Washington: Only three weeks away from the U.S.
Presidential Elections facing off a tie between the two parties,
new photographs of President Barack Obama’s wedding band have been
published online, claiming the ring to have the Islamic
declaration of faith, known in Arabic as ‘Shahada’.
World Net Daily (WND), a conservative online news agency,
initially reported on Wednesday that Obama’s wedding band has the
inscription of the first part of the Islamic Shahada: “There is no
other god but Allah.”
When contacted by Al Arabiya English, The White House refused to
comment on the claim.
In an exclusive interview with WND,
Mark Gabriel, author of “Journey inside the Mind of Islamic
Terrorists”, confirmed the ring to carry Arabic inscription of the
Islamic Shahada.
Gabriel explained to WND that the declaration is engraved on two
sides, an upper and lower section. On the upper section, it reads:
“There is no god” whereas the lower section reads “but Allah.”
In the lower section, the word “Allah” is written partially on top
of the word “but” explained Gabriel.
TheBlaze.com, a conservative American online media outlet,
interviewed a professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and
Cultures at Harvard University, Dr. Ali Asani, to seek a further
opinion regarding the translation of the engraved ring. Asani
denied the validity of the photographs of the ring as they weren’t
clear enough.
“I'd actually have to see it much closer to see exactly what it
says,” explained Asani.
Interestingly, a website trying to
defuse the controversy said there is nothing 'against Christianity'
if Obama's ring has first part of Muslim Shahada engraved on it.
"It has been noted that it is
significant that the ring, as WND claims, contains only the first
part of the shahada which makes the inclusive statement there is"
no god but God," and excludes the second and more exclusive part
that says "Mohammad is his prophet."
"The first part of the shahada, La Ilaha Illallah, is only a
declaration of monotheistic faith and it applies to Christianity
as well as Islam", digitaljournal.com said.
The debate on Barack Obama's faith
and religion is not new. In August 2010, US President Barack Obama
said he's not concerned about rumours about his birthplace or
faith blaming an online campaign of misinformation by his
conservative enemies for perpetuating the myth that he's a Muslim.
There's "a network of misinformation that in a new media era can
get churned out there constantly," Obama said in an interview
Sunday with NBC in New Orleans after marking the fifth anniversary
of Hurricane Katrina.
"If I spend all my time chasing after that, then I wouldn't get
much done," he said when asked why so many people were uncertain
about something so fundamental as his faith. "I can't spend all my
time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead."
In the same month a day after a poll
found that one in five Americans think "US President Barack Obama
is a Muslim", the White House had asserted "he is a Christian, who
prays every day."
“President Obama is a committed Christian, and his faith is an
important part of his daily life,” White House Deputy Press
Secretary Bill Burton told reporters on board Air Force One on way
to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
“He prays every day, he seeks a small circle of Christian pastors
to give him spiritual advice and counseling, he even receives a
daily devotional that he uses each morning. The President’s
Christian faith is a part of who he is, but not a part of what the
public or the media is focused on everyday", he added.
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