# Why would Obama make such a preposterous claim? \[US one of the largest Muslim countries\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 3, 2009, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567 "2009-06-03T12:55:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/1 "2009-06-03T12:55:42Z")
From the text of Obama’s speech in Cairo. > [@](#): > > And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslims Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. [Link](http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/06/abc-news-jake-tapper-and-sunlen-miller-report-the-other-day-we-heard-a-comment-from-a-white-house-aide-that-neverwould-have.html) The true figures for Muslim population in the US aren’t known with any accuracy, some estimates put it as low as 1 or 2 million, some as high as 6, but few would suggest any higher figure. Obama must know this is nonsense, so why say it? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/2 "2009-06-03T13:07:56Z")
Ah, I see you caught Fox N Friends this morning too. I especially liked how they then trotted out the, “how could he say this after saying that America isn’t a Christian nation” retardation. Good job on quickly and accurately advancing the talking points. If you were being honest, you’d know that the gist of the quote is nothing more than this: We sure got ourselves a lot of Muslims here. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/3 "2009-06-03T13:18:16Z")
The point of the remark is obvious, isn’t it? He’s saying there are a lot of Muslims in the U.S. and there is no reason for antipathy between the U.S. and Muslim world. From a factual standpoint the comment is technically accurate because of the vagueness of “one of the largest.” It sounds like it means more than it really does. It appears there are 30 or 40 countries with larger Muslim populations than the U.S. Out of 200-something countries, I guess that could be said to make the U.S. “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.” ---
**Author:** ![Sinaijon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sinaijon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaijon)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/4 "2009-06-03T13:35:31Z")
Maybe he meant geographically? The US is one of the largest countries, period. Only Russia and Canada are larger. And I’m pretty sure the US has large muslim populations than either of those. ---
**Author:** ![Sinaijon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sinaijon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaijon)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/5 "2009-06-03T13:38:15Z")
oops. mispost ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/6 "2009-06-03T13:40:17Z")
As soon as I waw this on the news this morning, I new there would be “Concerned folk” on the dope wondering “How Obama could say such a thing”, and "Will it hurt him?. You all really need to pace yourselves. Getting apoplectic over Every. Little Thing. is going to exhaust you, seriously. Take a break, go for a walk, turn off Fox News. You all need some fresh air. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/7 "2009-06-03T13:44:01Z")
> [@Sinaijon](#): > > Only Russia and Canada are larger. And I’m pretty sure the US has large muslim populations than either of those. No, Russia has a much larger Muslim population than the U.S. does. [This site uses figures that are projected and probably too large for everybody](http://www.islamicpopulation.com/America/america_general.html), but they give Russia a Muslim population of about 27 million, or four times the U.S. total. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/8 "2009-06-03T13:47:11Z")
India has the world’s 3rd largest Muslim population. Oh geez! I just said that India is not a Hindu nation. How could I have said such a thing? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/9 "2009-06-03T13:49:03Z")
Yeah, there is no way this isn’t complete and utter bullshit. > **[Islam by country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim_countries_by_population)** > > Adherents of Islam constitute the world's second largest and fastest growing major religious grouping, maintaining suggested 2017 projections in 2022. As of 2020, Pew Research Center (PEW) projections suggest there are a total of 2 billion adherents worldwide. Further studies indicate that the global spread and percentage growth of Islam is primarily due to relatively high birth rates and a youthful age structure. Conversion to Islam has no impact on the overall growth of the Musli Most Muslim... Given the most liberal estimate of 6 million Muslims that puts us at number 29 just about Jordan, out of 48. Given the probably more accurate estimate of about 2 million which is the number I normally hear. Forgive this article for it’s numbering system, and well it’s not cited very well so we could verify countries individually by the [World Factbook](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/) or the [UN Population Data](http://www.un.org/popin/data.html). > **[UFABET เว็บตรง เว็บยูฟ่าเบท อันดับ 1 รับวอเลท ไม่มีขั้นต่ำ](https://kingsolomonhicks.com/contact/)** > > UFABET สร้างรายได้ง่ายได้กำไรสูง ยูฟ่าเบท ยิ่งเล่นยิ่งรวย แตกไวได้กำไรตลอดเวลา เว็บตรง ใหม่ล่าสุดไม่ผ่านเอเย่นต์ สะดวกรวดเร็ว 24 ชั่วโมง > [@](#): > > Q. How many Muslims are in the United States? > A. According to an academic review of available survey-based data in 2001, informed by information provided by Muslim organizations and mosques, the highest reasonable total number of Muslims in the United States is 2.8 million. > > A more realistic number, supported by statistically significant survey data comparable to what has been used to to calculate the sizes of other religious groups, is less than 2 million Muslims in the United States, or about 0.5% of the total population. > > Estimates of the U.S. Muslim population of 6 million, 8 million, 10 million or more may indeed be correct, but are not supported by empirical data. Such numbers may best be understood as “spiritual” numbers, rather than actual numbers. So lets accept the 2.8 million number as being accurate. That puts us at number 39 between Kuwait and Oman. So even with the extremely liberal estimate of six million we are not in the top half. Just by eyeballing it without doing the arithmetic myself I think it’s fair to estimate that any one of the top four countries has more than all the bottom half combined even if you include America. So no, no matter how you slice it, this quote is a bunch of complete crap. