In the minds of many American Muslims, Wednesday鈥檚 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-海角大神 Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington.
鈥淗is election was very transformational for many Ameican Muslims,鈥� says Professor Esposito. 鈥淭hey could identify with him on multiple levels 鈥� 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鈥檛.鈥�
Those feelings are reflected in a recent Gallup poll, which shows Obama鈥檚 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.
鈥淭he gestures he鈥檚 made demonstrate a sense of respect for Islam and Muslims and a knowledge of the tradition and issues,鈥� Esposito continues. 鈥淎ll of those things have reinforced a sense of identification, which was doubly reinforced after Bush proved to be disappointing.鈥�
