Barack Hussein Obama: The Origin of Obama's Names

Is Barack Hussein Obama a Muslim Name?
What's in a Name?

More than a few inaccurate stories about the origins of Barack Obama's name have made their way into mainstream media, so I thought I'd do some research fo my own.

In an effort to allow voters and interested media to educate themselves, rather than relying on pre-conceived notions and partisan spin from both sides, I started without pre-established concepts or assumptions and attempted to avoid propaganda effects by using original sources from prior to Barack Obama even becoming a public figure and Illinois Senator in 1997.

Let's proceed, shall we?

Barack Obama's full name is Barack(1) Hussein(2) Obama (3).

(1) The name Barack is a form of the Arabic word Baraka or Barakah, meaning blessing (from the root "Brk"), specifically, the "meaning of Barakah in an Islamic sense" refers to "the presence of divine blessing in an object and increasing those blessing." (http://forums.almaghrib.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=1121)

So what contains Barakah? The Qur'an and The Prophets, according to the following site.
(http://www.ilmfruits.com/things-that-contain-barakah/)

So where might find the name of a Qur'an prophet?

(2) Barack Obama's middle name Hussein is derived from the muslim prophet Muhammed's grandson, (son of Fatima), specifically:

""Husayn diminutive form of Hasan, which is derived from hasan (beautiful, handsome, good). Husayn, one of the most popular Muslim names, was borne by Al-Husayn (626-80), a son of the Prophet's daughter Fatima and Ali ibn-Abi-Talib. Husayn and his followers were massacred at Kerbela on October 10, 680, a day that is now celebrated as a Holy Day for the Shiites. The name is also borne by the king of Jordan, Husayn ibn-Talal (b. 1935). He ascended to the throne in 1953 after the abdication of his father in 1952. Var: Hisein, Husain, Hussain, Hussein (HOO-SANE)" p. 374

-A World of Baby Names, by Teresa Norman, 1996 p. 374 (images attached).

Norman also contends that "Arabic names can be put into two general categories: pre-Islamic and post-Islamic. Pre-Islamic names were mainly influenced by nature, occupations, personal characteristics and genealogy. Post-Islamic names were influenced by the Prophet Muhammad, the catalyst for the beginning of a vast cultural transformation in the Arab world". p. 369

So what does Obama mean?

(3) The name Obama is a family name three generations back, from Barack Obama's father "Barack Obama, Sr.", to his father, "Hussein Onyango Obama", and likely before, though earlier records will probably be found only in archives.

Those wishing to further research Hussein Onyango Obama's father might check a 1935 dental study done of the 190 boys and men at the Jalou Maseno school in 1935.

For those curious about the name Onyango, it apparently means born in the morning in Jalou, the language of Obama's grandfather, from the Jalou Tribe in Kenya that occupied the shores along Lake Victoria and Kisumu Bay
(http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/price/price9.html






Conclusion

The name Barack (blessing) prepended on the second name Hussein (grandson of Mohammed) modifies Hussein like an adjective, and Barack Hussein Obama literally means "Blessing of Al-Husayn" Obama.

Again, Al-Husayn was son of the muslim Prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatima (and Ali ibn-Abi-Talib,), who was massacred at Kerbela on October 10, 680.

The name Barack is Arabic in origin, and when isolated is not necessarily muslim. The name Hussein is muslim in origin, and when combined the name Barack Hussein Obama is muslim.


by C.R. Scholar
images: crscholar