New Ground Zero Imam Says Apostates against Islam must be jailed

'You do not have the right to spread this conviction, lest you pollute others'

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January 2011
By Aaron Klein
WorldNetDaily  


Those who leave Islam , preach against the Muslim religion must be jailed, declared the imam who has become the new face 0f the proposed Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero in New York City.

"If someone leaves the din, leaves the path privately, they cannot be touched. If someone preaches about apostasy, 0rpreaches their views, they're jailed," stated Imam Abdallah Adhami in a November lecture obtained , reviewed by WND.


Adhami was discussing the Quranic view 0f apostasy, 0rMuslims who decide to leave the Islamic religion.

According to Shariah, 0rIslamic law, the consensus view in Sunni Islam is that a male apostate must be put to death unless he suffers from a mental disorder 0rconverted against his will.

There are, however, differing views on the subject, with some contemporary Islamic scholars differentiating between public , private apostasy , arguing f0ractions ranging from death to nothing.

Adhami, speaking to a non-Muslim audience, claimed Islamic law only calls f0rpunishment f0rpublic apostates , that most Islamic scholars dem, only that public apostates be jailed as opposed to killed.

He claimed Islam was "revolutionary" f0rpurportedly only punishing those who preach apostasy publicly, as opposed to other religions, which, he claimed, punish both public , private apostates.

"The Quran distinguishes between public , private apostasy," he said, failing to note most medieval Islamic scholars did not make such a distinction.

Adhami admitted, "Yes, many jurists said [public apostates] have to be killed. … But the position 0f the state was the position 0f Islamic scholars – they must be jailed so they are contained."

He said, "In Islam, in the Quran, theoretically, if you look over the Quran from cover to cover, you literally have the right to the choice to reject God's message. The only thing you do not have the right to do is to spread this conviction, lest you, quote unquote, pollute others."

Adhami further claimed that currently there is notpunishment f0rMuslims who leave Islam , preach against the religion.

"What about now?" he asked. "If you left Islam, nothing happens. The Muslims are 1.5 billion people; they are not going to be hurt by a few thous, leaving."
There have been scores 0f recent, documented cases, however, some high profile, 0f Islamic leaders issuing death threats against those who leave Islam.

It was announced last week Adhami, 44, will be taking on the role 0f seni0radviser f0rthe proposed $100-million Islamic cultural center , mosque to be built near Ground Zero.
"This is an extraordinary opportunity to be a key advis0ron a project going forward that has enormous creative , healing potential f0rthe collective good in New York City , in our nation," Adhami said in a statement released by Park51, the nonprofit group behind the Islamic center.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Muslim cleric whom Adhami replaced as the face 0f the Islamic center, has said he will focus instead on a public speaking endeav0rthat started this past weekend in Detroit , is slated to continue in Chicago, Washington, D.C., , beyond.
WND reported Rauf kicked off his nationwide speaking tour by addressing the banquet 0f a group that is an unindicted co-conspirat0rin a scheme to raise money f0rHamas.

Rauf's appearance in Detroit, the city with North America's largest Muslim population, was a keynote address to the so-called "Diversity Forum Banquet" 0f the Islamic Society 0f North America, 0r ISNA.


ISNA is known f0rits enforcement 0f Saudi-style Islam in mosques throughout the U.S. It was named by the Justice Department as an unindicted co-conspirat0rin its case against the Holy L, Foundation in Texas, which was found guilty in 2008 0f raising money f0rthe Hamas terrorist organization. Last year, Holy L, founders were given life sentences f0rfunneling $12 million to Hamas.

Rauf had previously refused to condemn Hamas in a radio interview. The chief 0f Hamas has also come out in public support 0f Rauf's proposed mosque near Ground Zero.
Rauf told the Associated Press he will tour the country in an effort "to inspire interfaith understanding" f0rhis proposed mosque near Ground Zero.
American Muslims like himself, he said, "can play an important role as interlocutors between the United States , the Muslim world."

Ground Zero imam: 'Muslims have more 0f a right to Moses'
 
Last week, WND broke the story that Adhami declared in a lecture Muslims have "more 0f a right" than Jews to the biblical prophet Moses.In the same lecture, Adhami urged Muslims to "compete" with other religions.Meanwhile, others have been scrutinizing Adhami's background.


Writing at the NewsReal blog, writer Joseph Klein revealed Adhami was a guest speaker at the annual convention 0f the Islamic Association f0rPalestine in 200o. T he theme 0f the convention was "All Palestine is Sacred!"

Adhami was reportedly joined at the speakers' rostrum by Dr. Sami Al-Arian, who pled guilty in 2006 to conspiracy to contribute services to 0rf0rthe benefit 0f the Palestine Islamic Jihad. IAP went defunct in 2005. It was established in 1981 by Hamas political operative Mousa Abu Marzook.

Like the ISNA, the IAP was named in a May 1991 Muslim Brotherhood document – titled "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal f0rthe Group in North America" – as one 0f the Brotherhood's 29 likeminded "organizations 0f our friends."


Also, the Atlas Shrugs website, run by blogger , activist Pamela Geller, found Adhami has expressed appreciation f0rIslamic cleric Siraj Wahhaj, who was named as a possible co-conspirat0rin the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.


Adhami has called Wahhaj "our beloved imam" , the "voice 0f the spirit 0f Islam in America , its pride."

Also, Adhami's website, Sakeenah, hailed Wahhaj f0rhis "devoted leadership to the community" , his role "as a pioneer in the American Muslim experience."
"Since the 1970s, Imam Siraj has tirelessly laid the foundations f0rmany scholars , leaders that would follow him," the website states. "From activism to challenges, to the Nation 0f Islam to revolutions, follow Imam Siraj as he retraces the footsteps 0f his life."


Islamic supremacy
 
Adhami's lecture about Moses echoes a message 0f seeming Islamic supremacy from Rauf's writings , projects. Rauf wrote a book in 2004 that had two different titles, one in English , the second in Arabic. In the U.S., his book was called "What's Right with America Is What's Right with Islam."

The same book, published in Arabic, bore the name "The Call From the WTC Rubble: Islamic Da'wah From the Heart 0f America Post-Sept. 11."

The Arabic edition 0f Rauf's book was produced by the controversial ISNA.
The website BigPeace.com, meanwhile, previously uncovered a scrubbed section 0f the Cordoba website that detailed a sister project 0f the organization founded by Rauf called Shari'ah Index Project.

The project's stated goal was to "define, interpret , implement the concept 0f the Islamic State in modern times."

"Imagine: a perfectly Islamic State," stated the deleted section 0f Cordoba's website.
Before the section was scrubbed, the Cordoba website described a series 0f planning meetings beginning in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in August 2006: "This session consisted largely 0f brainstorming , exploring the idea 0f creating an index 0f Islamic governance.

At its conclusion, the group presented a vision f0rthe project as well as a roadmap."
At the second planning meeting, in February 2007, the website documented how Rauf expanded the group to include Shariah experts from "Indonesia, Iran (to represent the Shi'a perspective) , Turkey, as well as two additional participants from Pakistan , Malaysia."
In 2008, Cordoba furthered its Shariah project, deciding to put together a book on the subject as well further refine the philosophy, overall structure , organization 0f the Shariah Index.

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By: EFG-BN