Thursday, October 26, 2006

Muslim cleric compares unveiled women to "meat".

Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali, Australia's senior muslim cleric has sparked outrage amongst moderate muslims and critics for remarks made in a public sermon when he said that some women are attracting sexual assault by the way they dress. He blamed women who don't wear their hijab (head dress) as the cause of sexual assaults and compared them to "uncovered meat".

Leading muslim women quickly responded and called upon him to apologize. Some even petitioned to have him deported. However, a spokesperson from Hilali's camps said the quote had been taken out of context and referred not to sexual assault but to sexual infidelity for people in commited unions. Keyword here is sexual infidelity. Now, I'm not one to speak blasphemy, since I'm an atheist, but isn't Islam the one religion mostly known for allowing polygamy? Since when did IT change its position when it comes to how many women a man can sleep with outside of marriage, or in some cases marriages? Maybe I don't understand Islam that well.

Now, Sheikh Hilali has been known for inflammatory remarks, namely claiming the attacks in the United States on 11 September 2001 to be "God's work against oppressors". Upon making the latest remarks, he also criticized women who wore make-up to be the ones to blame for sexual assaults and then cussed out court judges who gave harsh prison sentences to rapists some of whom were recently given up to 65 years for gang rapes that were commited in Sydney a few years back by gangs of lebanese australians.