Submitted by I. Chugtai(United States), Aug 20, 2002 at 19:22
Mr. Paul Hudson in his August 17 posting brought about a very important point; the question of imported Imams. The fact is that mosques are fast increasing along with the imported Imams and becoming a hot-bed of Islamic fanaticism. The imported imams are an extremely narrow-minded anti-western bunch with thinking similar to Taliban.
Thirty years back the imams used to be make shift local professionals and the sermons used to be broad-minded and moderate. Now when you listen to a sermon in a mosque it seems that you are in Taliban country. Giving religious visas to these fanatics is like giving visas to disciples of Bin Ladin; America should wake up and immediately stop giving visas to these fanatics and insist the mosques to use locally brought up Imams.
Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited, before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments.