Obama Twisted Facts and Omitted Others

Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF versionDr. Sami Alrabaa The world into "Muslims" and "non-Muslims" (in his speech on June 4, 2009 in Cairo) is exactly what radical Muslims and Islamists have always wanted to achieve. They wanted to build a Muslim front against the rest of the world. It is one of two things. Either Obama did not read the Koran and Hadith and does not really know what is really going on in Muslim countries and communities, or he simply wants to appease Muslims like most Islam stooges in the Western world, like Arabs say, "The hand which you cannot condemn, just kiss." Let us see how the President of the United States twisted facts and omitted many others. Obama said: "America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap and share common principles, principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings." He also said: "Throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality." (emphasis mine) Islam is "justice, tolerance, and dignity of all human beings"?! "Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds, religious tolerance and racial equality"?! This is laughable. Here is the proof, from the Koran and Hadith, that this is absolutely not true: "Kill the Christians and Jews...." (Sura 2, verse 191), "Do no take the Jews and the Christians for friends......" (Sura 5, verse 51), "Men are superior to women because Allah has made them so...." (Sura 4, verse 34), "Beat them (women)...." (Sura 4, verse 34). The Koran is replete with passages like these. For further details, read  my “Is Islam a Violent Faith?” The Hadith says: "Women are deficient in intelligence" (Hadith 301), "Women are crooks and useless creature." (Hadith 3466), "If women, Jews, dogs, and donkeys pass by a praying Muslims, they annul his prayers." (Hadith 493, 704), "Non-Muslims must subjugate to Shari'a" (Hadith 413). The list of atrocious Hadith like these is long. For more, check out "Women in Hadith." In practice, if you wear a cross or carry the Bible in Saudi Arabia, you risk being jailed, tortured, whipped, and afterwards deported. Prominent Islamist chaplains like the Egyptians Al Qaradhawi, Ali Gom'a, (grand mufti of Egypt) and the Saudi Al Lehedan (head of Fatwa Council in Saudi Arabia) urge Muslims to kill foreign soldiers in Arab and Muslim lands, including Israel. Al Qaradhawi said after the invasion of Iraq, "If we don't do that, then we are all a bunch of donkeys." These chaplains and imams across the Muslim world approve of suicide and car bombers in Israel, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Al Lehedan said, "Our prophet, peace be upon him, urged us to kill the infidels. They are the enemy of Allah. The holy Koran also urges us to kill the enemies of Islam." One of the biggest lies which Obama presented in his speech in Cairo was his saying, "It was Islam at places like Al-Azhar that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's renaissance and enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities." It was Al-Azhar which forced Nasser Hamed Abu Zeid to divorce his wife for interpreting Islam in a modern manner. It was Al Tantawi, the grand imam of Al-Azhar who issued a fatwa prohibiting Muslims from donating any parts of their body to Copts, non-Muslims. Obama also said, "No single speech can eradicate years of mistrust (between America and Muslims)." Who is actually mistrusting whom, and who is not trustworthy? Would you trust someone who denies your existence and is determined to subjugate you? Is it Muslims or the rest of the world? Who is preaching and practicing religious despotism? It is orthodox Muslims who mistrust the West and reject its value system. Then Obama turned to talk about the "civilization's debt to Islam." This is also not true. Arab Scholars like Ibn Rushd and Ibn Khaldun were prosecuted in the so-called "golden ages" of the Muslim empire for discussing rationalism and secularism, opposed and rejected by Islam. Ibn Sina's scholarly medical works were due to his study of Greek and Roman scientific books and not due to Islam. Islam's legacy is replete with oppression, violence, and discrimination. Obama reproduced in his speech what Islamic establishments across the Muslim world have always preached: Islam is misunderstood in the West. It is blemished with stereotypes. He also said, "partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't. And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear." So, murdering non-Muslims and discriminating against women in the Koran, Hadith, and in practice are all stereotypes? Obama also wants "to protect the right of (Muslim) women and girls to wear the hijab, and to punish those who would deny it." I think Obama missed adding that Muslims must also have the right to introduce and practice Sharia. It is their right under religious freedom. Obama must be credited for condemning radical Muslims like al Qaeda, but at the same time he failed to mention that these thugs have simply acted according to the "commandments" of the Koran and Hadith. Obama stressed in his speech that "Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism; it is an important part of promoting peace." Over and over again, this is not true. Repeating a lie will never change it into truth. The Koran and Hadith include lots of passages that incite followers to violence. Obama also said, "military power alone is not going solve the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan." This is true so long the West does not tackle the root causes of Islamic terrorism that is fed in madrassas across the Muslim world, funded by the Saudis and petrodollars of other Arab Gulf countries. Then Obama turned to Guantanamo to justify its closure and said, "I have unequivocally prohibited the use of torture by the United States." That is fine. But how about torture in Arab prisons which is a daily exercise, especially in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan? If Obama were honest, he should have raised this issue in his speech. But he did not dare do so. That would antagonize and hurt his friends, Abdullah and Mubarak. Instead, Obama commended King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, one of the worst dictators on earth, and on top of that he sought his advice. Advice on what? Advice from a despot? How to appease radical Muslims? Furthermore, Obama was full of praise to King Abdullah. He said, "I consider the king's friendship a great blessing, and I am very appreciative that he would bestow this honor on me during this visit." Obama also thanked Abdullah for his "extraordinary generosity and hospitality." Also, Obama praised the "efforts" of King Abdullah in relation to "interfaith dialogue." While this King bans followers of other religions to practice their own faiths and build their own temples in Saudi Arabia, and teaches hatred against other faiths in his schools, he calls for interfaith dialogue. This is sheer hypocrisy which Obama, of course, digested greedily. For Obama, democracy is a controversial issue. He said in his speech in Cairo, "I know there has been controversy about the promotion of democracy in recent years." Instead of demanding straightforward democracy for Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the other Arab countries, Obama said, it was a controversial issue, and ignored the fact that decent Muslims and Arabs are yearning to have their societies. All in all, Obama twisted facts and avoided naming the root causes of bloodshed and misery in the Middle East and in the Muslim world at large. Instead, he tried to appease radical Muslims and Muslim regimes. Thank you Mr. President for emboldening such people. FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Dr. Sami Alrabaa, an ex-Muslim, is a professor of Sociology and an Arab-Muslim culture specialist. He has taught at Kuwait University, King Saud University, and Michigan State University. He also writes for the Jerusalem Post.