Alli (pictured) called Islamic clerics "intellectually lazy" and asked for a "radical democratisation of Islam". This was the first time the 41-year old peer has spoken openly about Islam, and he certainly riled one or two people attending the lecture. Alli criticised "Muslim reluctance to tackle contradictions in Islam" and said the religion should be reconciled with the modern world, rather than the values of the 7th century.
He said: "The problem lies in the Quran itself. There are contradictions in Quran; we have to stop avoiding them. If you find the Hadith literally, you can kill and maim as many people you can. If you use Quran as literal text, you can stone a woman who has been raped and in Iran, two boys were hung up for being gay."
Lord Alli is openly gay himself. He continued: "In a Muslim country, I as a gay man, should be able to go to Sharia law for protection, Sharia law should be a source of protection not oppression."
He called for a "Third Way", i.e. a democratisation of Islam. "We have to take individual responsibility for action, collective responsibility for our religion. We are today at a crossroads - modern values in Islam against orthodox values in Islam, this century will be defined by this conflict - conflict of values."
Something I've been calling for for years.
As usual, for fear of upsetting Muslims, The BBC fail to report Lord Alli's speech.
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