US first lady wears headscarf at mosque
Source: Agencies |
November 11, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
US first lady Michelle Obama donned a headscarf on a visit to a mosque in Indonesia yesterday, not a requirement for a non-Muslim but a sign of the Obamas' efforts to show respect for the Islamic world.
Wearing a beige headscarf adorned with gold beads and a flowing chartreuse trouser suit, the first lady toured Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque, Southeast Asia's largest, while on a short state visit to the world's most populous Muslim country.
President Barack Obama had been expected to visit another major religious site during his Asian tour, the Sikh Golden Temple in India, but media reports said the visit was canceled after aides balked at the idea of the president wearing a scarf or skullcap required at the site.
Barack Obama is a Christian but faces persistent sniping among some members of the US public that he is a Muslim and, the reports said, aides feared pictures of him wearing such headgear could fuel such rumors.
Obama, who is using the Indonesia visit as a platform to reach out to the wider Islamic world by praising Indonesia's pluralism, pointed out that the city's Catholic cathedral was opposite the mosque.
As the Obamas crossed the mosque's wide courtyard, the president said that the churchgoers used the mosque's parking lot at Christmas and said that was "an example of the kind of cooperation" between religions in Indonesia.
Indonesia is officially secular, though nearly 90 percent of the population is Muslim. All citizens need to be registered as believers of one of six permitted religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Atheism is not allowed.
The Istiqlal mosque, made from steel and marble with a single soaring minaret in the form of a candle, was built by a Christian architect and can hold more than 100,000 worshippers.
Michelle Obama, rated as the world's most powerful woman by Forbes magazine, shook hands with Indonesian Information Minister Sembiring, from the Islamic political party PKS as part of the welcome ceremonies on Tuesday. He has in the past not shaken hands with women and often opts for a prayer-like palm clasp instead.
Wearing a beige headscarf adorned with gold beads and a flowing chartreuse trouser suit, the first lady toured Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque, Southeast Asia's largest, while on a short state visit to the world's most populous Muslim country.
President Barack Obama had been expected to visit another major religious site during his Asian tour, the Sikh Golden Temple in India, but media reports said the visit was canceled after aides balked at the idea of the president wearing a scarf or skullcap required at the site.
Barack Obama is a Christian but faces persistent sniping among some members of the US public that he is a Muslim and, the reports said, aides feared pictures of him wearing such headgear could fuel such rumors.
Obama, who is using the Indonesia visit as a platform to reach out to the wider Islamic world by praising Indonesia's pluralism, pointed out that the city's Catholic cathedral was opposite the mosque.
As the Obamas crossed the mosque's wide courtyard, the president said that the churchgoers used the mosque's parking lot at Christmas and said that was "an example of the kind of cooperation" between religions in Indonesia.
Indonesia is officially secular, though nearly 90 percent of the population is Muslim. All citizens need to be registered as believers of one of six permitted religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Atheism is not allowed.
The Istiqlal mosque, made from steel and marble with a single soaring minaret in the form of a candle, was built by a Christian architect and can hold more than 100,000 worshippers.
Michelle Obama, rated as the world's most powerful woman by Forbes magazine, shook hands with Indonesian Information Minister Sembiring, from the Islamic political party PKS as part of the welcome ceremonies on Tuesday. He has in the past not shaken hands with women and often opts for a prayer-like palm clasp instead.
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