I don’t get it. Why do Americans tolerate such intolerance in their own backyards? This is an insult for all the brave soldiers who are risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan to form democracies: Furor over author Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s visit stirs debate on religious freedom.
(h/t: Little Green Footballs)
Imam Fouad ElBayly, president of the Johnstown Islamic Center, was among those who objected to Hirsi Ali’s appearance.
“She has been identified as one who has defamed the faith. If you come into the faith, you must abide by the laws, and when you decide to defame it deliberately, the sentence is death,” said ElBayly, who came to the U.S. from Egypt in 1976.
Hirsi Ali, an atheist, has been critical of many Muslim beliefs, particularly on subjects of sexual morality, the treatment of women and female genital mutilation. In her essay “The Caged Virgin,” she also wrote of punishment, noting that “a Muslim’s relationship with God is one of fear.”
[...]
Although ElBayly believes a death sentence is warranted for Hirsi Ali, he stressed that America is not the jurisdiction where such a crime should be punished. Instead, Hirsi Ali should be judged in a Muslim country after being given a trial, he added.
“If it is found that a person is mentally unstable, or a child or disabled, there should be no punishment,” he said. “It’s a very merciful religion if you try to understand it.”
Zahida Chaudhary, a member of the education council and education secretary at the Muslim Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Monroeville, insisted that Islam is a peaceful religion.
“The Prophet Mohammed was a peacemaker and a role model for humanity,” she said. “My understanding is that he was a peaceful person who believed that religion was a choice. He tried to teach people and bring them into it, not punish them.”
Let me guess. I’m being hateful for quoting this imam! Right?
Before someone says, “This is not true Islam! Stop cherry-picking some bad imams’ words!”, here’s a list of Sahih Hadiths (words of Muhammad) on how to handle apostates. You don’t like them, don’t be Muslim. Simple.
3 responses so far ↓
Munaeem // April 23, 2007 at 5:27 am
99.99 % Muslims are hypcrites .
1 million of my people have been butchered by Bengali Muslims. More than 400,000 people are living in 66 squalid camps for three decades in Bengladesh.
nazia // May 4, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Actually thousands of bengali muslims were killed by west pakistani muslims and thousands of women were raped by them . Bengalis killed hindus in the nameof islam and west Pakistanis killed bengalis also in the name of islam.
Basharee // May 6, 2007 at 9:49 pm
I have recently written a long document to a friend about the Islamic permissibility of having sex with female captives, quoting extensively from the Quran and Sahih Hadiths. I will post on it someday here. I have shamefully not even opened this blog for a week! Life keeps one very busy
.