Muslim Cleric Says Christian Women Should Wear Veils.

Outspoken Muslim cleric Taj al-Din al-Hilali has claimed that 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.

Hilali, who remains the head of Australia's largest mosque in the south western 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, he 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," news.com.au quotes him, as saying.

Read rest of the story here…

Saudis Nix Valentines Picks

Valentine’s gifts, cards, and red roses were banned today by religious police in Saudi Arabia. Store owners and workers were ordered to remove all red items and wrapping paper from their shelves.

Valentine’s Day is considered as being un-Islamic, along with a few other annual celebrations, so the authorities prohibit its commemoration. The religious police also state that Valentine’s Day encourages forbidden relationships between men and women outside of marriage, which is punishable by law.

Some Saudis, however, surreptitiously celebrate the event by ordering flowers and gifts weeks in advance of the ban. The store owners make deliveries in the middle of the night or early morning to avoid suspicion.

Some Islamic mullahs have also written prohibitive statements concerning Valentine’s Day. The following example comes from Pakistan:

Muslims should avoid celebrating this occasion by:

1- Not expressing joy and happiness on this occasion.

2- Not exchanging red roses, which represent the ‘spiritual love’ of the pagans or the ‘love’ of the Christians. Hence it is known to them as the Feast of Lovers.

3- Not sending greeting cards as some of their cards have pictures of “Cupid” (a child with two wings carrying bows and arrows). This was the god of love of the pagan Romans.

4- Not exchanging words of love and desire in the cards or verbally. Some of the cards contain the words ‘be my Valentine’. This is the Christian concept of this festival after they adopted from the pagan Romans.

5- Not attending dance parties with mixed gatherings.

I guess they don’t know how much fun they are missing…

Religious news: Over There...Soon to be Over Here??

London, Feb.4 : Muslim women training in several hospitals in England have objected to removing their arm coverings in theatre and to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands, because it is regarded as immodest in Islam.

Universities and NHS trusts fear many more will refuse to co-operate with new Department of Health guidance, introduced this month, which stipulates that all doctors must be "bare below the elbow".

According to a report in The Telegraph, the measure has been deemed necessary to stop the spread of infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile, which have killed hundreds.

Minutes of a clinical academics' meeting at Liverpool University revealed that female Muslim students at Alder Hey children's hospital had objected to rolling up their sleeves to wear gowns. Similar concerns have been raised at Leicester University. Sheffield University also reported a case of a Muslim medic who refused to "scrub" as this left her forearms exposed.

Documents from Birmingham University reveal that some students would prefer to quit the course rather than expose their arms, and warn that it could leave trusts open to legal action.

Hygiene experts said last night that no exceptions should be made on religious grounds.

"Perhaps these women should not be choosing medicine as a career if they feel unable to abide by the guidelines that everyone else has to follow," they said.

But the Islamic Medical Association insisted that covering all the body in public, except the face and hands, was a basic tenet of Islam.

Dr Majid Katme, the association spokesman, said: "Exposed arms can pick up germs and there is a lot of evidence to suggest skin is safer to the patient if covered. One idea might be to produce long, sterile, disposable gloves which go up to the elbows."