Barack Obama is a Muslim, and other stories

SouthLand
By SouthLand

The Democratic nominee's campaign is working overtime to combat rumors -- yet misinformation is still running rampant across the Internet.

By Mike Madden

June 20, 2008 | WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama has been running for president for 16 months. He's written two best-selling books, has already spent more money on TV ads in most states than any presidential candidate in history and employs about 1,000 paid staffers -- and a legion of unpaid volunteers -- working around the clock to spread the word about him.

You'd think that would be enough to get some basic facts about the guy lodged in voters' heads. But you'd be wrong. In recent focus groups in key battleground states, participants told Democratic pollsters matter-of-factly that Obama, if elected, would refuse to be sworn in on the Bible. In one group conducted on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center, seven out of 12 independent Virginia voters taking part said they thought Obama was a Muslim (he isn't), and some questioned his patriotism, saying he needs to prove he's "for America." That particular clump of "low information" voters was probably an outlier, but a survey in March found 13 percent of voters -- up 5 points from the previous poll -- shared their belief that Obama was Muslim. Another 44 percent weren't sure what his faith was. And e-mails are flying around the Internet with winking implications that Obama isn't really American (and, worse than that, he's African, if you know what the writer means).

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/06/20/obama/index.html?source=rss...

By SouthLand• 26 Jun 2008 05:07
SouthLand

Find your mantra ;)

labda06 - Cool. I heard he has a hip play list on his iPod ;)

Vlad - your always lurking in the shadows, that's why I eat my garlic ;)

By Dracula• 25 Jun 2008 23:37
Dracula

Forget Barak or Baraq...

His name is HUSSEIN!

Barack Hussein Obama II

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

By labda06• 25 Jun 2008 23:20
labda06

Southland, hold on a minute I have Barack on speed dial...he should know right??! ;-)

By SouthLand• 25 Jun 2008 15:12
SouthLand

So does Barack in the Kenyan dialect differ from Barraq in Arabic (After all there are derivatives of root words and in is being spelled with the Latin alphabet)? Or is it possible that he was named after the Jewish General from the bible?

By labda06• 25 Jun 2008 14:08
labda06

Southland Baracks late Dad was Kenyan. So it makes sense that his name is spelt B-A-R-A-C-K

By SouthLand• 23 Jun 2008 00:53
SouthLand

BARAK

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Biblical, Jewish

Other Scripts: בָרָק (Hebrew)

Pronounced: BER-ak [key]

Means "lightning" in Hebrew. This was the name of a military commander in the Old Testament.

By babe fat• 21 Jun 2008 15:40
babe fat

see his name is BARAK and it is not an arabic name....

BARRAQ it's arabic and it means shining,so BARAK dosn't mean shining in arabic...

have anice day...

By SouthLand• 21 Jun 2008 15:25
SouthLand

I know Christian given/first names are typically from the Bible and only assumed that Muslim first names would be Arabic (the language of the Qur'an). Being that both are proselytizing religions there are a myriad of last names. So I found the link names4muslims.com and looked there. Check out the link, it is an educational experience.

By princess habibah• 21 Jun 2008 15:14
princess habibah

LOL Brit expat..

Southland a muslim does not have to have an Arabic name. His name only has to have a good meaning. Lots of muslims do not have Arabic last names in particular. And the pronunciation of names (arabic and otherwise) differ from each muslim country.

Maryum : Umm Hasan bint Abdullah Alshabrawishi

By qatarisun• 21 Jun 2008 15:13
qatarisun

thanks..

By labda06• 21 Jun 2008 15:12
labda06

Senator Obama was reportedly named after his father, Barack Obama, Sr.

The Senator's first name, Barack, is a Swahili (Kenyan dialect) name that has its origins in the Arabic language. The original Arabic root of the name (B-R-K) means "blessed." In Arabic, the root word is used in many other phrases to denote blessings and to describe people who are blessed:

Mabruk! = "Congratulations!"

Barakallah feek = "May God bless you"

Barakah = blessings from God (feminine version of the name)

By SouthLand• 21 Jun 2008 15:08
SouthLand

No se. I don't know. It is a Muslim name and the Qur'an was written in Arabic, so all Muslim names are Arabic?

By britexpat• 21 Jun 2008 15:08
britexpat

Tell me about it ! We genii have to stick together. :)

By qatarisun• 21 Jun 2008 15:03
qatarisun

is that meaning in ARABIC?

