Australian imam says women need to wear the hijab because men can't control their sexual urges

Stephen Johnson
Daily Mail
Sun, 05 Nov 2017 13:04 UTC

© Sheikh Zainadine Islam Johnson/Facebook

Hardline Logan-based Sunni imam Sheikh Zaindine Johnson says hijabs help ward off men

A hardline Islamic leader says women need to wear the hijab so men can control their sexual urges.

Queensland Muslim leader Sheikh Zainadine Johnson has weighed into sex scandals surrounding Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein to advise women on the need to cover up.

'Men should be able to control themselves. This is a common argument against the Islamic hijab,' he told his Facebook followers.

'I totally agree, they should be able to control themselves, however facts show many don't, this is why a hijab is necessary for women.'

© Getty Images

The Muslim-convert and Sharia law advocate, who used to play in a band, followed this up with a sermon urging women to avoid wearing bracelets out in public.

'There's no problem with a female wearing a gold bracelet and making herself look beautiful as long as it's underneath her hijab or at home, no problem,' he told the Logan City Mosque south of Brisbane on Friday night.

'In front of her husband, no problem. But on the streets wearing it? No.

'In front of the people, this is not what's permissible.'

Sheikh Johnson's argument linking the hijab with keeping at bay the sexual urges of men has echoes of controversial remarks by former western Sydney-based grand mufti Sheikh Taj el Din al-Hilaly, who in 2006 described women who don't wear the hijab as 'uncovered meat'.

© Sheikh Zainadine Islam Johnson/Facebook

The imam told his followers women needed to wear a hijab so men could control themselves

© AAPIMAGE

Former grand mufti Sheikh Taj el-Din al Hilaly in 2006 likened women to 'uncovered meat'

Sheikh el-Din al-Hilaly told 500 worshipers in September 2006 that women were asking for attention when they failed to cover up their flesh with a hijab.

'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?,' he asked.

'The uncovered meat is the problem.'

His remarks were condemned at the time by other Muslim leaders and then prime minister John Howard as 'appalling and reprehensible'.

© Shutterstock / Adwo

Sheikh Zaindine Johnson says women can help men control their urges by covering up

© Sheikh Zainadine Johnson/Facebook

The surfer turned imam is also urging women to avoid wearing bracelets out on the streets

Sheikh Johnson, a surfer and former bass guitarist with Brisbane rock band Grinder, used his latest sermon to urge Muslim men to avoid also wearing bracelets.

The hardline Sunni used the Arabic term for sinful, haram, to denounce the idea of men putting on metal, bodily decorations.

'For men, on the other hand, bracelets are haram. Why are bracelets haram?,' he asked.

'Because it is copying the females. Bracelets, necklaces, earrings, nose rings, eye rings, whatever rings.'

Sheikh Johnson, who grew up on the Sunshine Coast, has recently urged Muslims to refrain from celebrating Christmas and in August described as sexual harassment the idea of shaking hands with women.

Comment: This guy's a total idiot. To say that women need to wear the hijab so that men can control their sexual urges makes no sense. It really just amounts to blaming the victim and in fact there is no real evidence that a hijab will do anything to prevent indecent acts or thoughts against a woman.

From this article:

Many preferred to speak anonymously, like the Londoner who told this story: "I started to wear the hijab when I was 17 and there have been different incidences [sic] of varying degrees. From constantly being 'banged into' on a crowded tube train to when I was working in a clothing store in central London. The white male builders apparently had a vote and decided I was the best looking member of staff - a colleague told me about it. It made me feel cheap and I guess it was because they would often look at me in the way that only men with one thing on their mind can. The clothes I was wearing didn't matter as they all seemed to undress me in their minds."

[...]

The Muslim Women's Network UK runs a helpline for Muslim women. Shaista Gohir, the chair, told me: "We receive calls on the helpline from Muslim women who disclose sexual assault and rape. They have been fully dressed. Some have been wearing the headscarf, jilbab (full robe) and even the face veil. The offenders have included family friends, family members, and also respected religious leaders in the community.

Another one:

The myth that there's a correlation between the hijab and a low incidence of sexual harassment and violence against women actually systematically victimizes them. Men are doing women a disservice in that they are placing blame on women who don't cover themselves, as well as insinuating that a woman who is attacked while wearing a headscarf somehow did something to deserve it. As with all victim-blaming, this prevents women from speaking up about sexual assault. Many mainstream conservative Muslim clerics and pseudo-social scientists-like Zakir Naik, in this video, which is a must-see for anyone wanting to learn about this issue-openly imply or proclaim that women who don't wear the hijab are calling for sexual harassment and sexual violence. They go so far as correlating a woman's right to wear what she wants in the West with a high incidence of sexualized violence against women there.

They conveniently ignore all of the reports on how sexualized violence is underreported in many conservative Islamic societies because of its taboo nature and the stigma associated with it; they ignore the fact that sexualized violence leads to the honor killings of many of the women victims each year.

Perverts are perverts. They will sexually harass and commit sexual violence against women who wear the hijab or a miniskirt because they are perverts-not because women have exercised their right to wear what they want.