair to say is that, coming out of the Republican camp, there have been efforts to suggest that perhaps I'm not who I say I am when it comes to my faith -- something which I find deeply offensive, and that has been going on for a pretty long time."

Asked to comment on the accidental misstatement illustrating the difficulty of the issue, Obama spokesman Bill Burton offered this comment: "I'm not surprised that the only outlet doing this story is The Washington Times."

The West's First Muslim President!

"Allah Akbar!"
President-designate Barack Hussein Osama in traditional Muslim attire.

Photo Source: The Drudge Report