What is Obama saying to Muslims?

On February 4, 2009, President Barack Obama delivered an eloquent speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. Attempting to persuade the world that he wishes to be the great uniter, his speech focused on, among other things, what peoples throughout the world seem to have in common.

Yet, when viewed from a different perspective, Obama seems to have engaged in a little three card monty with his treatment of Islam. Specifically, Obama said:

“But no matter what we choose to believe, let us remember that there is no religion whose central tenet is hate. There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent being. This much we know.”

The problem here is that, to many Muslims, the Koran certainly does promote hate. Without entering into the distracting question as to whether “Islam is a religion of peace” as many prefer to believe, there is no doubt that many Muslims now and throughout history – not simply a few crazy extremists – are taught to hate the infidel and to treat the non-Muslim according to such hatred.

More significantly, in Islam, “innocent being” carries a different meaning than it does for those brought up in Judeo-Christian cultures. The ultimate judge of innocence is Allah. Under Sharia, anyone who is not a Muslim is by definition guilty. And while it is certainly true that Islam does not condone the killing of innocent Muslims (except where it does), the question of who is “innocent” has various answers depending upon which Muslim is asked.

Obama followed this ruse with another hidden distortion. He stated:

“We know too that whatever our differences, there is one law that binds all great religions together. Jesus told us to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” The Torah commands, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.” In Islam, there is a Hadith that reads “None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.” And the same is true for Buddhists and Hindus; for followers of Confucius and for humanists. It is, of course, the Golden Rule- the call to love one another; to understand one another; to treat with dignity and respect those with whom we share a brief moment on this Earth.”

This is a wonderful concept – to Westerners and others. And it is an unambiguously correct read of Christianity and Judaism at their cores. Unfortunately, his inserted interpretation of Islam is not shared by many Muslims, especially those who have been schooled in their religion. Specifically, this Hadith- Bukhari Volume 1, Book 2, Number 12: Narrated Anas: is often stated (as with the University of Southern California-Muslim Students Association compendium) as: The Prophet said, "None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself." This is because to most Muslims, “brother” means a fellow Muslim.

This notion is replete throughout Islamic teaching as with another Hadith: Bukhari Volume 3, Book 43, Number 622: Narrated 'Abdullah bin Umar: Allah's Apostle said, "A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim, so he should not oppress him, nor should he hand him over to an oppressor. Whoever fulfilled the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfill his needs; whoever brought his (Muslim) brother out of a discomfort, Allah will bring him out of the discomforts of the Day of Resurrection, and whoever screened a Muslim, Allah will screen him on the Day of Resurrection."

Clearly, this intrinsically Islamic concept of distinguishing fellow Muslims from all others is in direct contradiction of the very notion Obama tried to sell at the Breakfast. Many Muslim rulers have learned how to talk to two audiences, simultaneously satisfying what each wants to hear. Sadat spoke of “peace with justice” which meant one thing to Muslims (the ultimate elimination of the Jewish state [see www.FarewellIsrael.com]) and another to the Israelis who welcomed his gesture so thoroughly. Yasser Arafat was notorious for telling the West one thing while fueling hatred of the West with his own people.

Perhaps Obama, as one who claims to have given up the Muslim faith into which he was born, is simply unfamiliar with the reality of Islam and Sharia. Or is it possible that Obama, who seems to have not turned Christian until well into his twenties, knows full well the age old Muslim art of how to simultaneously send one message to the Muslim world while sounding fully politically correct to the non-Muslim world? Either case presents a true danger.

P.S. In 1899, Winston Churchill wrote the following about Islam in his book The River War:

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.

A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property‹either as a child, a wife, or a concubine‹must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities.

Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen; all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith.

It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science‹the science against which it had vainly struggled‹the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."

Perhaps this is why Obama, unprovoked, has returned the bust of Churchill that U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair gave George W. Bush after 9/11. Is there another message here to Muslims?

Bill Siegel lives in New York and writes for FamilySecurityMatters.org.