Sydney
Australia’s top Muslim cleric was forced to step down this week, after he compared women without headscarves to “uncovered meat.” In a Ramadan sermon, Sheik Taj Aldin Hilali also said that rape victims invited attack with provocative clothing. When The Australian newspaper published a translation of the sermon, calls for his resignation poured in from around the globe. Hilali promptly apologized for the “inappropriate” meat analogy, and said he would take a leave of absence. But the Egyptian-born cleric stressed that his remarks had not been intended for a general audience. “I am deeply saddened and distressed by the acts of some devious groups which lurk in the dark watching me,” he said, “and who cannot tolerate the moderate, balanced way which I adopt to advocate for women’s issues.”
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