By princess habibah• 21 Jun 2008 15:02
princess habibah

p.s

their is a thin line between genius and insanity

Maryum : Umm Hasan bint Abdullah Alshabrawishi

By princess habibah• 21 Jun 2008 15:01
princess habibah

Oh no I never thought the USA is against muslims Britexpat. Being an american I most certainy know them to be a most open minded and easy going nation.

I should have prob. re-worded that to be non christian candidate. However, I do feel that with all the bombings and conflict in the world that Americans have definately become more weary of muslims particularly in leadership roles.

Maryum : Umm Hasan bint Abdullah Alshabrawishi

By labda06• 21 Jun 2008 15:00
Rating: 4/5
labda06

Good to know SouthLand.

An article from CNN:

Barack Obama told supporters that Republicans will “try to make you afraid of me” (bulging eye perhaps) in remarks he made Friday at a Florida fundraiser.

"The choice is clear. Most of all we can choose between hope and fear. It is going to be very difficult for Republicans to run on their stewardship of the economy or their outstanding foreign policy.

“We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run,” said the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. “They’re going to try to make you afraid. They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. ‘He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?’"

In similar comments at a Chicago fundraiser last Thursday, Obama told supporters that Republicans would try to portray both him and his wife Michelle as "scary."

"They’re going to try to make me into a scary guy,” he said last week. “They’re even trying to make Michelle into a scary person. Right?" And so that drumbeat – 'we’re not sure if he’s patriotic or not; we’re not sure if he is too black.'

"I don’t know, before I wasn’t black enough," said Obama. "'Now he might be too black. We don’t know whether he’s going to socialize – well, who knows what.'"

Last week, the Illinois senator’s campaign launched a Web site to directly respond to and discredit Internet rumors about him and his wife that have dogged his presidential effort.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/20/obama-theyre-going-to-try-to-make-you-afraid-of-me/

By britexpat• 21 Jun 2008 14:56
britexpat

You're definitely dreaming..:0)

IMHO You are making the mistake that most seem to make. The USA is not against Islam. The USA just takes actions/steps, or adopts strategies for what it percieves to be best for the Americans.

Muslims need to get out of this "against us" mentality and start taking steps to stand up for themselves. All thy have to do is look at the jews... A minority, which punches way above ts weight..

By SouthLand• 21 Jun 2008 14:55
SouthLand

Barraq - Male name, meaning - Shining.

http://www.names4muslims.com/baby-boys.php?list=&name=%&page=5

By qatarisun• 21 Jun 2008 14:49
qatarisun

By abohmaid• 21 Jun 2008 14:31
abohmaid

no

By princess habibah• 21 Jun 2008 14:28
Rating: 4/5
princess habibah

I have said from the beginning that if he becomes president then he is most definately the anti christ.

my husband doesn't believe me though because in Islam the anti christ has one bulging eye.

To think that a non white candidate with muslim roots would become president of the USA is a miracle. Wouldn't it be interesting if he turned out to have lied the whole time and be a muslim all along. And then start to create a new world order. It would certainly make me question if I made the right move turning my back on christianity.

Testing times ahead.. (in my moment of insane thoughts lol) I should write a fantasy book ha ha ha

Maryum : Umm Hasan bint Abdullah Alshabrawishi

By qatarisun• 21 Jun 2008 14:23
qatarisun

.. arabic speakers, i have one question:

does word BARACK have any meaning in arabic?

By SouthLand• 21 Jun 2008 14:10
SouthLand

It is a story by Mike Madden for Salon.com

Did you read the whole story?

Every African that I have met has been very pleasant to me. I've personally never had any problems with Africans, except maybe the ones that have sent me unsolicited junk mail from Nigeria to help them get their oil money out of the country by me giving them my bank account info (famous mail fraud scam in America, if not world).

By labda06• 21 Jun 2008 09:51
labda06

SouthLand, what is your problem with Africans? "worse than that, he's African"...There is not one American aside from the Native American People who does not have a descendant originally from some part of this world other than North America. What makes Obama different? So do something constructive like read up on your history. I love your kind of put down, cause it will make victory for Obama that much sweeter.

By JADSS• 21 Jun 2008 07:42
Rating: 4/5
JADSS

dont worry man jush will not allowed him to be president untill they make shore that he will >>>>>>>>>>>>

muslims

By britexpat• 21 Jun 2008 06:52
Rating: 4/5
britexpat

The power of innuendo. They stay that "mud stick" and its true. The USA is the country that coined the term "dis information" and I am sure that the Republicans will use it to their full advantage..

The right wing groups will also continue to play the game.

It should be an interesting six months...

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