Excerpt:
An Islamic scholar visiting Birmingham today said American Muslims should be able to openly criticize U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East without being viewed with suspicion or having their patriotism questioned.
"It's not un-American to criticize America," said Yasir Qadhi, who has a PhD from Yale University and is a resident scholar of the Memphis Islamic Center. Qadhi will speak tonight at 6:30 p.m. on "Is ISIS Islamic?" at the Harbert Center in downtown Birmingham. "If I didn't love it, I wouldn't criticize it."
He said conservative right-wing Americans criticize President Barack Obama and still consider themselves patriotic. "That's a double-standard that needs to be pointed out," he said. "We shouldn't criminalize dissent."