Barack Obama aroused controversy over his affinity with
Islam yet again in February 2015, when a photo surfaced from the U.S.-African
Leaders’ Summit in August 2014, showing Obama passing by a group of African
delegates with his right index finger raised in a gesture strongly reminiscent
of the Islamic State’s now notorious one-finger salute.
For the Islamic State and other Muslims, this gesture signifies
allegiance to Islam’s absolute monotheism. Whatever Obama may have meant by it,
the revelation that he had made the gesture — coming so soon after his renewed
refusal at his “Countering Violent Extremism” summit to identify Islamic
jihadists as Islamic — raised new questions about Obama’s relationship with
Islam. Why won’t Obama identify Islam as having anything to do with the
jihadis, when they themselves consistently explain and justify their actions
solely in Islamic terms? Why won’t he do anything about mosques in the U.S.
with ties to jihad terror? Why does he coddle the Muslim Brotherhood? Why, in
sum, does he seem to love Islam so much, even if he isn’t a practicing Muslim?
And it does seem most likely that Obama is indeed not a practicing Muslim,
despite the remarkable persistence of rumors and suspicions to the contrary. It
is extremely unlikely that a Muslim would publicly proclaim himself a Christian
over and over, as Obama has. While it is possible that this would be justified
under Islam’s doctrines of deception, there is no evidence that Muslims have
ever behaved this way. Ground Zero Mosque imam Faisal Abdul Rauf did say
several years ago, “I am a Jew,” but he only said it once, in the context of
ecumenical generosity; he didn’t try to pass himself off as one. There is a way
in which a Muslim could say he is a true Jew or true Christian because he
follows the true teachings of the Torah and the Gospel, but there is no known
case of a Muslim behaving this way in a sustained manner. If Obama were a
secret Muslim, he would be the first Muslim to carry out such a sustained
deception of claiming not to be a Muslim.
There is little doubt, however, given his consistent policies
throughout his presidency, that Obama holds Islam in high regard, for whatever
mix of personal affection (his father and stepfather were both Muslims) and
political calculation (he may believe that calling the jihadis Islamic will
alienate Muslim allies of the U.S., such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan,
however unreliable those alliances have been). His Administration backed the
Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt with such loyalty that Egyptian protesters
held signs accusing Obama of supporting terrorism. He aided Islamic jihadis to
overthrow Gaddafi in Libya and continues to aid those trying to overthrow Assad
in Syria. (He insists that those he is backing in Syria are “vetted moderates,”
but they have ransacked churches, terrorized Christians, and collaborated with
the Islamic State too often for that to ring true.) He has repeatedly called
for self-censorship to conform with Islamic blasphemy laws, most memorably
declaring at the United Nations, “The future must not belong to those who
slander the prophet of Islam.”
And while his Justice Department aggressively pursues businesses
and educational institutions to compel them to grant special privileges and
accommodations to Muslims, it has shown no similar energy regarding terror-tied
mosques in the U.S. Not only do these mosques remain open and their leaders
uninvestigated and unprosecuted, but all too often the only contact law
enforcement officials have with them is for “outreach.”
Only Obama knows what he may be thinking in all this, but a few
conclusions seem obvious: he is afraid that speaking honestly about the
jihadis’ motives and goals will alienate actual and potential Muslim allies.
Since he believes Islam to be a peaceful religion, he doesn’t accept the idea
that Muslims become jihadis because the Qur’an and Sunnah exhort them to do so.
That leaves only the grievances that Islamic advocacy groups (and jihad groups)
endlessly retail as the fundamental engine of the “radicalization” of Muslims –
so Obama apparently sees redressing those grievances as the primary means of
preventing Muslims from becoming terrorists.
This
has led to foreign and domestic policies of accommodation and appeasement,
along with an ominously cavalier stance at best toward the First Amendment’s
protection of the freedom of speech. Coupled with a dogmatic refusal to
identify properly those who have vowed to destroy the United States and address
their belief system and ideology, Obama’s stance toward Islam is a recipe for
catastrophe. The United States is weaker and more vulnerable for it
