Dreams From My Grandfather

Barack Obama's grandfather was Hussein Onyango Obama (Hussein). One source says he was born about 1895 and died in 1979. He worked for the British colonial government and was a prominent and wealthy farmer. Another source says Hussein was born in 1870 and died in 1975.

Hussein, as all of the Obamas, was a member of the Luo, Kenya's third-largest ethnic group, which is part of a larger family of ethnic groups, collectively also known as Luo. This group belongs to the Eastern Sudanic branch of the Nilo-Saharan phylum. The Obama family is largely concentrated in the western province of Nyanza.

Hussein lived for a time in Zanzibar, where he converted from Christianity to Islam. He was one of the first Muslim converts in his village.

Hussein, for whom Obama was given the middle name, Hussein, was "fiercely devoted to Islam." He had at least 3 wives: Helima, who had no children, Akuma who gave birth to Sarah Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. and Auma Obama.

Hussein's third wife Sarah is the one often referred to by Obama as his "grandmother." She is not a blood relative and describes herself as a lifelong Muslim. "I am a strong believer of the Islamic faith," she said.

"What your grandfather respected was strength -- discipline." Obama quoted his grandmother, Sarah, as telling him. "This is also why he rejected the Christian religion.


"For a brief time, he converted, and even changed his name to Johnson. But he could not understand such ideas as mercy towards your enemies, or that this man Jesus could wash away a man's sins."


"To your grandfather, this was foolish sentiment, something to comfort women," she added. "And so he converted to Islam -- he thought its practices conformed more closely to his beliefs."