[lbo-talk] My Hitch Piece

[Dennis Perrin]

"Actually, both you and Hitchens are letting prejudice and misinformation
guide your reaction to Yusuf Islam.  He never "endorsed" the mullahs fatwah.
He was and is a person of peace attempting to live a simple religious life
(not that I am endorsing that!).  The rest is tabloid hysteria and
misinformation."


> Jim

No, Islam did indeed back the fatwa. I remember him on the BBC endorsing it,
and saying that Rushdie should write another book of the same length of
"Satanic Verses" denouncing "Verses." Plus, there's this from
catstevens.com:

B&N.com: Many people still link you to Salman Rushdie and the death sentence
the Ayatollah put on him. What would you like to say to those people?

YI: Well, as time goes on, people see what the worth of a person is by what
he does. That tells you the picture. If you look at everything I've done in
humanitarian work and education, and in trying to improve this world through
a revival of morality through spiritual meaning, that's what I'd like people
to remember.

<http://catstevens.com/articles/00196/>

No denial from him. He's moved on and I believe later withdrew his support.
But he did initially back the fatwa.

DP