What if Obama is Muslim? Powell

"Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America," Powell said. (Reuters)

"I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America," Powell told NBC's Meet The Press on Sunday, October 19.

"Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian.  He's always been a Christian."

Obama, aspiring to be America's first ever black president, is the son of a Muslim-turned-atheist Kenyan father and a white American mother that did not practice religion.

Born in Hawaii, he lived from ages 6 to 10 in Indonesia with his mother and Muslim stepfather.

The Illinois senator, who describes himself as a proud follower of the Trinity United Church of Christ, has gone miles in refuting rumors describing him as a Muslim in disguise.

American Muslims, estimated to number between six to seven million, have been disappointed that in the process Obama has not once said that being a Muslim is no crime.

This is exactly what Powell, a former national security advisor, did.

"But the really right answer is, what if he is?  Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America," he said empathically.

Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? 

Also Americans

Powell, who made history twice as the first black secretary of state and first African-American chief of the US military, insisted that Muslims are as American as everybody else.

He recalled seeing a photo essay about troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan with one picture showing a grieving mother putting her head on the headstone of her son's grave in Arlington Cemetery.

Powell said the dead soldier was a 20-year-old who had the Purple Heart and Bronze Star military decorations.

"And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith.  And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American."

The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Khan was born in New Jersey and was 14 at the time of 9/11 attacks.

"He waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life."

Muslims in the US have become sensitized to the erosion of their civil rights since the 9/11 attacks.

Many Muslims have complained of facing discrimination and stereotypes because of their Islamic attires or identities.

"Now, we have got to stop polarizing yourself in this way," said Powell.