Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

More Info

I would like to contribute

Competing claims about Islam on ABC's 'This Week'

Speaking during an ABC This Week town hall, the Rev. Franklin Graham, center, said that Muslim countries won't allow churches and synagogues to be built. We checked his claim. Speaking during an ABC This Week town hall, the Rev. Franklin Graham, center, said that Muslim countries won't allow churches and synagogues to be built. We checked his claim.

Speaking during an ABC This Week town hall, the Rev. Franklin Graham, center, said that Muslim countries won't allow churches and synagogues to be built. We checked his claim.

Martha M. Hamilton
By Martha M. Hamilton October 6, 2010

ABC's This Week with Christiane Amanppour on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010 was a townhall meeting on whether American's should fear Islam and full of competing claims. We decided to check a claim by Rev. Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham.

"I understand what the Muslims want to do in America," said Graham, president of both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and the international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse. "They want to build as many mosques and cultural centers as they possibly can so they can convert as many Americans as they can to Islam. I understand that...I understand what they're doing. And I just don't have the freedom to do this in most Muslim countries. We can't have a church. We're not able to build synagogues. It's forbidden."

Imam Osama Bahloul, leader of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, Tenn., and a panelist on the show, said Graham was incorrect.

"For someone to say we are not allowed to build a church in a Muslim country, this is absolutely not right. You can Google this," Bahloul said.

We spoke to several experts on religion and government in Muslim countries. And the consensus was clear.

Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter

Our Sources

See Truth-O-Meter item.

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Martha M. Hamilton

Competing claims about Islam on ABC's 'This Week'