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| Muslim leader resigns over calling for Hirsi Ali's execution |
| 2007-05-10 |
| The leader of a Pennsylvania Muslim center has resigned after telling a newspaper that a death sentence was warranted for best-selling author and critic of Islam, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the former Dutch parliament member. Fouad ElBayly said Wednesday he had stepped down as imam and president of the Islamic Center of Johnstown. He said the center's board members requested his resignation. The request came after ElBayly's comments about Ali, who spoke April 17 at the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown. "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 was quoted saying in an April 22 story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. ElBayly, a native of Egypt who came to the United States in 1976, and Mahmood A. Qazi, the center's founder, had tried to get the university to cancel Hirsi Ali's appearance, saying her criticisms were unjustified and could create dissension in their community. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #12 Maybe the board is just scared of negative publicity. The incident probably did not elicit a moral response from them. My uneducated guess. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-05-10 21:46 |
| #11 He's from Murtha's district. He'll probably go to a staff job for him in DC. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-05-10 20:48 |
| #10 Hate speech? |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-05-10 20:44 |
| #9 Jail him, then deport him. |
| Posted by: Grumenk Philalzabod0723 2007-05-10 20:11 |
| #8 DEPORTATION |
| Posted by: Caesar Hupaise9769 2007-05-10 17:01 |
| #7 Presumably not an American citizen. If he's here on some sort of long term work permit, must he go back to Egypt now that he's no longer gainfully employed? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-05-10 14:20 |
| #6 On the plus side, the board did call for his resignation and made it stick. Putting down extremists on your own side gives real moderates a big boost and improves credibility in the community. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-05-10 13:31 |
| #5 ElBayly, a native of Egypt who came to the United States in 1976... Not quite embraced the American Dream yet then. |
| Posted by: Sonar 2007-05-10 13:22 |
| #4 This is clear cut incitement for murder ! and I thought the USA has laws against this kind of behaviour ? |
| Posted by: Gomez Flaling9442 2007-05-10 12:20 |
| #3 Resignation is not enough. This guy needs to be prosecuted for making death threats. Where is the DA? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2007-05-10 11:53 |
| #2 I'd say calling for the execution of a woman's speaking out against injustice is a bigger offense against God. |
| Posted by: doc 2007-05-10 11:34 |
| #1 What the heck did he resign for? All he did was what any pious Muslim would do: call for an apostate to be put to death. What's the big deal? Did the board members who called for his resignation say anything to refute what he said? Or did they do it because he got caught? |
| Posted by: Rambler 2007-05-10 11:33 |