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/10 "2009-06-03T13:49:25Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > You all really need to pace yourselves. Getting apoplectic over Every. Little Thing. is going to exhaust you, seriously. And it hurts their “cause” as well. At this point, my first inclination whenever I hear \*anything \*bad about Obama is that it must be manufactured outrage. Any legitimate concerns about his Presidency are being drown out by the outrage du jour. It’s like they’ve never heard of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/11 "2009-06-03T13:52:20Z")
The estimates for [Germany](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Germany), are higher than the US. We are far outstripped by [China](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_china). We’re beaten out by [France](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_France). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/12 "2009-06-03T13:55:15Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Yeah, there is no way this isn’t complete and utter bullshit. Yes, there is. You mention “48,” which I assume is the number of majority-Muslim countries or the countries with notable Muslim populations. There are 150 other countries out there, so the U.S. would appear to have more Muslims than about 170 nations. It’s deliberately weak wording but not pure bull. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/13 "2009-06-03T13:56:40Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > You all really need to pace yourselves. Getting apoplectic over Every. Little Thing. is going to exhaust you, seriously. In what way is the OP going “apoplectic”? ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/14 "2009-06-03T14:02:21Z")
Yawn. Get back to us when he starts blathering on about Venezuelan Balsa-Wood Drones of Death or some-such. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/15 "2009-06-03T14:07:48Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > From the text of Obama’s speech in Cairo. > > [Link](http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/06/abc-news-jake-tapper-and-sunlen-miller-report-the-other-day-we-heard-a-comment-from-a-white-house-aide-that-neverwould-have.html) Umm…I can’t find the quote in the link. And I don’t think Obama has given his Cairo speech yet. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/16 "2009-06-03T14:09:50Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > From a factual standpoint the comment is technically accurate because of the vagueness of “one of the largest.” It sounds like it means more than it really does. It appears there are 30 or 40 countries with larger Muslim populations than the U.S. Out of 200-something countries, I guess that could be said to make the U.S. “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.” Doesn’t that necessitate defining a “Muslim country” as being any country with a single Muslim resident? That’s quite a leap. I honestly find the comment strange. His wordsmiths are usually better. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/17 "2009-06-03T14:10:23Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > So no, no matter how you slice it, this quote is a bunch of complete crap. And, no matter how you slice it, the criticism directed at it is a bunch of complete irrelevance. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/18 "2009-06-03T14:12:57Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > In what way is the OP going “apoplectic”? Look at the sentence before that, genius. “You all” means every concern troll on these boards. It’s called context. Learn it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/19 "2009-06-03T14:13:18Z")
The Washington Times attributes it to an interview Obama did with a French TV station, without being specific. The quote is apparently going around on the right wing blogs but noplace else. The quote itself sounds offhand and not something that would be delivered in a speech. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/20 "2009-06-03T14:13:44Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yes, there is. You mention “48,” which I assume is the number of majority-Muslim countries or the countries with notable Muslim populations. There are 150 other countries out there, so the U.S. would appear to have more Muslims than about 170 nations. It’s deliberately weak wording but not pure bull. You’re right, the US completely outstrips all the nations that have no Muslims or next to no Muslims. :rolleyes: I generally assumed it was as compared to countries with significant Muslim populations. Though, [Paraguay](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Paraguay) supposedly has far more than 507 Muslims in the ungoverned zone around Ciudad de Este, maybe it’s like the 100th largest Muslim country! When you get that far down the list, such commentary becomes utter bullshit. Yes, we have a lot more Muslims than Paraguay, but so what? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567.md?page=2)