OBAMA-STUDENT OF HISTORY? (PART 4)

OBAMA-STUDENT OF HISTORY? (part 4)

William J. Federer

 In his speech in Cairo, Egypt, June 4, 2009, President Barack Obama stated:

 "As a student of history, I also know...when the first Muslim American was recently elected to Congress, he took the oath to defend our Constitution using the same Holy Qur'an that one of our Founding Fathers -- Thomas Jefferson -- kept in his personal library."

 Though the President's statement is true, it leaves a little "obamaguity" as to why Thomas Jefferson own a Qur'an in the first place?

 For centuries, Muslim pirates of Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco and Algiers-countries along the North African Barbary Coast, attacked and enslaved an estimated one million Europeans.

 Catholic Orders, such as the Trinitarians, collected alms from across Europe to ransom captives from Muslim dungeons and slave galleys. The head of the Catholic order was called "The Ransomer."

 A famous prisoner ransomed by this Catholic Order was Miguel de Cervantes, captured after the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. After five years of captivity, Miguel de Cervantes was returned to Spain where, as a contemporary of Shakespeare, he wrote the classic novel, Don Quixote de La Mancha, published in 1605.

 European countries, such as England and France, eventually arranged to pay Muslim Barbary Pirates an annual tribute, equivalent to millions of dollars, in exchange for their country's ships being left alone.

 American vessels were protected by British tribute until the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783. Then, for a few years, American ships were protected under France's tribute.

 Finally, the Muslim Barbary Pirates insisted the United States pay its own tribute.

 In 1784, Jefferson and Adams, serving as U.S. ministers in France, were directed by Congress to meet with Abdrahaman, the Ambassador from Tripoli, and negotiate a tribute of $80,000 borrowed from Dutch bankers.

 In 1785, Muslims of Algiers captured two American ships and held the crews as prisoners, demanding another $60,000 in ransom.

 Muslim ransoms varied from $300 for a seaman to $1,000 for a captain.

 Tripoli offered a short-term peace for a $66,000 plus commissions and a long-term peace for $160,000 plus commissions. Similar tributes were demanded by other Muslim nations, totaling $1.3 million. Paying a tribute, though, did not guarantee peace. (Gary DeMar, America's 200 Year War with Islamic Terrorism-The Strange Case of the Treaty of Tripoli, published by American Vision.org)

 Jefferson asked the Tripoli ambassador what the U.S. had done to provoke the Muslims, as the U.S. did not want war.

 In "American Sphinx-The Character of Thomas Jefferson" (Vintage, 1998), Joseph J. Ellis recorded Jefferson's dialog:

 "In a joint message to their superiors in Congress (John Jay), Adams and Jefferson described the audacity of these terrorist attacks, pirates leaping onto defenseless ships with daggers clenched in their teeth.

 "They had asked the ambassador from Tripoli, Adams and Jefferson explained, on what grounds these outrageous acts of unbridled savagery could be justified:

 'The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the laws of the Prophet, that it was written in their Qur'an, that all nations who should not have acknowledged Islam's authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners and that every Musselman (Muslim) who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.'"

 In 1788, Jefferson arranged for John Paul Jones, "Father of the American Navy," to fight the Muslim Ottoman navy in service of Russia's Catherine the Great.

 In his "Narrative of the Campaign of the Liman," John Paul Jones wrote of victoriously sailing his flagship Vladimir against the Turks by the Black Sea's Dnieper River. In 1792, John Paul Jones was appointed U.S. Consul in Paris to negotiate the release of captured U.S. Navy officers held in the dungeons of Algiers.

 After being elected President, Thomas Jefferson sent U.S. frigates in 1801 and 1803 to the Mediterranean to protect American shipping.

 Muslims pirates captured the new 36-gun USS Philadelphia and imprisoned Captain William Bainbridge and his 307 man crew for 18 months. After negotiations, the surviving 296 American sailors were released in exchanged for $60,000 and 89 Muslim Tripolitan prisoners taken by Americans in skirmishes.

 The 11 missing U.S. sailors of the original 307 man crew included 6 who had died in captivity and 5 who had converted to Islam, much to the annoyance of the rest of the crew.

 When the Bashaw of Tripoli offered the 5 converts the choice of staying in Tripoli as Muslims or returning to America, 4 decided to renounce Islam and return home. The Bashaw of Tripoli was insulted and ordered them taken away. Horror covered their faces as guards removed them and they were never seen again.

 Hadith Sahih al-Bukhari (Vol. 9, Bk. 84, No. 57) states:

 "Mohammed said, 'Whoever changes his Islamic religion, kill him.' (Mu'atta Imam Malik's Hadith "break his neck.")

 President Thomas Jefferson's patience ended and he sent in the U.S. Marines, as did James Madison a few years later, resulting in the Marine Anthem "From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli..."

 Marine were called "leathernecks" as they tied wide leather straps around their necks to prevent Muslims from beheading them in battle.

 Qur'an, Sura 47:4, states: "When you meet the infidel in the battlefield, strike off their heads."

 In the course of their victories, Marines confiscated many of the curved Muslim scimitar "mamluk" swords.

 President Obama acknowledged a "Holy Qur'an that one of our Founding Fathers -- Thomas Jefferson -- kept in his personal library."

 The question is, why did Thomas Jefferson have this two-volume, 1734 published, English translation of the Qur'an?"

 The answer is Jefferson owned the Qur'an to discover why Muslim enemies were attacking the United States' ships during the Barbary Pirate Wars.

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William J. Federer is the author of the best-selling book, What Every American Needs to Know About the Qur'an-A History of Islam & the United States.

By William J. Federer Email: wjfederer@aol.com Click here for bio and archived articles