[NewRomeTacitus]

After spending considerable time pointing out the abuses inspired by his religion, bemoaning it's backwardness and admitting that all those problems are directly attributable to followers "going by the book", the writer clings to the unrealistic hope that an Islamic Martin Luther-style reformist will arise to somehow reconcile a tradition of intolerance with civilized modern reasoning.

I suspect in his heart he knows better and is using this article as a fishing expedition. If that's the case I'm afraid all he's going to catch is a visit from Abu "Cpt. Hook" Hamza's fanatics when he least expects it.

[dennisw]

After spending considerable time pointing out the abuses inspired by his religion.........

The author is Zoroastrian who has a name that sounds Muslim

[NewRomeTacitus]

"The moderator asked if, in my role as a commissioning editor of Channel 4 UK, I would contemplate turning The Satanic Verses into a film. I said that I would judge the cinematic merits of the script, and that no other consideration would rule it out. Kalim Siddiqui and Yusuf Islam snarled, warning that the sentence of death on Rushdie would extend to all those who forwarded his book in any way."

Cat Stevens and his buddy wouldn't have done that if they didn't regard the author as a fellow Muslim.