Protection of the individual

From what I read in The Times of June 18 it appears that the Imam has labelled the beating and subsequent death of the unfortunate Suleiman Abubaker at Paceville as being racist.

He is reported as excoriating the authorities and the Church and urged them to raise their voices against "evil" racism.

He also criticised the courts for not meting out appropriate punishments against those who commit racially motivated crimes. He is reported to have said that too often the sentence handed down against racial aggression was "too light", which sent the wrong message to the perpetrator.

I would pray the Imam to be kind enough to explain to the Maltese what in Islam is the meaning of Dhimma (protection = the status of non-Muslims living in a Muslim state who are entitled to protection on the payment of a tax [jizya]), and Dhimmi (a subject of the Dhimma). I will not go into the details of it though I can quote reliable and authoritative sources.

It is better to get it from the horse's mouth, for otherwise certain people would not believe me.

However, if the Imam does not oblige, readers can go to wikipedia.com and enter the word Dhimmi.