By Dina Rabie, IOL Staff

WASHINGTON – One year has passed since Barack Obama made history being elected president of the United States.

He took office amid high hopes from all Americans, whose country was at a crossroad with a crippling economic recession at home and raging wars and tarnished image abroad.

A year on, opinions are divided on the achievements and failures of the Obama administration.

IslamOnline.net has talked to many American Muslims on the issue and is giving some of them the floor to say what they think about their administration in their own words.

CEO, Technology Firm

I believe President Obama did well overall in reaching out to Muslims at home here in USA and all over the world. What has surprised me and made me unhappy is the absence of a loud response from Muslims specially from what is called Islamic countries. I hoped and still am that those countries through the voice of Islamic Union (if there is one) or from the Arab league (if thoughtful) and to say also that they appreciate the President’s outreach and in return Muslims are too against violence and are not at war with USA or the West. I know privately they said so but we needed publicly and loudly.

I Think President Obama did well overall: he changed the path of economic crises and avoided the much deeper recession, but this is a work in progress and time only will show more decisively how much credit is due to Obama. I believe he deserves lot of the credit.

Obama had in a very short time changed the world opinion about USA and instead of doing it "alone" and "preemptively", he works with our allies once again as a good team player.

Healthcare legislation is being approved now in Congress and passed both Houses and this is a "MAJOR" change that only Obama undertook and is succeeding.

President Obama is working on so many fronts: wars, economy, healthcare, etc and all are big issues that no one had work on them simultaneously like he is doing.

He is a Great President and time will prove it!!. He made significant changes in this first year in office but he needs to continue the mission of change and hope!!

Housewife

I think President Obama’s outreach to the Muslim communities across the world and in America has been very balanced. He has shown respect and conveyed America’s respect for Muslims in his travels to Turkey and Cairo. His speech in Cairo was a monumental speech.

The first year was focused on building respect and mutual understanding. There have been some policy decisions and intentions made for peace and progress. It will take more than a year to have more progress in the mutual relationship between America and the Muslim people across the world.

The first year has been full of challenges and learning in the new Administration.

Health care efforts were made with good intentions, but implementation is always harder and it has been tried before by previous administrations and has consistently proven to be a challenge. Many faith communities feel health care coverage for the uninsured and under-insured is needed as well as help in lowering the overall cost of health care.

We have seen economic recovery in the stock market and financial marketplace the first year and we need more focus on job creation in 2010, in sha’ Allah.

We hope and pray for peace and stability in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is much more work needed in economic and educational development in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We need to work together for peace. We want to make sure all Americans know that Islam and Muslims condemn terrorism, extremism and violence. We need balanced economic governance and regulation to help the economy grow and prevent economic disasters.

Engineering Student

I think that Obama has been doing a good job with the presidency.

During his presidential campaign, "change" was his rallying call. While certainly Obama is a change...and a welcome change... from the leadership this country has come to know, what real change can just one man bring?

The political process remains the same; those with money and influence buy legislation-via lobbyists-that suit their cause, leaving the US and the majority of its citizens without the power to direct their government.

Look at the nation’s financial crisis, we are in a recession. It is difficult to find work; many have lost their homes and other property. Yet we find that the government gives billions to poorly managed albeit big businesses while doing little for the common man.

Obama has made steps toward reaching out to the Muslim community, state-side.

Obama’s background is what many Muslims consider to be his largest attribute. I find it welcoming that he was not raised in the typical western anti-Muslim mentality, so he at least has a cultural and religious understanding.

Rights activist

In the last year, we have not seen the entire discriminatory legislation torn down. We have heard the president become spokesman for religious rights and justice, while Congress does nothing about discrimination of immigrants in almost every area of law and justice.

Americans have paid taxes for homeland security, while the security of masjids still remain in jeopardy and Muslim education programs continued to be analyzed and questioned, and we have witnesses the right to wear hijab politicized and defined as a symbol of extremism.

Some have risked their personal safety as they honor this religious obligation.

Seeing this, our president asks, what cause can there be for plots and violent insurrections beyond our borders? Why are Muslims dissatisfied with the appearance of current progress?

But if we try to look through the eyes of the young Muslim torn between two cultures and a nation that has not sufficiently or accurately defined Islam, or the convert who is American but denied access to his birth rights, America is a dark and hopeless place indeed.

Although it is with pride that this nation has seen past some of the bigotry of the past, there still remain many social problems and political disputes.

Is the president responsible for all of these allegations? No, but he must go beyond extending an olive branch, he must plant it firmly in the consciousness of this country.

As a Muslim American, I have many reservations when it comes to President Barack Hussein Obama. One is that he campaigned and currently supports pro-abortion which means that he also supports partial-birth abortions. Not only is this forbidden in Islam, it is inhumane.

Another is his radical attempt to get people to vote for him by calling for a Civilian Security Force. This, of course, sounds quite absurd and a bit on the Communist/Socialist side. I don’t think he really believes in such an idea, but to actually call for it in front of thousands of Americans was a bit irrational. Was it his way to shock people into listening to him more intently?

His address to the people of Egypt in Cairo. Well . . . . I can say WOW. It was surprisingly phenomenal. It was a speech I will pass down to my children’s children. I was quite impressed by his keenness to reach out to the Muslims. Aside from the fact that he pronounced "hijab", "hajib", it really touched my heart.

So, how is Obama faring with the Muslims? I say pretty well except for a few things mentioned and others not mentioned.

How is he faring with the rest of the public? Well, the big issue right now is the health care reform bill. He claims that this bill will insure that 30 million Americans that do not presently have health insurance. So, the people are waiting to see how this all pan out as the bill is passed.

Let’s all hope for the best.

Student

I feel that Obama has reached out to Muslim communities across the world more than he has with American Muslim communities, because he is trying to comfort or create a bond with the Muslim communities affiliated with the US through war.

I expected change, because that is what so many people grasped during the elections. I believed that change would be made fast. I expected President Obama to spend more time with all the different religious communities, and he has begun to do this, but just not enough. I really hoped he would be visiting all the religious communities, especially the ones near the white house. I really hoped I would be able to meet him through one of his visits to the Muslim communities.

I found that his response to the Fort Hood incident was a little rushed, but I do think it was good of him to leave out the religious background of the shooter. If it were former president Bush responding to the incident he would have very easily pointed figures towards the Muslims.

I would want him to know that I was all for him. I believed in the change he claimed to bring, so I want to see it.

I agree political change must be made, especially since the economy isn’t great, but their needs to be a social change. A change in the way others see and interact with Muslims.

President Obama needs to go visit the Muslim communities despite what the people (non-Muslims) will say about him secretly being Muslim. We need change that can benefit us all.