Muslim lawyer sues over defamatory lyrics

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Nov 3, 2007

DENVER (AP) -- A Denver-based Muslim writer and lawyer whose family is active in Republican politics has sued an East Coast Muslim writer and a Muslim punk band, charging they defamed her in a song.

Asma Gull Hasan claims Michael Muhammad Knight wrote an unflattering portrayal of her in his book "Blue-Eyed Devil" and influenced a band called The Kominas to write defamatory lyrics describing her performing a sex act.

"The purpose ... of these highly offensive, denigrating and defamatory lyrics (written and performed by The Kominas with Knight's knowledge, encouragement and support) was to mock, deride and ridicule Hasan," Hasan's attorney wrote in the lawsuit.

Knight, who met Hasan while interviewing other Muslims across the United States, denied the claim.

"You can't defeat writers by censoring or punishing them, you only defeat writers by outwriting them," Knight wrote in an e-mail to The Denver Post. "And she can't do that, so she has to resort to this."

Hasan, who has supported the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, is the author of "American Muslims: The New Generation" and "Why I Am a Muslim: An American Odyssey." She claims Knight's book portrays her falsely as "wealthy, self-absorbed, insensitive and acutely uninformed."

Hasan and her family have drawn criticism from other U.S. Muslims for their support of President Bush.