“Mehdi Hasan Claims Islam Is Peaceful - Then This British politician has A BRUTAL Response” Speaker: My side of the argument is regularly told that we are demonising Islam and whipping up fear of Islam. But let me tell you what actually whips up fears of Islam. 9/11. The London bombings. Madrid. Mumbai. Bali. Death for apostasy. Death for blasphemy. Death for adultery. Death for homosexuality. Gender discrimination. Child marriage. Beheadings. Imprisonment for being raped. The murder of Theo van Gogh. Death threats. Sharia patrols. Polygamous marriages. This is what causes fear of Islam. It is not me. We'll be told this is just the extreme fringe of Islam. Well, look at Saudi Arabia the birthplace of Islam and custodian of its holy sites. People are executed for blasphemy and apostasy. But apparently, that's the extreme fringe? Calling Saudi Arabia the extreme fringe of Islam is like calling the Vatican the extreme fringe of Catholicism. Sorry, it just doesn't work. Then we're told violent Muslims have misunderstood Islam. Saudi Arabia has misunderstood. Iran has misunderstood. Yemen has misunderstood. Has there ever been a more spectacularly misunderstood religion than Islam? I'm constantly told that I need to respect Islam. But I'm under no greater obligation to respect Islam than any other belief. I am under no obligation to make compromises with an ideology I simply don't see as peaceful. Why don't I see it as peaceful? Because of the evidence. If I look around the world and see the countries where Islam calls the shots, all I see is brutality and violence imposed by the state.