Muslim MP Ashraf Choudhary will not condemn the traditional Koran punishment of stoning to death some homosexuals and people who have extra-marital affairs.
But the Labour MP - who has struggled with his "role" as the sole parliamentary representative of the local Muslim community - is not advocating the practice here.
Mr Choudhary once again found himself between a rock and a hard place on questions of Islam when he appeared on TV3's 60 Minutes programme last night.
It was examining warnings about extreme fundamentalism within New Zealand's Islamic community.
Mr Choudhary was asked: "Are you saying the Koran is wrong to recommend that gays in certain circumstances be stoned to death?"
He replied: " No, no. Certainly what the Koran says is correct.
"In those societies, not here in New Zealand," he added.
So, the Koran does not apply to Muslims living in New Zealand!?!
Since New Zealand's Labour party does not support capital punishment of any kind, religious or otherwise, Prime Minister Helen Clark, asked Choudhary to clarify his position.
Dr Choudhary later issued a short statement which said he personally abhorred the practice of stoning.
"I have been a devout Muslim all my life and stand by the teachings of the Koran," he said.
"But as a matter of personal belief, I abhor stoning and am strongly opposed to violence."
In trying to have it both ways Mr. Choudhary personally abhors violence but stands "by the teachings of the Koran".
What would happen if a Christian fundamentalist MP had called for stoning of gays? The media would be in an uproar and the MP forced to resign but since he's a Muslim, that's ok then.
And Mr. Choudhary has been involved in attempts to remove Christian symbols from public places.
Rt Hon Winston Peters has told the Labour list MP Ashraf Choudhary that he has a cheek joining the debate in Palmerston North about whether the cross should be removed from the city clock tower.
Mr Peters said that it was a bit rich, that Dr Choudhary, a Muslim, should be advising locals to get rid of a Christian symbol.
Dr Choudhary is reported as saying that he had all respect for the Christian faith, but society had moved on and that other religious and ethnic groups might oppose the presence of the cross in the city centre.
Can you imagine the riots around the world if a Christian tried to get an Islamic symbol removed?
Such is Muslim hypocrisy.
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