Claim: Photograph shows President Obama taking part in an "Islamic Prayer Day" observance at the White House.
Examples:[Collected via e-mail, December 2009]
PHOTO: Obama Prays to Allah...
This is OUR President at an "Islamic Prayer Day" session LAST WEEK AT THE WHITE HOUSE
Oh, yes, Obama prays all right:
WITH THE MUSLIMS!!
This is OUR President at a MOSQUE prayer session LAST WEEK AT THE WHITE HOUSE, on the site where the INAUGURATION is held every 4 years!
He canceled OUR CHRISTIAN "NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER"...Now. ..THIS.
For Obama to continue as our president is an INSULT TO OUR FOUNDING FATHERS!
Origins: In 2009, President Obama decided not to host an ecumenical service in the White House in observance of the National Day of Prayer (held on the first Thursday of May) as his predecessor, President George W. Bush, had. Rather than holding a White House service, the president opted to issue a public proclamation and observe the occasion privately:
"Prayer is something that the president does every day," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, adding that Obama would sign a proclamation to recognize the day. "I think the president understands, in his own life and in his family's life, the role that prayer plays. And I would denote that the administrations prior to the past one did proclamations. That's the way the president will publicly observe the national prayer day. But, as I said, privately, he'll pray as he does every day."
However, the photograph displayed above does not show President Obama instead observing "Islamic Prayer Day" or engaging in a "mosque prayer session" at the White House. This picture of the president was taken at Istanbul's Blue Mosque (where protocol requires that visitors remove their shoes before entering), the national mosque of Turkey, during the chief executive's two-day state visit to that country in April 2009. (Another photograph of the president removing his shoes can be seen here, and additional images of President Obama at the Blue Mosque can be viewed here.)
Also, as far as we can ascertain, there is no national "Islamic Prayer Day" acknowledged or observed by the White House — perhaps someone has confused the private prayer service held by Muslims on Capitol Hill in September 2009 with an officially designated Islamic prayer day.
Last updated: 14 December 2009
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/photos/prayerday.asp
