Wednesday 5 November 2008

Why Obama’s victory is vital for Muslim nations

Barack Hussain Obama's victory is not only historic due to the fact that he is the first black man to be the President of the worlds most powerful country and to reach the highest rank of the world politics. Its also significant because he has Muslim blood in him as his father was a Muslim from Kenya, his grandfather was a devoted Muslim and who has spent 2 years of his life in traditional Muslim Indonesia and went to a Muslim school. That's the reason why it seems he has a soft-corner for Muslims and Muslim nations. During his term as Professor of Law at University of Chicago, he used to prefer and encourage his students to rite reports, essays on Palestinian issue and on their rights and he would give them good marks for such topics. His policies are pro-Palestinian, which is why the Israeli lobby in the US is shocked t his surprise victory.

Another reason why he seems to be better than other US Presidents is because he is highly intellectual who is famous for making decisions based on reasoning and logic, he seems to be honest and prefers diplomacy over any other means. None of the other US Presidents before him gave any positive/co-operative statements for Muslim countries especially Pakistan. He is the first to work with Muslim nations especially Pakistan to eradicate poverty and promote education and to assist the country with non-military aid, as per his interview statements on various TV channels and. This is I think due to the Muslim blood which he inherited from his father and due to his logical approach to problems. I know somebody who had the chance to meet him 2 months ago and visited his home and his personal library in which he was surprised to find Arabic and islamic books.

Obama's victory is also significant because of the fact that, as the first black Afro-American President, he has made history and will start a new chapter. This will be a big step for other nations to follow to create harmony and peaceful relations with minorities for Britain, France, Germany, Spain etc who generally look down upon ethnic minorities especially if they have a Muslim background. Now the time will also come for Britain & France to overcome racism and elect their Pakistani-British Prime Minister or black Prime Ministers, nothing is impossible!

However, it will be interesting to monitor Obama’s policies and what he does once he enters the White House as he won't be alone there – he has to get-on and convince over 500 other statesmen. In addition to this he will inherit the country's worst ever problems from his predecessor Bush with the highest foreign debt - so his priority is to put his country and his people who elected him first, no matter what.

We as Muslims should not avoid these discussions and should always encourage each other to keep in touch with the global political scenario and international relations as it affects us the most!! Our global population is over 1bn out of just over 5bn, which means that every fifth person is a Muslim. We should be open-minded, ready to learn good even from him but at the same time not rely on them completely.