Obama Practicing Muslim

Confirmed: Barack Obama Practiced Islam

by Daniel Pipes
FrontPageMagazine.com
January 7, 2008

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/5354

In a recent analysis, "Was Barack Obama a Muslim?" I surveyed available 
evidence and found it suggests "Obama was born a Muslim to a 
non-practicing Muslim father and for some years had a reasonably Muslim 
upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian step-father." In response, 
David Brock's organization, Media Matters for America (MMfA), which calls 
itself a "progressive research and information center dedicated to 
comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative 
misinformation in the U.S. media," has criticized one of my sources of 
information.

MMfA contends in "Daniel Pipes relied on disputed LA Times article to 
revive Obama-Muslim falsehood," that "key aspects" of a March 16, 2007, 
Los Angeles Times article I quoted were later challenged by another 
newspaper account, "History of schooling distorted," by Kim Barker in the 
Chicago Tribune on March 25.

Falsehood? That's a strong word.

To assess MMfA's claim, let's review its preferred article and examine 
what Barker has to say on four topics related to Obama's Indonesian years, 
1967-71:

    1. His attendance at a Catholic school;
    2. His attendance at a public school;
    3. His step-father, Lolo Soetoro; and
    4. His friend, Zulfan Adi.

To start with, about the Catholic school, Fransiskus Strada Asisia, which 
Obama attended 1967-70 (words in square brackets are added by me):

     Interviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors and 
friends show that Obama was not a regular practicing Muslim when he was in 
Indonesia, despite being listed as a Muslim on the registration form for 
the Catholic school, Strada Asisia, where he attended 1st through 3rd 
grades. At the time, the school most likely registered children based on 
the religion of their fathers, said [Israella Pareira] Darmawan, Obama's 
former [1st-grade] teacher. Because Soetoro was a Muslim, Obama was listed 
as a Muslim, she said.

     The enrollment form from the Catholic school, which has been cited as 
evidence that Obama was a Muslim in Indonesia [including by the Los 
Angeles Times], also was rife with errors. It listed Obama as an 
Indonesian, listed his previous school incorrectly and failed to list his 
mother, Ann, at all.

Barack Obama with his public school classmates in Indonesia.
About Obama's time at a public elementary school, 1970-71, variously known 
as the Sekolah Dasar Nasional Menteng No. 1 or the Basuki school, Barker 
writes:

     When Obama attended 4th grade in 1971, Muslim children spent two hours 
a week studying Islam, and Christian children spent those two hours 
learning about the Christian religion.

During a recent visit to this public school, Barker found that

     Weekly religious classes are required for all students, whether 
Muslims, Christians or Hindus, under the government curriculum. A new 
shiny mosque is in the corner of the courtyard. "The Muslims learn about 
Islam, prayer and religious activity," said Hardi Priyono, the vice 
principal for curriculum. "And for the Christians, during the religious 
class, they also have a special room teaching Christianity. It's always 
been like that."

About Obama's step-father, Lolo Soetoro and his religiosity, Barker 
writes:

     In their first neighborhood, Obama occasionally followed his 
stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers, a few neighbors said. But 
Soetoro usually was too busy working, first for the Indonesian army and 
later for a Western oil company. "Sometimes Lolo went to the mosque to 
pray, but he rarely socialized with people," said Fermina Katarina Sinaga, 
Obama's 3rd-grade teacher at the Catholic school, who lived near the 
family. "Rarely, Barry [a nickname for Barack] went to the mosque with 
Lolo."

Barker learned from his friends and family that Lolo Soetoro, who died in 
1987, was "much more of a free spirit than a devout Muslim" and "hardly 
the image of a pious Muslim."

     His nephew, Sonny Trisulo, 49, said Soetoro always liked women and 
alcohol. One of his health problems was a failing liver. "He loved 
drinking, was a smart and warm person, the naughtiest one in the family," 
Trisulo recalled.

As for Zulfan Adi, cited in the Los Angeles Times piece:

     Zulfan Adi, a former neighborhood playmate of Obama's who has been 
cited in news reports as saying Obama regularly attended Friday prayers 
with Soetoro, told the Tribune he was not certain about that when pressed 
about his recollections. He only knew Obama for a few months, during 1970, 
when his family moved to the neighborhood.

Does any of the above information from the Chicago Tribune article refute 
my analysis, as MMfA contends? It raises questions about two details in 
the Los Angeles Times account (the accuracy of the Catholic school's 
registration form and the reliability of Zulfan Adi as a source on Obama). 
But on the larger issue of Obama's religious practices during his Jakarta 
years, it confirms the Times account. Note in particular three excerpts 
from Barker's article:

     * "Interviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors 
and friends show that Obama was not a regular practicing Muslim when he 
was in Indonesia"  implying he was an irregularly practicing Muslim.
     * "Obama occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for Friday 
prayers, a few neighbors said"  confirming that he did pray in the mosque.
     * "Obama's 3rd-grade teacher at the Catholic school, who lived near 
the family [said that] Rarely, Barry went to the mosque with Lolo'" 
confirming that Obama attended mosque services.

All this matters, for if Obama once was a Muslim, he is now what Islamic 
law calls a murtadd (apostate), an ex-Muslim converted to another religion 
who must be executed. Were he elected president of the United States, this 
status, clearly, would have large potential implications for his 
relationship with the Muslim world.

In sum: Obama was an irregularly practicing Muslim who rarely or 
occasionally prayed with his step-father in a mosque. This precisely 
substantiates my statement that he "for some years had a reasonably Muslim 
upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian step-father."

Therefore, what MMfA calls the "Obama-Muslim falsehood" is in fact 
confirmed by both articles as truthful and accurate.

Calling this a falsehood is in itself a falsehood.





http://www.danielpipes.org/article/5354