Syrian Deputy Minister of Religious Endowments, Muhammad Abd Al-Sattar Al-Sayyid: AIDS Patients Should Be Stoned before Spreading Their Disease.

The following are excerpts from an interview with the Syrian deputy minister of religious endowments, Muhammad Abd Al-Sattar Al-Sayyid, which aired on Syrian TV on August 30, 2005

Al-Sayyid: All the diseases that have to do with sexual organs, mainly AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea, and so on... When these diseases appeared, they killed millions. More people were killed by these diseases than by wars. The only reason for this is the straying from the divine way regarding fornication, and when I say fornication - "Do not even approach abomination" – this means fornication, homosexuality, and all the sexual deviation it entails.

Host: Everything that has to do with abominations.

Al-Sayyid: "Do not even approach abomination, surely it is a foul thing and an evil way." When Islam set the punishment (for fornication)... Let's see now... What do they do now with people with AIDS? They put the AIDS patient in isolation. This patient... If you go to the dentist, you are afraid of the toothbrush.

This is why there's a hidden desire in one's heart... If only we had stoned everyone who had committed this abomination – wouldn't it have been better than letting these diseases infect others, spreading to millions around the world?

Host: Most certainly.

Al-Sayyid: Most certainly. The entire world, from the US to the most distant country, acknowledges that if they had stoned the fornicators, and prevented abomination, things would have been much better.