Quote:
|
What is it that you do not forgive or forget him for?
|
For supporting the fatwa against Salman Rushdie by Ayatollah Khomeini: "He must be killed. The Qur'an makes it clear – if someone defames the prophet, then he must die."
Which, yes, Yusuf subsequently said he was only re-stating the rule for blasphemy and was using "dry humor" about these "stupid and offensive jokes" he made on a talk show:
Robertson: You think that this man deserves to die?
Y. Islam: Who, Salman Rushdie?
Robertson: Yes.
Y. Islam: Yes, yes.
Robertson: And do you have a duty to be his executioner?
Y. Islam: Uh, no, not necessarily, unless we were in an Islamic state and I was ordered by a judge or by the authority to carry out such an act – perhaps, yes.
With regard to an upcoming protest where an effigy of Rushdie was to be burned:
Robertson: Would you be part of that protest, Yusuf Islam, would you go to a demonstration where you knew that an effigy was going to be burned?
Y. Islam: I would have hoped that it'd be the real thing.
I don't buy his later spin doctoring, or his return to music after calling it a sinful occupation for three decades. I also wonder why this is no longer the religious image he chooses to present of himself to the world.