Abdul Lateef Jandali

There is something suspicious about this.

Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco, on 24 February 1955. His father, Abdul Fattah (or Abdulfattah) Jandali – known as 'John' – had left his home in Homs, Syria, to study for a PhD at the University of Wisconsin. There he met Joanne Schieble, a student whom he was tutoring; they were of similar age. They spent the summer of 1954 with his family in Homs, and that appears to be where Joanne found that she was pregnant.

Jandali later said that Schieble "upped and left to move to San Francisco to have the baby without anyone knowing, including me."

According to Wikipedia, Schieble chose a wealthy Catholic family, living in San Francisco, to adopt and bring up her baby, but that couple changed their mind. The baby was placed with Paul and Clara Jobs, but at first they didn't meet Schieble's standards; she took the matter to court, and "and only consented to releasing the baby to Paul and Clara after [they] pledged to pay for the boy's college education."

When Steve Jobs was at high school, Clara admitted to his girlfriend that for the first six months of his life she'd been frightened that he would be taken away from her. Subsequently, Steve Jobs himself would become upset when Paul and Clara were referred to as his "adoptive parents". He regarded them as his parents "1,000%", and referred to his biological parents as "my sperm and egg bank".

Wikipedia gives Steve Jobs's birth name as Steven Paul Jobs. It makes no mention of the name Abdul Lateef Jandali.

What are we to make of this? Given the circumstances of his birth, it would appear that his biological father played little or no role in his life beyond the conception. Did they ever meet? It would also appear that Joanne had already decided to have the baby adopted even before he was born, and that she considered her relationship with his father to be over. Why then would she give the baby an Arabic name, including his father's surname?

Lots of websites do state that Steve Jobs was born Abdul Lateef Jandali: for example, this one from the Huffington Post. But my Google search for "steve jobs abdul lateef jandali" also led me to a Wikipedia discussion page, where someone has written "The Wikipedia page claims that Steve Jobs name at birth was Abdul Lateef Jandali. The only reference is from a GulfNews article written by someone claiming to be his cousin. There is no documented proof that his birth name is Abdul Lateef Jandali."

My Google search, linked above, had also led me to that GulfNews article. It was written by Bassma Al Jandaly, described as a Senior Reporter, who claims that Abdul Fattah Jandali was his uncle. He writes that Steve Jobs "was a close cousin of mine, but we had never met or chatted."

"Another uncle, Abdul Wahid, who lives in Homs, [continues Jandaly,] told me that Abdul Fattah had a baby boy out of wedlock with an American woman, Joanne, and they gave him up for adoption. Abdul Fattah could not return to Syria because of this "scandal". Abdul Fattah married Joanne and they then had a daughter Mona Jandali Simpson, now a famous American novelist.

"Abdul Fattah John Jandali belongs to a prominent Sunni family from Homs. The family is a direct descendent of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

"Steve was born on February 24, 1955, and was named Abdul Lateef Jandali. Abdul Fattah is now the vice president and general manager at Pinnacle Entertainment, and a former professor of Political Science and Economics."

Mona Simpson (née Jandali) is indeed an American novelist, according to Wikipedia; and she's the younger sister of Steve Jobs. Wikipedia's Personal Life section goes into great detail about her parents and her older brother. Here we read that it was pressure from her parents that led Joanne Schieble to flee to San Francisco to have her baby, and to give him up for adoption; they were unhappy with her being in a relationship with a muslim. But six months after she gave her first baby up, Joanne's father died; she then married Jandali, and gave birth to Mona in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in June 1957.

Mona is extensively quoted in the Wikipedia article, and so is her father; but neither of them mentions Mona's brother being named Abdul Lateef Jandali.

The aforementioned Wikipedia discussion page concludes that the GulfNews article is the only source for the claim that Steve Jobs was born Abdul Lateef Jandali, and that it was written by someone who by his own admission, never met him or even spoke to him. Wikipedia's contributor adds, "I assume someone who knew him personally would have verified this long ago [meaning in the Wikipedia article, presumably], but they have not.

As mentioned above, Wikipedia now makes no mention of Steve Jobs being born with this name.

I believe we have to give Bassma Al Jandaly the benefit of the doubt and say he believed what he wrote to be true. But I would suggest that Steve Jobs was known as Abdul Lateef Jandali only in his father's family – none of whose members ever met him (certainly before he was adopted and named Steven Paul Jobs). The claim that this was his birth name must be a fabrication – albeit, originally, an innocent one.