Switcheroo: Sheik who debased women in sermon now "invokes Pope's defense"

A follow-up to the story below:

Sheikh invokes Pope's defence

Besieged Muslim cleric Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali believes his comments have been misinterpreted in the same way the Pope was misunderstood in a sermon on Islam.

The mufti has triggered a storm over a sermon in which he blamed women for sexual assault.

Sheik Alhilali says he was quoting an ancient Islamic scholar to make a point when he compared immodest women to "uncovered meat" to a Ramadan sermon at Lakemba mosque in Sydney.

Mr El Ayoubi said the mufti feels like he has been misinterpreted like the Pope.

"He keeps harping on the fact that he was quoting some ancient scholar, and he was, and compares it to the situation with the Pope," Mr El Ayoubi told AAP.

"The Pope quoted some Byzantine leader and had a go at our prophet, and the sheik goes `look there's no difference', except that this may offend more people than the Pope's comments offended." [More...]

Oh, this is rich. The Pope quotes someone claiming that Islam was spread by violence and everyone gets mad at him for saying something that is basically true. Now this Shiek quotes someone claiming that women not in a burka, etc. are "uncovered meat" and everyone gets mad at him for saying something completely untrue.

The Pope was very careful to make the point that he did not agree with the person he was quoting. The Sheik, judging by current evidence, made no such reservation. Instead, his quotation fits easily within the overall message of his sermon as it has been related.

Well, it looks to me like the Sheik is making a rather forced comparison between his plight and that of Pope Benedict. To say the least....

Meanwhile, the Islamic Friendship Council of Australia has come out defending the Sheik and so has the Lebanese Muslim Association. Now is that really the smart way to handle this?

There is apparently a recording of the Sheik's 17-minute sermon floating around so I do think we'll be able to get to the bottom of all this soon.

Here is the offensive quote once again:

"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the 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 sheik asked.

"The uncovered meat is the problem."

Gee, I can sure see how people could misunderstand this as being demeaning of women. It's just as easy to misunderstand as what Pope Benedict said ... right?!

Update: This guy doesn't strike me as very contrite:

After emerging from Friday prayers at Lakemba Mosque today, Sheik Hilaly was asked by a media pack whether he would quit over a speech in which he said scantily-dressed women invited rape.

"After we clean the world of the White House first," the sheik said.

Supporters of the sheik cheered and applauded loudly at the comments, which were directed firmly at US President George W Bush.

The sheik has previously described Mr Bush, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Prime Minister John Howard as the axis of evil.

Despite calls from within the Islamic community for his resignation, Sheik Hilaly has been assured he has the support of grass-roots Muslims, a supporter said. [More...]

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot when you are already bleeding from the hand...

Remember how the Pope was that haughty? Oh wait.

I think his comparison of himself to the Pope is only going to hurt him more now.

Update 2: AmP reader Salome has found a location where large portions of the Sheik's text are available online ... and it's even worse than I thought.