Hilali tells Christian women to wear veils

[roberto]

Hilali tells Christian women to wear veilsBy Natalie O'Brien
April 26, 2008 02:56am


Outspoken cleric writes book on veils
The Bible 'mandates' Christian women wear them
Anglican bishops says comments are misleading

OUTSPOKEN Muslim cleric Taj al-Din al-Hilali says the Bible "mandates" the wearing of the veil by Christian women.

Writing in a new book, Sheik Hilali, who lost his job as mufti of Australia after comparing scantily clad women to uncovered meat, argues that the Bible and the Koran make similar demands of a woman's modesty.

Sheik Hilali, who remains the head of Australia's largest mosque, in the southwestern Sydney suburb of Lakemba, says the purpose of the book is to show the commonalities of Islam with the Jewish and Christian faiths when it comes to women's modesty and clothing.

In the soon to be published The Legitimacy of the Veil for Women of the Scripture - Evidence of the Veil in the Bible, the cleric points to references in the Old and New Testaments to women wearing a veil.

"Through this I hope to raise awareness and understanding and eliminate apprehensions and misunderstandings about the veil," he writes.

The Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsyth, challenged Sheik Hilali's comments about the veil being "mandated" in the Bible, saying they were misleading.

"The New Testament does call upon people to dress modestly," he said. "But there is no understanding that women are commanded to wear the veil. But it is mandated that you should dress appropriately for your social context."

Sheik Hilali also says the Virgin Mary is often depicted with a veil covering her head.

"The veil upholds the modesty and protects the dignity of women, whether Muslim or non-Muslim," he writes. "Wearing the veil creates the most realistic similarity with the Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ."

Sheik Hilali caused an uproar with a Ramadan sermon in 2006 in which he talked about immodestly dressed women being like "uncovered meat" and made remarks about Sydney's notorious gang rapes.

He has used the book to hit back at criticisms of his comments, which were given during a lesson to Muslim men and women on theft and adultery, and which he says were misinterpreted with "ill-intent" and with the intention to "slander" him.

He has included an "explanatory statement" to clarify his position, saying that rape is a heinous crime and the perpetrator deserves the maximum punishment. He also says women in Australia, or any Western society, have absolute freedom to wear whatever they like.

"The Muslim has no right to impose the rules of his religion on others. My religious duty is to advise the Muslim woman to be modest and to wear the Islamic dress. It is her choice whether to comply or not."

He said his comments about uncovered meat were drawn from an analogy used by the Arab writer Al-Rafii that uncovering flesh publicly may be degrading to the woman and may make her vulnerable to those with a diseased heart.

"Through these words I wanted to protect women from rapists who have lost their humanity, lost their minds and religion.

"Whilst I believe that the rapists are responsible for their crimes, I wanted to protect my daughters by encouraging them to adopt all available lawful means of protection," he writes.

Sheik Hilali concedes that the uncovered meat example was not correct or appropriate for the Western mentality.

"I did not mean this analogy to denigrate immodestly dressed women; rather I meant to denigrate those men who set aside their humanity and turn into predators."

Hilali tells Christian women to wear veils | NEWS.com.au

[Rambo]

it does, why do you think that nuns dress like muslim women? its really commen sense

[Hanbali]

I don't know why he apologized for the uncovered meat comment.

[nooni]

Hanbali said

I don't know why he apologized for the uncovered meat comment.

winning the hearts of others does include calling them names or offending them. also we expect ppl to apologize when they make deragotory(sp?) comments about muslim women. respect is not a one way street

[SaidAbdullahofDarfur]

In 2nd Corinthians...It says The women should wear the veil...

Let me see if I can find the verse...

[thejellymill]

Hanbali said

I don't know why he apologized for the uncovered meat comment.

I dont know why men have to concern themselves so much with the affairs of women and hardly pay attention to the evils the men are committing within our community. We have enough Islamic literature informing us of the obligation of hijab (as if the Qur'anic and hadith evidence weren't enough) without men constantly on our case too.

[thejellymill]

nooni said

winning the hearts of others does include calling them names or offending them. also we expect ppl to apologize when they make deragotory(sp?) comments about muslim women. respect is not a one way street

Yes, that too. "Wear the veil you stupid slu.t or risk getting raped and ogled at!" That's really gonna help the situation.. especially considering that rape and clothing style is hardly ever related

[LEGALEAGLE]

thejellymill said

I dont know why men have to concern themselves so much with the affairs of women and hardly pay attention to the evils the men are committing within our community. We have enough Islamic literature informing us of the obligation of hijab (as if the Qur'anic and hadith evidence weren't enough) without men constantly on our case too.

