ABSTRACT
Barack Obama has come out swinging against his Republican rival, sponsoring television advertisements that ask, "What is Mitt Romney hiding?" A focus on openness and honesty are likely to hurt Obama far more than Romney. Obama remains the mystery candidate with an autobiography full of gaps and even fabrications. Asked about the religion of his childhood and youth, Obama offers contradictory answers. The childhood friends say Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque. Obama provides some information on his Islamic background in his two books, Dreams and The Audacity of Hope. Obama readily acknowledges that his paternal grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama, converted to Islam. Several individuals who know Obama well perceive him as Muslim. Muslims cannot shake the sense that, under his proclaimed Christian identity, Obama truly is one of them. In conclusion, available evidence suggests that Obama was born and raised a Muslim and retained a Muslim identity until his late twenties.
