# Would (Some) Muslims Consider Barack Obama a Muslim? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-muslims-consider-barack-obama-a-muslim/581280 "2011-05-09T15:20:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-muslims-consider-barack-obama-a-muslim/581280/21 "2011-05-11T04:41:12Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Would any “reasonable” Muslims think Obama is an apostate? That was a meme circulating on the internet during the election. No. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-muslims-consider-barack-obama-a-muslim/581280/22 "2011-05-11T05:47:36Z")
Let’s put it this way- there are a lot more non-Muslims than Muslims who consider Barack Obama Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-muslims-consider-barack-obama-a-muslim/581280/23 "2011-05-11T12:26:26Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > **CookingWithGas** , **Paul in Qatar** , and \*\*AK84 \*\*all make interesting points, informed as they are by different perspectives on Islam as it is practiced in different contexts. Could any of you be troubled to supply a citation? I realize this is trivia, but I’d like to be able to say I knew about this with some confidence. ( **Paul** , I realize that in your case you may be getting your info “right from the horse’s mouth”, but I’m sure you understand why I’m asking.) I don’t have a scholarly cite but I am married to an Egyptian Muslim. I will add that she and her family are not particularly pious but over my 18 years of marriage I’ve been to Egypt seven times and have had the opportunity to have discussions with her friends and family about religion, although the discussions tend to be lightweight as to avoid any emotional hot buttons. While I have the floor I will just point out that “(some) Muslims” per the OP is not the same as “reasonable Muslims” in other posts. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-muslims-consider-barack-obama-a-muslim/581280/24 "2011-05-11T12:39:26Z")
Even if he _had_ made a childhood “declaration” of Islamic faith, are there any Muslims who would _not_ see that as superseded by his later declarations and rituals of Christian faith? ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-muslims-consider-barack-obama-a-muslim/581280/25 "2011-05-11T12:59:53Z")
There is a curious converse situation in Malaysia. There, if you are a Muslim citizen, if you renounce your religion, you lose your citizenship. If your parents are Muslim you are automatically covered. [Maylay Constitution](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_160_of_the_Constitution_of_Malaysia) Given that the world in general doesn’t cope well with stateless people, I’m not sure what the outcome is for apostate citizens. Thus it seems it is essentially impossible for an ethnic Malay (as opposed to someone born in Malaysia with a different lineage) to not be Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-muslims-consider-barack-obama-a-muslim/581280/26 "2011-05-11T13:41:18Z")
Muslims who dislike Barack Obama have far more pressing reasons to dislike Obama than his alleged and non existent apostasy. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-muslims-consider-barack-obama-a-muslim/581280/27 "2011-05-11T16:44:25Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I am actually muslim. And I know of no reasonable muslim who seriously Obama a muslim. > > Being born into the faith is one thing, being a muslim is something else entirely as is leaving said faith. Considering Obama’s case, seeing as he wasnt raised as one, and regularly talked about his Christian faith, I doubt many Muslims would consider him as one of them. But, you said this “And No. Islam is not Judaism. What you are born as is irrelevant.” and in some Muslim countries that wouldnt be true. That’s what I was replying to. You being born a Muslim is irrelevant, you \*having lived \*in North Africa would be. ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-muslims-consider-barack-obama-a-muslim/581280/28 "2011-05-12T05:58:13Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > If you’re baptized a Catholic, you’re a Catholic. Even if you’re excommunicated, that just means you can’t take communion, but you’re still a Catholic. Not true - you get a “pass” until you’re Confirmed. Once you reach an age of reasonable maturity you “confirm” your belief in Catholicism. At Baptism, your parents (or other representatives) present you as a a child who will be raised in the Catholic tradition. And yada, yada. Baptism is just a cleansing of Original Sin, whereas Confirmation is an intentional leap into the dogma. It’s part of that whole “free will” thing. [the last bit was not meant to be snarky - just to underscore that the “free will” bit is a fundamental component of Catholicism]. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-muslims-consider-barack-obama-a-muslim/581280/29 "2011-05-12T08:35:33Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Let’s put it this way- there are a lot more non-Muslims than Muslims who consider Barack Obama Muslim. What he said. I have never met a Muslim who thinks the president is a Muslim. I have met many Christians who have this delusion. (Oddly there is a persistent rumor that Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon was a Muslim. Apparently he said something that got everyone excited. The official answer in the government-controlled press’s religious column is that Armstrong’s faith is a personal matter.) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-muslims-consider-barack-obama-a-muslim/581280/30 "2011-05-12T09:06:35Z")
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