"Moderate" Cleric speaks out againt Talib Shareef

I am comforted by Rockford Iman Shpendim Nadzaku’s proclamation that Talib Shareef was acting alone when he allegedly plotted to slaughter families and children in Rockford and that he has nothing to do with the Rockford Muslim community despite his 7 years living as a Muslim in the area and the fact that he is a son of a local Nation of Islam member.

I am less comforted by Iman Nadzaku’s past statements. Nadzaku, the “moderate” spiritual leader of Rockford’s growing Muslim community has been an adamant opponent to free speech in the past. Commentator Scott Richert sums it up in an essay entitled What Lies Beneath. According to Richert, Nadzaku the moderate was quoted in the Rockford Register Star in 2004 stating, “the publications, (Dannish Cartoons of Muhammad), far from being an example of Constitutionally protected free speech, actually violate fundamental principles of American law.” He argued that the cartoons constituted “fighting talk,” and should be prohibited.

I skeptically accept Nadzaku’s claims that he is indeed a moderate, however, it is important to recognize that even so called moderate Islam is incompatible with American beliefs in liberty and freedom of speech and expression.