US Presidents and Islam 1

At first glance, there isn't much of a bond between the US presidents and Islam, apart from the fact that over the past couple of years, the US presidents has waged war against some Muslim nations, which include, Iraq, Iran, Sudan and Afghanistan. Or is there?

Let's start with Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. It is well known, even by the West, that Thomas Jefferson owned a copy of an English translated version of the Quran. The copy, translated in English by George Sale in the 1750s was the same one used by the first Muslim congressmen, Keith Ellison to take his oath into office. So what did Jefferson had to do with this Quran?


Jefferson was said to purchase the Quran while studying law and helping his mentor, George Wythe, prepare cases for trial. Inspired by people like George Sale and Frieherr von Pufendorf and wanting to broaden his knowledge on law and religion,he read the holy book as the Quran not only held the scriptures of Islam, it was also a source of specific juridical outlines. In a way, the Quran was a lawbook to Jefferson.

One of the great qualities of Jefferson was the fact that he didn't lay down any judgment before learning as much as he could into that matter. This was also one of the reasons he bought the book, because even during his time, people with the slightest knowledge about Islam condemned the religion (just as today). His curiosity to what Islam is all about persuaded him in buying the Quran. Before long, he began to learn Arabic and to read Arabic text in it's original form.

Jefferson become highly influenced by the holy scripture and he understood it in terms of law, religion, and culture. The influence Islam had over him can be proven by his various work. Thomas Jefferson was the principle author of the Declaration of Independence and among the pillars of the declaration is '........ that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.....'. Sounds familiar, right?

And in Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) last sermon, he said, "All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has superiority over white except by piety and good action....... Nothing should be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves."

Then there's also the similarity between the United States Constitution with the teachings of Islam. Read here.

Usually, people that read the Quran with the purest intentions and openness to understand it would eventually unlock it's secret and proclaiming it's truth, and convert to Islam. There's plenty of examples of converts of such type, most notably, Umar al-Khattab, and Yusuf Islam, to name a few. Thus, was it possible, that after reading and studying the Quran and the various teachings of Islam, Thomas Jefferson converted to Islam?

In an article I read, it was said that Thomas Jefferson avoided public comment on faith whenever possible. And I quote, 'It was not until long after his death that we became able to read most of his scornful writings on revelation and redemption. And it was not until long after his death that The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (Jefferson Bible) was publishable.

I have yet to read any of his religious writings so I can only speculate. Why did the author describe them as scornful? Jefferson was clearly a clever man, else he wouldn't be one of the Founding Fathers and be the major author of the Declaration of Independence. To was so clever to an extent that when President John F. Kennedy welcomed forty-nine Noble Prize winners to the White House in 1962 he said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House — with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

So why did all the other works by the former president receive such glorious praise, but those regarding religion didn't? Surely the quality of his thoughts regarding religion is extraordinary. Or was it because his thoughts on God being One with no partners too shocking for them to bare?

And his 'bible', the Jesus of Nazareth? I never encountered a Christian who referred to Jesus that way. It's usually Jesus son of God, Jesus Christ or what ever. But Jesus of Nazareth? I live it to you to ponder.

For more, visit this very interesting website called How Thomas Jefferson Read Quran.