WORD.

I think its shocking though how muslim women being forced to remove hijab is completely ignored even in so called muslim countries like Egypt etc

[thejellymill]

LEGALEAGLE said

WORD.

I think its shocking though how muslim women being forced to remove hijab is completely ignored even in so called muslim countries like Egypt etc

Yea it's crazy and it sucks but what can we do? Situations in places like Turkey are equally as retarded in Iran/Saudi where women are legally required to wear hijab and socially pressured (in most of Saudi) to wear niqab.

[moonglow]

thejellymill said

Yes, that too. "Wear the veil you stupid slu.t or risk getting raped and ogled at!" That's really gonna help the situation.. especially considering that rape and clothing style is hardly ever related

In most of the news stories I've read about women being raped in all Muslim countries the woman is in question is a Muslim and she was wearing hijab.

So much for that theory. Not that I'm against hijab, far from it, I think it is a more modest and dignified way to dress and I'm looking forward to it.

But if a man wants to rape a woman he's not going to care as much what she's wearing, he's just going to rip the clothes right off of her.

Just a thought.

EDIT: Ooops, hadn't noticed how old the topic was. ^^ It just came up in my forum search.

[Good_ol_JR]

^ Actually rape statistics show that rape is least common in Muslim countries relative to the rest of the world. Not that it doesn't happen though, because some people come from cultural families where they really don't care what a guy does

[Rambo]

Good_ol_JR said

^ Actually rape statistics show that rape is least common in Muslim countries relative to the rest of the world. Not that it doesn't happen though, because some people come from cultural families where they really don't care what a guy does

I think the reason for that is rape punishment is so harsh in most muslim countries. Unfortunatly though so many muslims coutries are filled with perverts

[nooni]

Good_ol_JR said

^ Actually rape statistics show that rape is least common in Muslim countries relative to the rest of the world. Not that it doesn't happen though, because some people come from cultural families where they really don't care what a guy does

i dont noe if its less or more than the west, but the incidences of rape is def more than whats being reported because for a women to be raped in the muslim mentality generally means its her fault, and has far higher consequences than the west (she cant get married, ppl look at her and fam as dirty, etc) so many women would rather not say anything than risk losing it all

[AmroodWaala]

Good_ol_JR said

^ Actually rape statistics show that rape is least common in Muslim countries relative to the rest of the world. Not that it doesn't happen though, because some people come from cultural families where they really don't care what a guy does

large part of it has to do with reporting rape. (I'm not arguing there is less or more rape there, because we don't know)

a raped woman in a Muslim country is likely to be stigmatized (like her counterpart in the West), at times killed by relatives, there is lack of counseling, woman is more likely to get blamed for inviting rape or putting herself in that position, "she asked for it", etc.

a raped woman in a family = a black eye... so it's safe to assume that often, it won't be reported because it would bring scorn from outsiders and possible cutoffs & alienation. The allegations are also held back because of the fear that offender may further damage her reputation. A reported rape can also incite violence and killings within the families - a girl may stay quiet for that reason as well because she doesn't want anyone else to suffer.

you also have to take the judicial system into account. a rich boy raping a poor girl, there's not much use in reporting than to invite more suffering.

whether her family sympathizes with her is a different matter but the culture is less likely to do the same. on the surface, the community may forgive, but people have their own personal opinions, rumors, and doubts. in poor communities and those who can't relocate, who is going to marry a raped girl?

how is it different from the west?

even though 'blaming the victim' and stigmatization are also experienced by western women, but there is more education in the west on this matter; we also have counseling available. back in the East, many communities are close-knitted and have extended families - unfortunately, this doesn't favor the victim as the news is likely to spread & everyone will have their personal opinion on the matter (mostly based on lack of education & ignorance).

so, it's better to keep quiet --at least that's how the victim and the family would feel in the East.

In the west, our lifestyle and residential settings allow us to reach out with confidentiality & the backlash isn't as severe..

edit: sorry, didn't read nooni's post before...so this is pretty much elaboration on what she said

[roberto]

Rambo said

I think the reason for that is rape punishment is so harsh in most muslim countries. Unfortunatly though so many muslims coutries are filled with perverts

I would suggest that the twist sometimes applied to cases of women claiming rape, which results in the women being punished results in reluctance to make the claim