Australia Muslim cleric suspended
By Samson Zahn,WNS Australia Senior Correspondent
SYDNEY - Australia's top Muslim cleric has been barred from preaching for up to three months, after comparing immodestly dressed women to "uncovered meat". Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali's comments, suggesting that women who did not wear a headscarf attracted sexual assault, have caused a storm of protest. Sydney's mosque association said the suspension would give the cleric time to consider the impact of his words. But Australian Premier John Howard said the action was insufficient. Many people - including some Muslim leaders - have called for the cleric to be dismissed from office.
Sheikh Hilali sparked more controversy on Friday when, asked by reporters if he would resign, he responded: "After we clean the world of the White House first." His comments, made outside his mosque in Sydney after Friday prayers, prompted a round of applause from supporters. Sheikh Hilali's comments about women's dress were delivered in a sermon to some 500 worshippers in Sydney last month, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But it was not until they were published in The Australian newspaper on Thursday that a wave of anger was unleashed.
"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?" Sheikh Hilali is quoted as asking during the sermon. The uncovered meat is the problem, he went on to say. "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab [headscarf], no problem would have occurred," he added. Sheikh Hilali has since apologised for his comments, which he said had been misinterpreted and taken out of context. Muslim leaders decided to accept his apology and said that no action would be taken against the cleric.
posted by wnsworld @ 6:43 PM
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