They don't stop.

The 2 ^nd International Muslim Leaders Consultation on HIV/Aids, held in Kuala Lumpur from the May 19-23, was proof enough that religious zealots will stop at nothing to make people submit to their own agendas. The participants at the consultation were all shocked when a bunch of extremists stood up and verbally terrorised one of the speakers, Dr Amina Wadud, after she presented her paper.

In her paper Dr Amina ( right ), who is no stranger to controversy, lashed out at Muslims in positions of authority whose only response to preventing HIV/Aids is quoting the Quranic verse that says, " La taqrabu zina " (Do not commit adultery). She said that religious platitudes like this were meaningless when spouted at faithful wives who contract HIV/Aids from their philandering husbands, and at children orphaned by HIV/Aids. She challenged Muslims to come up with a more effective theological response to the HIV/Aids crisis.

For her views , she was accused of blasphemy, threatened with expulsion from the consultation and labeled an enemy of Islam (despite her being very publicly Muslim). At one point, one of the extremists screamed into one of the microphones that Dr Amina was a "devil in a hijab ", threatening to round up a hundred people to shut her up, and accused the rest of the participants of committing apostasy if they chose to remain in the hall before he stormed out.

The lone woman among the extremists claimed that Dr Amina did not speak for Muslim women, and proclaimed herself the "perfect example" for all women. She also said that when she read Dr Amina's paper, she'd have "expected" this from "a Jew or a Christian, but never a Muslim". In short, she was the extremists' Condoleezza Rice.

And they didn't stop there.