|
Here's the letter of mine which appeared in yesterday's Globe And Mail:
Dear Sir,
In his letter, Imam Delic of the Canadian Islamic Congress says that, in my Maclean’s columns, I “allege” that “Muslims believe in drinking their enemies’ blood” and that “contemporary Islam condones sex with minors and animals” .
Er, no. It was not I who “alleged” that. The latter “allegation” was made in the 1980s by the late Ayatollah Khomeini, a quite famous Muslim in his day, and the former “allegation” was made by Sheikh Omar Brooks, a British Muslim, in a well reported debate at Trinity College, Dublin, the oldest debating society in the world*.
Imam Delic says these articles were “scurrilous”. If by “scurrilous” he means “the crime of accurately quoting prominent Muslims”, then I plead guilty – though I confess I am surprised to discover this is apparently a crime in Canada. But if the Imam disputes these and other characterizations, he should surely take them up with the Islamic scholars who made them rather than attempting to eliminate the middle man.
Incidentally, perhaps I might take this opportunity to extend an invitation to Imam Delic and his boss, Dr Mohamed Elmasry, to be my guests at this year’s World Press Freedom Awards in Ottawa on May 2nd.
Yrs, etc,
Mark Steyn
(*Actually, I think I may have got that "oldest debating society" thing muddled up. If memory serves, it's University College, Dublin.)
|
