-By Warner Todd Huston
A new video shows purportedly “normal” Muslims–those who are supposedly not radicalized–agreeing that all the extreme punishments prescribed by the Koran are perfectly right and good. The crowd of Muslims in the video seen below is shown voting in favor of punishments such as the stoning of gays and adulterers.
Now, many on the left claim that we cannot blame “all Muslims” for Islamic-based terrorism and we must not assume all Muslims believe in the ancient, extreme, backwards things in the Koran. They say that “most” Muslims are normal folks that are “just like us.” On the other hand, others say that Islam is Islam, radicalized or not, and there isn’t any difference between the worst Muslim terrorist and any other Muslim. This video doesn’t help the left’s argument much.
The video was taken at a Norwegian Islamic conference in March of this year and was first made public by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) in May. MEMRI is a group that translates into English Muslim news broadcast or printed in foreign languages so that American audiences can see what Muslims say when they aren’t trying to fool us in our own language.
The conference was held in Oslo and was sponsored by Islam.net. In the video clip in question the event’s moderator and organizer, Fahad Qureshi (seen above), openly asked the audience questions about the punishments in the Koran and if any agreed that such punishments are OK to use still today.
Time after time the crowd enthusiastically agreed that the archaic punishments are perfectly acceptable to them even today.
As he began, Qureshi asked, “How many of you are normal Muslims, Sunni Muslims?” Most in the audience raised their hands. Next he asked, “How many of you agree that men and women should sit separate?”
Again most agreed.
Qureshi then got more explicit. “How many of you agree that the punishment described in the Koran and sunna–whether it’s death, whether it is stoning for adultery, whatever it is, if it’s s from Allah and his messenger – that is the best punishment ever possible for humankind–and that is what we should apply in the world? Who agrees with that?”
When nearly every one agreed again, he joked, “Are you all radical extremists? No one?”
“So what’s the politicians gonna say now?” Qureshi concluded. “What’s the media gonna say now? That we’re all extremists?”
Of course, the logical answer to his question is, no, you are not all “extremists.” In fact, being a radical Muslim is perfectly normal for Muslims. It is the moderate Muslim that is the very unusual person. After all, if Muslims are extremists, then there isn’t anything extreme in the attitude. It becomes what we call “normal”!
But, maybe we are overstating? What do you think? Are all Muslims that actually follow the Koran extremists who are a danger to all around them? Or is Islam just a good, normal religion that shouldn’t be feared by anyone; a religion of peace?
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, MrConservative.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, Wizbang.com, among many, many others. Huston has also appeared on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and many local TV shows as well as numerous talk radio shows throughout the country.
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