Guess who gets to define "defame."

Imam Fouad ElBayly, president of the Johnstown Islamic Center, was among those who objected to Hirsi Ali's appearance.

"She has been identified as one who has defamed the faith. If you come into the faith, you must abide by the laws, and when you decide to defame it deliberately, the sentence is death," said ElBayly, who came to the U.S. from Egypt in 1976.

And what a gift he's been. We swoon.

As always, this imam remains, to our knowledge, neither criticized, reprimanded, chastised, reversed, or overruled by any other Islamic religious authority. CAIR, the "secular" arm of Wahhabism in the U.S., has made no effort to characterize this imam's views as aberrant.

Because they aren't. This is just vintage Islam at work. Say anything upsetting to some jackass imam in the world and he decides you can be killed.

Under Islamic "law," of course. All terribly legal and no way would this be something that would silence criticism of particular imams and their personal habits or agendas. What a misconception some people have!

Anyway, Muslims invented spherical geometry and grocery store bar codes for all known vegetables, so for sure Islam's about rationalism and free inquiry. We see that everywhere we look.

Just DON'T venture into that area of "defamation," which we figure to be the rough philosophical or polemical equivalent of the European and Asian land masses combined. With boundaries a bit on the rubbery side.

"Furor over author Ayaan Hirsi Ali's visit stirs debate on religious freedom." By Robin Acton, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 4/22/07 (emphasis added).