In the minds of many American Muslims, Wednesday’s iftar no doubt marks a significant triumph, especially with Obama as its host.
When Obama delivered his inaugural address 2-1/2 years ago, Muslims felt they had helped elect someone who understood them and would work to repair relations with Muslims across the globe, says John Esposito, director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington.
“His election was very transformational for many Ameican Muslims,” says Professor Esposito. “They could identify with him on multiple levels – he had lived in Indonesia, a Muslim country, his father and stepfather came from a Muslim background ... then of course, from his inauguration to his first international address in Cairo, he showed an attention to Muslims that other presidents hadn’t.”
Those feelings are reflected in a recent Gallup poll, which shows Obama’s 2008 election was a transformational event for Muslims in America and across the world. Muslim Americans give Obama an 80 percent approval rating in the poll, the highest of any religious group. (At 65 percent, American Jews are a distant second.) By contrast, the approval rating for Bush, who started the annual White House iftar tradition, was 7 percent in 2008.
“The gestures he’s made demonstrate a sense of respect for Islam and Muslims and a knowledge of the tradition and issues,” Esposito continues. “All of those things have reinforced a sense of identification, which was doubly reinforced after Bush proved to be disappointing.”
