London Imam Who Supports Women's Rights Is Threatened With Death

Death threats and intimidation were the result of an Imam in London daring to speak out on 'controversial' topics like evolution and allowing women to walk 'burka-free' in public.

The Guardian is reporting that Dr. Usama Hasan had been leading Friday prayers and working in the same mosque for 25 years but has now been forced to stop serving his community and apologize for some of his statements.

The death threats against Hasan were made in an anonymous leaflet handed out by protesters. It quotes religious authorities saying that any Muslim who believes in evolution is an "apostate" who "must be executed".

Hasan says he believes the leaflets were produced by the website Islamic Awakening. The website's leader, Abu Zubair, has led a long campaign against Hasan including making threats when Hasan was delivering a lecture in January.

The death threats have forced Hasan to hire security for himself, his wife and their four children.

This short presentation on evolution nearly causes a riot when Hasan talks of evolution:

The reaction to Hasan's statements prompted the outburst seen in the video as well as others in the mosque.  The Guardian quotes him as saying:

"I've been a Londoner all my life and I grew up in that mosque," Hasan said. "I'm very passionate about living our lives in a modern way but, as far as they [my opponents] are concerned, that makes me an extremist. I'm going to have to live with extra cautions for the rest of my life."

A holy man who hoped to continue serving his religious community as he had for 25 years must now change virtually every aspect of his life to guard against the extreme views of a nearly microscope percentage of the 1.5 billion worldwide followers of Islam.  Hasan has learned what America realized after September 11, 2001.  Radicalization is real and it must be talked about openly.

As Congressman Peter King (R) prepares to launch hearings on the potential radicalization of American Muslims, we should take note of this incident, another example of what radicalization can do in a Western country.

Mr. King spoke with NY Fox News Anchor Rosanna Scotto about the topic: