Muslim Cleric Slated Over Women and Meat Remark

Australia October 26 2006

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's top Muslim cleric has compared women who do not a headscarf to uncovered meat and hinted they are to blame for sexual assaults, prompting calls on Thursday for his deportation.

In a Ramadan sermon last month, the mufti of Sydney's biggest mosque, Sheikh Taj El-Din Hamid Hilaly, said sexual assaults might not happen if women wore a hijab and stayed at home.

"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem," Hilaly said, according to a newspaper translation.

Hilaly's spokesman Keysar Trad said the Egyptian-born cleric had been lecturing around 500 followers on the sin of adultery.

"He's talking about those people who prey on others, whether men or women, who seek to engage in sexual conduct outside of marriage, and do so through alluring types of attire," he said.

The meat comments, Trad said, referred to prostitutes.

Hilaly's sermon has again strained relations between the conservative government and sections of Australia's Muslim community, which makes up 1.5 percent of the 20 million population.

"I hope that the moderate Muslim leaders will speak out today and condemn these comments, make it clear to Muslims that this is not the view of Islam and that they will really take some kind of action," Treasurer Peter Costello told Australian television.

Australia's Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward said Hilaly, who courted controversy two years ago by glorifying martyrdom and calling the September 11 attacks the work of God, should be deported for inciting rape.

"I would strongly urge the Islamic leadership to ask him to go, we would all support that," she told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Islamic Council of Victoria spokeswoman Sherene Hassan said Hilaly's comments were "absolutely repulsive", while Iktimal Hage-Ali, a former government adviser on Muslim issues, said the cleric should be dumped from his position.

Prime Minister John Howard in September called on Muslims to conform to Australian values and last year criticised Islamic hard-liners for "raving on about jihad". Muslim leaders have accused Howard of unfairly targeting their community

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/art...713_RTRUKOC_0_UK-RELIGION-AUSTRALIA-ISLAM.xml


This is the all to usual standard Islamic rhetoric, that all the decent educated posters on DP will know that this could only originate from a Muslim Fanatic.

Why do these disturbing and thought provoking statements always originate from a Muslim source?

Comments Please :-

 

hahahahahaha. I think they should open a nation wide poll asking whether he should be deported. That'd be a true democracy in action.

 

These idiots get media attention. As long as that happens, they will continue.

I blame the media for them having an audiance. If the media didn't give them any mention, they couldn't proliferate.

 

Isn't that the same as blaming the women for allowing themselves to be raped? Shouldn't you be blaming the people who actually believe what they are saying?

 

Hate can't exist in a vacuum. Take away the audiance that the media gives such preachers world wide, and they can't affect the sheep that may fall prey to this type of influence.

If someone believes this crap and they can get a regular diet of it for free from the media, how do you change them?

Many subjects are taboo in the media, like where to get kiddie porn. Why should we support a media that feeds us this crap?

 

These are highly relevant comments and you have focused on it here noppid, take out the politics, take out the religion,

I agree whole heartedly why should the media even give these a**holes any news copy or TV exposure

These ignoramuses should just be ignored, locked up and the key thrown away

 

The media doesn't bring these people to the auditoriums to listen to this. The media reports it after the fact. I find it hard to believe you'd rather have these same thoughts whispered in the dark rooms instead of out in the open. Its important to know what we are up against.

Ummm...these beliefs weren't spread because of the media. It seems more ingrained in the culture. The media isn't spreading a message that isn't heard in mosques or out on the streets every day already.

Yes, but your analogy only makes sense if you think the media shouldn't even tell us there is a kiddie porn problem. How do we know what needs to be dealt with, without being told what's out there?

 

Here's more!

Execute gays. The Koran tells them so!

http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2006/10/23/3

It's the media's fault for shining light on this though, right?

 

what four people would want to see that?

 

I'm a little confused by the article because it says,
"The meat comments, Trad said, referred to prostitutes."
If it actually refers to prostitutes, they generally are not against having sex with anyone, they just want to get paid.
Or maybe they aren't talking about actual prostitutes but sexually promiscous people? It goes on to say, "He's talking about those people who prey on others, whether men or women, who seek to engage in sexual conduct outside of marriage, and do so through alluring types of attire," he said.
Maybe he is saying that anyone dressing in alluring type of attire is looking for sexual conduct outside of marriage and is a prostitute? Which I guess is just another way of saying "she was asking for it."

At least it does sound like the mainstream Muslims are against his statements, if you read: "Islamic Council of Victoria spokeswoman Sherene Hassan said Hilaly's comments were "absolutely repulsive", while Iktimal Hage-Ali, a former government adviser on Muslim issues, said the cleric should be dumped from his position."
But I doubt if he will be deported out of the country. There are people in the US as well that say some really crappy things but aren't sent out of the country for it, he will probably just get scolded.

 

That statement seems to be justifying rape of uncovered women. Some muslims are just waiting for a signal like that.

 

Yes it does. But obviously rape is not unique to the Muslim culture. There are 94,635 rapes every year in US alone. To view data click here

 

I think that man – the mufti is a threat to Australia's national security.
How can a mufti - a Religios Person compare women to meat and invite muslims to rape uncovered women?
Is he following the kuran? I mean the kuran's philosophy?

