October 5, 2011, - 10:07 pm
Steve Jobs, Genius, RIP; Enough of the “Jobs Was Muslim” BS
**** SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE ****
Although I currently own only one Apple product (an iPod–a gift from a friend), I will always have an affinity for the genius that was Steve Jobs, who died today. My very first computer ever was an Apple Macintosh (or Macintosh Plus–I forget which). That was just as I was going off to college in the fall of 1986, and I was the only one I knew with my own computer. But he revolutionized that and revolutionized it even more, as you know. In many ways, he was not only the father, but the godfather of Silicon Valley. Even if you never owned an Apple product, if you played Atari (as I did as a kid) you were touched by Steven Jobs (he worked for Atari before there was Apple). Or if you enjoy the amazing Pixar animation at the movies–that was his, too. And he never graduated from college. He made several comebacks. But in another day, he might have been aborted, and it would all have been lost.
It’s sad that someone so bright, so innovative, so entrepreneurial is gone only in his mid-50s (he was only 56). But he was one of the lucky ones. My own father died of pancreatic cancer, and like most, he died only several months after his diagnosis (he self-diagnosed). Jobs beat back pancreatic cancer for a few years, which is rare (and he had the rare form that was supposed to be curable with surgery). His billions show that, rich or poor, you can’t beat G-d’s plan when it’s time. It bothered me when TMZ and many other news sites published photos of an emaciated, skin-and-bones Jobs after he resigned from Apple. I wished people would let this man live his last days in peace.
Although I’ve read attacks on Jobs regarding his refusal for several years to recognize his first child, a daughter, and other charges against him, we don’t know what really went on in his personal life, and it has little relevance to what he did to change the world in terms of technology. My friends who are Mac, iPad, and iPhone users swear by them and will never go back. They say they never get viruses that infect and incapacitate their computers, as I’ve had happen on my PC so many times over the years and especially recently. And his “cloud” concept along with the iPad will revolutionize technology for years to come. It changed the game and left companies like the struggling HP in the dust.
And, finally, there are the “Steve Jobs was a Muslim” claims.
I’ve been getting e-mails saying this from various Muslims–a religion that has very few of its adherents among the great geniuses, scientists, technology innovators, and inventors in the world. Ever since Jobs announced his resignation from Apple, they sent me the claims. Here’s a tip, Muslims: Steve Jobs was a Buddhist.
Yes, technically, according to Islamic law, Jobs would be considered a Muslim, just as Barack Obama would. His biological father was a Syrian graduate student (in the U.S. on a student visa) who impregnated an American Christian grad student. They eventually married, but after Jobs was given up for adoption. The Syrian, Abdulfattah John Jandali, is now, at age 80, Vice President of a Nevada casino, so he’s clearly not a religious Muslim. And Jandali never met Jobs nor did he even know Jobs was his son until a few years ago.
Jobs was raised by Paul and Clara Jobs. Steven Jobs was never raised with any connection to Islam, Syria, or Arabs. He never made any connection with or outreach to these groups later in life when he could have and was trying to reconnect with his past. Jobs never made an appearance at a mosque, never cited the Koran, never identified with Islam or Arabia in any way. Never uttered a single sentence or phrase in the lingua franca of their extremist politics.
It’s a safe bet that if Steven Jobs had been raised as an Arab Muslim, there would be no Apple. Not even Al-Apple. And a lot of great inventions that made our lives better and more enjoyable would never have happened. Jobs’ story is the success of American capitalism. And it’s about the kind of innovation and technological spirit that only happens in two countries in the world: the U.S. and Israel. This story would never have happened in Syria, pre- or post-Arab Spring.
And, then, there is the pancreatic cancer gene, BRCA and its variants. It’s disproportionately common in Jews. So, you have to wonder whether or not Jobs–even on his biological Arab father’s side–had some of the Jewish genes in his past. It’s well known that throughout Middle Eastern history, Jews were forcibly converted to Islam. And, often, we find that people who have high incidence of pancreatic and breast cancer have some Jewish blood in their background. Scientists found, for example, that a reason breast cancer is likely high in Hispanic women–as with Jewish women–is that there were many Hispanic Jews who converted to Catholicism, whether by force or as the only chance for survival, during the Inquisition.
I wouldn’t be surprised if way back when . . . the Al-Mohad Muslims–who forcibly converted hundreds of thousands of Jews to Islam–forced a conversion of some of Steve Jobs’ biological ancestors. We’ll never know.
But don’t believe the “Steve Jobs is a Muslim” hype. He didn’t believe that. And neither should you.
Steve Jobs, Rest In Peace.
Watch Steve Jobs’ FANTASTIC! 2005 speech at Stanford’s graduation. It begins at about 7:40 in.
**** UPDATE: Reader Gerald reminds us of an important point about Steve Jobs:
One thing I do appreciate about Steve Jobs … his refusal to allow pornography to be distributed through I-Pad app store (or whatever it is called). He caught a lot of flack over that from the perverse liberals, but he stood his ground and never relented. Now that he has passed away, I hope that whoever takes his place stands firm on that conviction of his.
Amen, Gerald. Principle like that is rare today. Few corporations are willing to stand up and do what is right on money-making stuff like this. Jobs and Apple could have made even more money off of apps had they agreed to porn apps. But he did the right thing!
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ken b writes, “In my book he ranks up there with the likes of Henry Ford, Eli Whitney, Walt Disney and Bill Gates.”
I see Jobs more as a cross between Edison and Michaelangelo – technology and liberal arts, as he himself suggested. Though Ford took the idea of the assembly line from that in the meat processing business, he certainly made it ubiquitous, and the widespread availability of the automobile had a social impact. And without doubt Disney had a cultural impact. But Gates was not in Jobs class. Most of what he did was derivative. And it was Jobs who squelched Gates attempt to dominate multi-media.
As to the “Jobs was Muslim” theme, I found it interesting (but hardly surprising) that half the comments in left-wing Israeli daily Haaretz story of Jobs’ passing echoed the “Jobs was Muslim/Arab/ Syrian” theme.
Raymond in DC on October 6, 2011 at 5:49 pm