Pittsburgh Imam Fouad ElBayly: Ayaan Hirsi Ali should be put

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016163.php

April 22, 2007


Pittsburgh Imam Fouad ElBayly: Ayaan Hirsi Ali should be put to death

But only in a Muslim country, not in America, and by the way, Muhammad was a peacemaker.

A "community debate" in Pittsburgh: "Furor over author Ayaan Hirsi Ali's visit stirs debate on religious freedom," by Robin Acton in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, with thanks to Joe:

...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.

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."

"Our God demands total submission. He rewards you if you follow His rules meticulously. He punishes you cruelly if you break His rules, both on earth, with illness and natural disasters, and in the hereafter, with hellfire," she wrote....

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."


In fact, he said, "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him'" (Bukhari 9.84.57).
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"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.

UPDATE: Johnstown imam ousted over 'death' remarks

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016383.php

Whoops. Remember what ElBayly said about killing apostates being "the call of God"? Well, never mind.

By Robin Acton for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, with thanks to Joe Myers and Kvamc:

Imam Fouad ElBayly has been asked to step down from his leadership roles at the Islamic Center of Johnstown, based on his comments published by the Tribune-Review....

ElBayly, who tried to block Hirsi Ali's campus appearance, said her attacks on the Muslim faith were "poisonous." He did not threaten her, but explained that "all of her lies" warrant a death sentence.

"The board and members of the Islamic Center of Johnstown were shocked and regret the comments made by Imam ElBayly regarding the visit of author Ms. Ayaan Hirsi Ali. The statements regarding the Islamic Center's reaction to her visit were incorrect, unfounded and not the views of its members," Dennis J. Stofko, the center's attorney, said in a letter to the Tribune-Review.

Stofko indicated that ElBayly's views "are not shared or tolerated by the Muslims" associated with the Johnstown center....

About a week later, ElBayly apologized for his comments on apostasy in a letter to the editor.

"... I have come to realize that I was mistaken in my understanding of that issue. I misspoke, and I apologize," he wrote. "After further deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that a person's religious choices are a personal matter and should not be subject to state or individual intervention."

Now really, do you believe that a man who one week believed that Muhammad's command "Baddala deenahu, faqtuluhu" -- if anyone changes his religion, kill him (cf. Bukhari vol. 9, bk. 84, no. 57) -- was valid for all time, would suddenly the next week discover the freedom of conscience? Or is it just expedient for him to have done so?


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Psalm22:10-11 I was cast upon You from birth. From My mothers womb You have been My God.