The Islamic Post Blog


Editorial: ‘The True Leader Presides,’ The Heritage of a New President, Syed Barack Hussein Obama by Khalida
December 1, 2008, 12:51 am
Filed under: December Volume 1 - 2008, Front Page News, National | Tags: , ,

The Pakistani newspaper Nawai-e Waqt recently reported, as a result of extensive research, that President-elect Barack Hussein Obama, though a Christian, enjoys the highest rank in Islam, one not attainable even through his extensive community activism and multiculturalism. The daily publication established Kenyan Syed Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., the now deceased father of the President-elect of the United States, to be, by birthright, in the ranks of the descendants of the Holy Last Messenger Muhammad –may Allah’s peace be upon him and his family for eternal times.
The title Syed, also spelled Sayyid, is generally used before the name of a descendant of the Holy Last Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and denotes the honor in which the family of the Holy Last Messenger, is held.
Being the son of a Syed, the President-elect himself is Syed. Syed Barack Hussein Obama, will do well to remember this, as his greatest honor in order to continue to make his mark in the tradition of those who, whether they are following Islam as good Muslims, or even adhering to the Ten Commandments as good Christians, are known by the characteristics of generosity, chivalry, and patience.
To illustrate the high regard for Syeds and Syedas (f.) amongst all true Muslims, a famous tradition of the Holy Last Messenger, Muhammad, follows, in which the Beloved of the Most High (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: “I am leaving for you two precious and weighty symbols that if you adhere to both of them you shall not go astray after me. They are, the Book of Allah (Holy Qur’an), and my progeny. The Rahman (All Merciful Creator) has informed me that these two shall not separate from each other till they come to me by the Pool (of Paradise).”*
The fact that President-elect Syed Obama is Christian does not, however, remove the spirit of mercy which descends from the Most High Almighty Creator to the lineage of the Holy Last Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), due to the love of the Almighty for His Messenger. Nor does it stop the spiritual inheritance from spreading through the family of a Syed, be they Muslims or non-Muslims. Even the mother of the President-elect, Syeda Stanley Ann Dunham, attained to this honor upon marriage with a Syed, regardless of either of their religious, or non-religious, affiliations; after her divorce, she lived for some years in Lahore, Pakistan, called the City of the Saints, and passed away in the United States shortly thereafter.
About his own faith, President-elect Syed Obama says: “When I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works, with that newfound faith, that [it] fortified my commitment to the work I was doing in the community, because it taught me that [although] I can sit in church and pray all I want, I won’t be fulfilling the Lord’s will unless I am doing the Lord’s work.”
As a correlation, it is an Islamic principle that imaan is something to be found within a person’s good actions and deeds, and that what lies at the core of a person’s belief system cannot be translated into English as mere “faith.”
According to the Islamic belief system, there is a tree of generosity in Paradise, the branches of which hang down into this world. Those who grab hold of that tree, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, will eventually be pulled up into that mercy.
It is therefore hoped that the President-elect, Syed Barack Obama, will utilize the mercy that has been extended to him. The recollection of how much he himself has been discriminated against by various elements throughout his honorable lifetime, should facilitate the continued use of his worldwide popular support in a way befitting the character of his birthright, and his own character, by administering justice to his fellow American citizens, without allowing racial or religious tensions to overshadow the essence of a Syed, for whom tolerance and mercy prevails.
*This famous and sound tradition was recorded in the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Tafsir ibn Kathir, and many other sources. A similar tradition regarding the descendants of the Holy Last Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), has appeared in Sahih Muslim.


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The Ahl-Al-Bait lineage is inherited through the Y-chromosome, hence, cannot be attained by marriage. Regardless, a female who descends from an Ahl-Al-Bait is also Ahl-Al-Bait.

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