Closer Look at Sharia Law Advocated By Imam Behind Ground Zero Mosque

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," August 17, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And tonight more details about the radical views of the imam behind the mosque continue to be uncovered, including his support for bringing Sharia law to America.

Now in a column published in 2009 Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf actually compared Sharia to the U.S. Constitution and our Declaration of Independence. And although he said that he, quote, "cringes," over Muslim women being stoned to death, he went on to defend Sharia writing, quote, "If you strive for justice and fairness in the Penal Code you are in keeping with moral imperative of the Sharia."

He also indicated he'd like to see Sharia here in the U.S., saying, quote, "What Muslims want is a judiciary that ensured that the laws are not in conflict with the Quran," and quote, "Rather than fear Sharia law, we should understand what it actually is."

So tonight that's exactly what we are going to do. We're going to take a closer look at the laws advocated by Mr. Rauf. And we're going to examine what you should be concerned about if he gets his way and Sharia reaches the shores of America.

And joining me now to help do all this is Frank Gaffney from the Center for Security Policy, Michael Ghouse from the World Muslim Congress. And we're also joined by the author of "A God Who Hates," Wafa Sultan is with us.

Guys, welcome to the show.

FRANK GAFFNEY, CENTER FOR SECURITY POLICY: Thank you.

HANNITY: Wafa, I would say --

MIKE GHOUSE, WORLD MUSLIM CONGRESS: Good to be on the show.

HANNITY: You know best, Wafa. You lived under Sharia law for how many years? And tell us your experience.

WAFA SULTAN, "A GOD WHO HATES" AUTHOR: Thank you so much, Sean. It's great to be on your show. Of course, I was born and raised as a Muslim. And I spent 32 years of my life living under Islamic Sharia. So I know what it means to be a woman living under Islamic Sharia.

HANNITY: And what is it like?

SULTAN: We have no rights. We are treated as second class citizens.

HANNITY: You know this --

SULTAN: Because we --

HANNITY: Go ahead.

SULTAN: Because a woman is not a full person. We don't have the mental ability to control our lives. So if our life has to be controlled by a male in our family.

HANNITY: Michael Ghouse, this is what we hear. Women in Saudi Arabia have to deal with the morality police. They can't be seen in public with men that they are not related to. Women can't drive.

We see that women under Sharia are stoned to death. Women that are raped must have four male eyewitnesses. This is Sharia law as it is applied in reality in countries all around the world.

So this imam wants America to be Sharia compliant. What is he saying when he says that?

GHOUSE: Well, first of all, Sean, Sharia is a human effort to understand the concept of justice enshrined in Quran for a day-to-day living. Sharia is about justice but its misapplication is the problem. It is men ruling the societies where --

HANNITY: Michael, Michael, wait. Hang on a second.

GHOUSE: -- China --

HANNITY: Where is it misapplied? Give me a specific. Saudi Arabia, Iran --

GHOUSE: Saudi Arabia --

HANNITY: Tell me where it's applied properly in your view and where it's not applied properly?

GHOUSE: Well, most in generally it's applied fine in India, Indonesia, Malaysia. It is fine. But there are a few bad radical elements that that are misinterpreting Sharia and Quran.

First of all, we don't need that Sharia that deals with the public that is individual to individual. Our system, American Muslims, subscribe to our Constitution and our laws.

HANNITY: But that's not what he's said.

GHOUSE: Which are fair and just.

HANNITY: That's not what he's saying. And I'll go to Frank Gaffney on this.

Frank, he wants a judiciary within a judiciary. Sharia courts, in other words, in the United States. And, you know, how are we -- how are we to know which Sharia law he's referring to here?

GAFFNEY: Sean, thanks so much for focusing on this. Because you know the idea that this is really all a question about religion tolerance is nonsense. Sharia is about power. It is about political control.

This is the face of Sharia, as Pat Caddell has pointed out. And it is a horrific thing wherever it is applied authoritatively. And our concern is that when Abdul Rauf talks about brining it to America, he has in mind brining the practice, the true, the one Sharia practice that is in accordance with the traditions, the institutions, the interpretations of the faith.

And anyone who tells you that there are other kinds of Sharia and that they are not so bad, I think is either misleading you or misleading themselves, because at the end of the day, what it is really about is, they simply haven't got around to fully enforcing the traditional Sharia on those places like some in the Far East.

They don't want it there. We don't want it here. Abdul Rauf does. For that reason no matter where he would build this mosque it would be a horrific problem.

HANNITY: All right, let me ask you about this, Michael, because Andy McCarthy on National Review Online has a piece out today. And he says non-Muslims are barred from entering the cities of Mecca and Medina. Not just barred from building synagogues and churches, they are barred period, because their infidel feet are deemed unfit to touch the ground.

And he said -- you know, and he quotes the Quran. In which he quotes as saying the pagans are unclean so let them not approach the sacred mosque.

Now the big argument in America today, people that are opposing the mosque at Ground Zero are being accused of intolerance. If people of other faiths can't enter Mecca and Medina, is the faith being intolerant?

GHOUSE: I think it is the people of Saudi Arabia that are intolerant.

HANNITY: Answer the question.

GHOUSE: I'm -- that is being intolerant. But that is the simple reason we have to consciously set up a model. Set up the standards in America --

HANNITY: So Islam is being tolerant by saying people can't enter Mecca and Medina?

GHOUSE: People can enter. I think it is the government of Saudi Arabia that is preventing. Mecca and Medina are God's place. Everyone should be able to visit whoever wants to visit.

HANNITY: But that's not case.

GHOUSE: That is not the case and that is the reason --

GAFFNEY: It is not the case --  it's not the case because clerics, not just the government of Saudi Arabia, said it must not be done.

And, Sean, you're exactly right. These are examples of intolerance. These are examples of sort of a barbarism and totalitarian quality to this political program. It's not about faith or religion or tolerance. It is about power and control and it must not be allowed to come to America.

HANNITY: All right. We got to let it go right there.

GHOUSE: Sean -- Sean, I want to add a point.

HANNITY: No, we're out of time.

GHOUSE: Sean?

HANNITY: But I will -- we'll have you back. We'll continue this discussion.

GAFFNEY: Thank you.

GHOUSE: Sean, I just want to add a point.

HANNITY: Appreciate your being with us.

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