 

My belief is that mainstream Muslims are very against that belief. They would read that statement just like you or I and think, "What a crappy thing to say".
Although, it seems Islamic Fundamentalist can sometimes be a different story. I was reading this site http://www.rawa.org/index.htm it is the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)...They are talking about abuse by the Islamic Fundamentalist. Although, they have no complaint against the Islam religion and seemingly have not suffered from mainstream Islam. What if you were an extremist/fundamentalist and reading the bible came across passages about stoning people, etc. and decided since God said to do it then it must be fine to do it now? Things like that are in the old testament, so is God condoning that? So, does it mean anyone who reads the bible is violent? I don't think so. Some people that are already violent read it and then use it as there excuse.

 

The old Testament is not Christianity.
Many muslums love to cite the old testament and put it under the umbrela of Christianity.

The old testament is the old law. Jesus gave the new one.
And we are not able to apply the new one yeat.

 

defiant Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali says he will only resign when the world is "clean of the White House".

Under pressure to step down following his comments suggesting immodestly dressed women invite sexual assault, Australia's leading Muslim cleric did nothing to ease simmering tensions on Friday.

After emerging from prayers at Sydney's Lakemba Mosque surrounded by dozens of followers, Sheik Alhilali was asked by a media pack whether he would quit.

"After we clean the world of the White House first," the sheik said before being ushered into a waiting car.

His supporters cheered and applauded loudly at the salvo aimed squarely at US President George W Bush and indirectly at Prime Minister John Howard.

The sheik has previously described Mr Bush, Mr Howard and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair as the "axis of evil" and has been accused of applauding suicide bombers in the past.

Mr Howard would not comment on the sheik's White House barb, but had earlier warned that the Muslim leader's actions could cause a lasting backlash against Muslims, a fear echoed by many Islamic groups.

"What I am saying to the Islamic community is this: if they do not resolve this matter, it could do lasting damage to the perceptions of that community within the broader Australian community'," Mr Howard told Southern Cross radio.

Sheik Alhilali is to take a break from preaching in the wake of the controversy, which has attracted international media coverage.

But the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA) also fears a split in the Islamic community and has told the sheik to tone his comments down in future.

LMA president Tom Zreika believes the sheik is "arming" sections of the broader Australian community for further animosity toward Muslims.

"The mufti is providing ammunition for that," Mr Zreika said.

"His comments aren't helping.

"We've got to watch the way we're arming everybody to attack us.

"Not in the near future, but it harbours ill-feeling toward another group.

"He said he would do his best (to tone his comments down). He's got to be able to be more eloquent in his speech."

Mr Zreika said many of his association's members were embarrassed by the mufti's comments, made in a sermon last month, and said he was not speaking for all Muslims.

The board of the LMA, which runs Lakemba Mosque where the sheik preaches, met with him on Thursday night and decided not to take any action against him.

Some of the 15 board members supported the sheik's opinion while others called from him to retract the comments.

Other Muslim figures want the sheik to stand down over the sermon, in which he also said women were to blame for adultery in 90 per cent of cases.

Mr Zreika said the LMA will review Sheik Alhilali's position at the mosque when he returns from holiday.

Supporter and president of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, Keysar Trad, says while the sheik will not resign, he is taking a break for several months, which will include a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Sheik Alhilali did not deliver his usual sermon as several thousand Muslims attended prayers at Lakemba Mosque on Friday, with British Imam Abdul Jalil Sajid speaking on his behalf.

But he was assured by followers at Lakemba that he has the full backing of grass-roots Muslims.

"We're certainly not going to pass judgment on the basis of one comment in which we know his intentions were completely different," Mr Trad said.

"The grass roots are behind him."

Mr Trad said the sheik's comments were misrepresented and he has been upset by the reaction.

Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward says everyone always claims to have been taken out of context when caught.

"It is not good enough just to say he will be silent for three months," she said.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Natio...oadside-at-Bush/2006/10/27/1161749289389.html

 

It partly is. The media focuses far too much on this. It's like the friggin' playground. ":O Jonny said this ..... that ......... etc..." Why don't they focus on something else for a change? All this mass concentration on showing how bad Muslims are is creating more and more tension. It's creating an even bigger barrier against non-muslims and Muslims. One day.. something will just snap, and it will be those too eager to criticise's fault, instead of those looking to solve the problems.

 

Yes it worked so well to put our heads in the sand and ignore the problem.

That's why we were never attacked in the US; we didn't report on Muslims and their teachings.

 

Yes Kalvin, and what we are doing now is sooo much better. With all the hate and intolerance going back and forth we will be on our way to blowing each other up in no time.

 

The OT belongs to the covenant of works and was part of Israel being a theocracy. The ultimate sentence for disobeying The Law was death. Of course God provided a way to escape the theocratic death sentence: the day of atonement. The ultimate bearer of the OT covenant of works and its death sentence was Jesus Christ, the atoning Lamb of God.

The big problem with Islam is that it is "kingdom now on earth". Whereas Christianity says the Kingdom will come in power and glory with the new heavens and earth, Islam looks to establish the kingdom on earth through conversion and the sword.

This is the point so many don't get. Islam wants theocracy and to rule all the nations. Islam wants the kingdom on earth. That is why they want Islamic law to rule every nation. This isn't going to change (unless Islam changes). The more radical are willing to fight for Islamic theocracy and believe Allah will reward their zeal.