>Subject: [ajisaja] Australian cleric in dress furore >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-Yahoo-Newman-Property:groups-email-trad > >BBC, Thursday, 26 October 2006, 11:40 GMT 12:40 UK > >Australian cleric in dress furore > >Australia's most senior Muslim cleric has prompted an uproar by >saying that some women are attracting sexual assault by the way they dress. >Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali said women who did not wear a hijab >(head dress) were like "uncovered meat". > >But he has now apologised for any offence caused by his comments, >The Australian newspaper reports. >Leading Muslim women condemned the comments and PM John Howard said >the remarks were "appalling". >"The idea that women are to blame for rapes is preposterous," Mr >Howard told reporters. >In a statement released on Thursday, Sheikh Hilali said he had been >quoting another, unnamed, source and did not mean his words to condone rape. >"I unreservedly apologise to any woman who is offended by my >comments. I had only intended to protect women's honour," the >statement published in The Australian said. > >"Women in our Australian society have the freedom and the right to >dress as they choose. >"Whether a man endorses or not a particular form of dress, any form >of harassment of women is unacceptable." >A spokesman for Sheikh Hilali earlier said the quote had been taken >out of context and referred not to sexual assault, but to sexual infidelity. >The sermon was targeted against men and women who engaged in >extra-marital sex and did so through alluring types of clothes, he said. >Ban threat >The leader of Australia's largest Islamic organisation has >threatened to ban the cleric from teaching at Lakemba Mosque in >Western Sydney. >Tom Zreika, president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, which owns >the mosque, said he condemned Sheikh Hilali's words. >"The board [of the LMA] has unlimited powers in respect of his >teachings in the mosque. We can do anything that's required to >prevent him from teaching in our mosque. If you haven't got the >backing of Australia's largest and most established Islamic >organisation then you are out on a limb," he is quoted as saying in >The Australian. > > >But Mr Zreika said the LMA had yet to fully review the contents of >the sermon and Sheik Hilali should be offered the benefit of the >doubt until any offence had been proved. >A copy of the cleric's comments delivered in a sermon to some 500 >worshippers in Sydney last month during the Muslim holy month of >Ramadan was initially published in The Australian. >"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside... and the cats >come and eat it... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered >meat?" he asked. >The uncovered meat is the problem, he went on to say. >"If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would >have occurred," he added. >Sheikh Hilali also condemned women who swayed suggestively and wore >make-up, implying they attracted sexual assault. >"Then you get a judge without mercy... and gives you 65 years," he added. >Sheikh Hilali's critics have previously accused him of praising >suicide bombers and claiming the attacks in the United States on 11 >September 2001 were "God's work against oppressors". >High-profile case >The BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney says the cleric's latest comments >are seen as particularly insensitive because Sydney was the scene >six years ago of a series of gang rapes committed by a group of >Lebanese Australians, who received long prison sentences. >Finance Minister Peter Costello called on Muslims to condemn the speech. >"If you have a significant religious leader like this preaching to a >flock in a situation where we've had gang rapes, in a way that seems >to make it justifiable, then people that listen to that kind of >comment can get the wrong idea," he said. >"They can actually think that it's not as bad as it is." >A number of leading Muslim women have already spoken out against the >sermon, describing it as repulsive and offensive. >Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward said the comments >could be an incitement to crime. >"Young Muslim men who now rape women can cite this in court, can >quote this man... their leader in court," she told Australian media. >She added that the cleric should be deported for inciting rape. > >Story from BBC NEWS: >SHEIKH TAJ EL-DIN AL-HILALI >Born in Egypt >Aged 64 >Imam in Sydney >Appointed mufti of Australia in 1989 > >
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