Conservative author says photo shows Obama ‘flashing one-finger affirmation of Islamic faith’ http://t.co/y7kFD5wPLd

— Kragar (@Kragar_LGF) February 18, 2015

Burleigh said The Daily Mail, which apparently was the only media outlet to publish the photo, badly misinterpreted the gesture as “finger wagging” - but he knows what was really going on.

“The one-finger display is the distinctive Muslim gang sign: The index finger points straight up while the thumb wraps underneath and presses against the digital phalange of the middle finger,” Burleigh argued.

“The remaining fingers are squeezed against the palm in order to highlight the extended forefinger,” he said. “The extended finger is symbolic of the one-God concept of Muhammad and is understood by all believers to be a symbolic shahada, the Muslim affirmation of faith: There is but one God and Muhammad is his messenger.”