Important: Please correct. The mentioned Haidth does not exist

Submitted by Amir Sani (Canada), Nov 12, 2008 at 14:24

Dear Dr. Pipes,

I have always found your articles about the Islam and Middle East fascinating, accurate and very informative. This is why I am surprised to see you have started your article with a quote which is not only inaccurate, but in fact in all likelihood started as a joke.

I am referring to your quote from Amir Taheri about an alleged hadith that "A tall black man... who is with us." Unfortunately in recent years, Taheri - who was once a leading Iranian journalist and respectable source of information - has fallen into the habit of not checking his sources before reporting. One example was his inaccurate report on the use of special tags for Jews in Iran, which resulted his column being dropped by the National Post.

Let's make it clear: the alleged hadith from Ali Ibn Ani-Talib does not exist. I actually have the book by Majlesi that Taheri refers to it and there is no such hadith in it.

This false piece of news started from an SMS joke that was widely circulated in Iran before the presidential election. As you undoubtedly know, the name "Obama" when written in Persian can be read as "he is with us". Because of the religious repression in Iran, jokes also tend to centre around religious topics. Someone with a sense of humour started circulating an SMS with the alleged hadith, which should be too obvious by its referring to "he is with us". Essentially when the above hadith is written in Persian, it ends with "Obama ast"! Which made it sort of funny.

This was quoted on many Persian forums as a joke, and most people who read it in Persian realised it. However for some strange reasons, Mr. Taheri picked up this joke and quoted it as if it was a true hadith.

Note that in Arabic (which was the language Ali Ibn Abitalib spoke), the word "Obama" is meaningless. It is only in Persian which it can be read as "he is with us". So if this joke is quoted in Arabic, it will be meaningless.

I noticed that this article also appeared on frontpage magazine, and I am hoping that you correct it. the last thing I want is to see a knowledgeable expert like you becomes subject to embarrassment and ridicule just because of quoting from unreliable sources.

Regards

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