President Obama spoke their language–literally. In his major Middle East speech in Cairo yesterday, the president referenced the Koran four times, in one instance alluding to a miracle called al-Isra, or the Night Journey, when an angel brought Mohammed to the heavens to pray with Moses and Jesus.
“As the Holy Koran tells us, ‘Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.’ That is what I will try to do — to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us,” he said at another point.
Obama also sprinkled his speech with Arabic words like “zakat,” for alms-giving, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, and offered the welcome “salaam aleikum,” which he said was “a greeting of peace fromMuslim communities in my country.”
Obama reminded audiences he is a Christian, but that his Kenyan father had Muslim roots.
Quoting the Koran was a big hit among an audience of New York Muslims watching the speech. “After 9/11, all the media did was pick specific quotes from the Koran and say, ‘Well, look, this is what the Muslims are following,’ ” said Norhan Basuni, a member of the Council on American Islamic Relations-New York.
“It was a breath of fresh air.”