... and finally, my last word on the topic:

In fairness to Yusuf/Cat, I continued poking around the search engines after posting the above, and found articles about him, plus a recent one authored by him.

To his credit, he calls for the release of kidnapped journalist Daniel Pearl, and eloquently makes a case for Islam as a religion founded on peaceful, merciful precepts.

Other articles highlight his afore-mentioned humanitarian efforts, although at least one also noted that he'd become persona non grata in Israel after carrying funds for the Hamas organization into the country. I found no other substantiation for the Israeli claim, though, and I take all official announcements from that quarter with a large dose of salt these days.

So maybe he's not such a bad guy, all things considered. I still don't understand the whitewash over the Rushdie fatwa, though. To stand behind your statements, or repudiate them after becoming older and wiser--these positions I could respect. To try to pretend, in the face of documentary evidence, that they 'never happened'--I can't respect that at all.