Islamist rebels whip 32 dancers in Somalia

I was checking my email when this news article popped up on the homepage. It says that 25 women and 7 men were dancing near Mogadishu which is rebel-held territory. Apparently, they were doing a traditional dance and then were arrested and subsequently whipped.

 ”The dancing of men and women together is illegal and totally against Islam. We neither killed them nor injured them, but only whipped them according to the Islamic law,” Islamist spokesman Sheikh Abdirahim Isse Adow said.

So is this true? Is it against Islamic law for men and women to dance together? I don’t see how this could be, especially if this was a traditional dance. Is this just another case of extremism? This is just another example of how the American view of Islam and Muslims can be skewed – by seeing articles like this when they go to check their mail.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20081115/INTERNATIONAL-US-SOMALIA-WHIPPING/