Here's the headline:
Furor over author Ayaan Hirsi Ali's visit stirs debate on religious freedom
Sounds ok, right? But when you get into the piece, you see what the furor actually was:
A community debate over religious freedom surfaced in Western Pennsylvania last week when Dutch feminist author Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali refugee who has lived under the threat of death for denouncing her Muslim upbringing, made an appearance at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
Islamic leaders tried to block the lecture, which was sponsored through an endowment from the Frank J. and Sylvia T. Pasquerilla Lecture Series. They argued that Hirsi Ali's attacks against the Muslim faith in her book, "Infidel," and movie, "Submission," are "poisonous and unjustified" and create dissension in their community.
Although university officials listened to Islamic leaders' concerns, the lecture planned last year took place Tuesday evening under tight security, with no incidents.
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.
This isn't a debate about religious freedom - this is a report about a vile, little man who wants a woman killed because she calls into quesiton various aspects of Moslem belief. How could the author miss the point by so wide a mark? The headline was "Radical Moslem Cleric Demands Death for Critic of Islam"; small wonder we don't, on the whole, have a clear picture of what is going on vis a vis the War on Terrorism when the MSM - still the primary source of public information for most Americans - can't even figure out the basic story line.
Another thing that is annoying about this story is that the university authorities agreed to meet with the cleaic to hear is concerns...who cares about the concerns of such a savage man?
If we don't start getting a bit serious about this issue then we'll one day pay for our unseriousness in blood.
Posted by Mark Noonan at April 23, 2007 09:26 AM
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"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...."
So, why can't we arrest this guy? That is, he knowingly is a member of an organization that he understands to require the death of this woman. So why can't we arrest him for describing a threat that as he understands it is required of this group, of which he is a leader?
Posted by: Morris at April 23, 2007 11:26 AM
He won't be arrested for the same reason that Hirsi Ali must live with very tight security, the liberal/left in governments will not go against the Islamic fundamentalist for fear of making them angry at them - rather than others. If these people had the backbone that Hirsi Ali has, and would stand up to the fundamentalists who make such savage and threatening calls for someone's death, then we actually might have fewer.
Posted by: kjstrouble at April 23, 2007 01:21 PM
This guy isn't a "radical Muslim" cleric. He's just a Muslim cleric who's following the Qur'an and Muhammad's many examples of murdering critics of Islam:
Qu'ran 5:33 The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom.
For example: Muhammad had a Jewish POET named Ka`b bin al-Ashraf murdered. His crime? He insulted Islam-
Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 59, #369
Narrated Jabir Abdullah:
Allah's messenger said "Who is willing to kill Ka`b bin al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and His apostle?" Thereupon Maslama got up saying, "O Allah's messenger! Would you like that I kill him?" The prophet said, "Yes". Maslama said, "Then allow me to say a (false) thing (i.e. to deceive Ka`b). The prophet said, "You may say it."
The sentence for apostasty from Islam is DEATH. Muhammad said:
(Bukhari 9.84.57) "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him'".
Posted by: Freedom1 at April 23, 2007 10:23 PM
A Conversation with Imam Fouad ElBayly
(Via Lgf) "A reader of Jihad Watch picked up the phone and called the Johnstown Islamic Center, and who should answer but Imam Fouad ElBayly, who said publicly that Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali should be executed:
I called the number and someone picked up and said hello. I said I was calling with regard to Imam Fouad ElBayly. The person on the other end said, “Speaking.” (!!!!)
Me: Is this Imam Fouad ElBayly?
ElBayly: Speaking.
Me: I understand that you called for the murder of Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
ElBayly: Oh no no, that was not correct.
Me: I have the quote right here. You said, “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.”
ElBayly: Yes, but that is not my word. That is the call of God.
Me: So you said that.
ElBayly: Before anybody gets into the relations with Islam [I couldn’t type fast enough to type everything he said] ... you don’t get into the relationship with Islam [...] what Ali did is called corruption on earth. It is worse than murder. She was disturbing the peace. That is not a peaceful life.
Posted by: Freedom1 at April 23, 2007 10:27 PM
Qur'an 2:191 "And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter."
Posted by: Freedom1 at April 23, 2007 10:37 PM
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"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...."
So, why can't we arrest this guy? That is, he knowingly is a member of an organization that he understands to require the death of this woman. So why can't we arrest him for describing a threat that as he understands it is required of this group, of which he is a leader?
He won't be arrested for the same reason that Hirsi Ali must live with very tight security, the liberal/left in governments will not go against the Islamic fundamentalist for fear of making them angry at them - rather than others. If these people had the backbone that Hirsi Ali has, and would stand up to the fundamentalists who make such savage and threatening calls for someone's death, then we actually might have fewer.
This guy isn't a "radical Muslim" cleric. He's just a Muslim cleric who's following the Qur'an and Muhammad's many examples of murdering critics of Islam:
Qu'ran 5:33 The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom.
For example: Muhammad had a Jewish POET named Ka`b bin al-Ashraf murdered. His crime? He insulted Islam-
Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 59, #369
The sentence for apostasty from Islam is DEATH. Muhammad said:
(Bukhari 9.84.57) "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him'".
A Conversation with Imam Fouad ElBayly
(Via Lgf) "A reader of Jihad Watch picked up the phone and called the Johnstown Islamic Center, and who should answer but Imam Fouad ElBayly, who said publicly that Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali should be executed:
Qur'an 2:191 "And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter."