The backing yesterday of a woman who described herself as a rape victim took some of the heat off Australia’s embattled top Muslim cleric, under pressure for saying scantily-clad women invited sexual attack.

Cindy Taylor said Sheikh Taj Aldin al-Hilali had not intended to justify rape by comparing immodestly-dressed women to “uncovered meat”, comments that sparked calls from politicians and some Muslim leaders for his resignation. “He’s a wonderful man and his analogy certainly did not justify the act of rape,” said Taylor, who said she had twice been raped, although no-one had ever been charged.

“He was not being politically correct. But he’s not a politician, he’s a philosophical leader,” she said outside Sydney’s Lakemab Mosque, where police and journalists outnumbered a small gathering of around 100 Muslim worshippers. Taylor, who said she was raised a Christian and had developed an interest in Islam, said she understood what the imam was trying to say, and urged Australians to be more open-minded. “He believes that the act of rape is one of the worst capital crimes in Islam,” she said.
The besieged imam’s supporters heeded his calls to abandon an unofficial rally planned for a nearby park on Saturday, which he feared could turn violent. Sheikh al-Hilali on Friday vowed to retire from religion and tape over his mouth in public for six months if an “ethical court” found him guilty of inciting rape or denigrating women.
Tom Zreika, president of the Lebanese Muslim Association - which administers Lakemba Mosque - said the firestorm that had erupted over the mufti’s comments was now “dead in the water”.

PHOTO CAPTION

Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali, center, mufti of Australia, holds a bunch of flowers that he is about to deliver to the media as a gesture of peace outside the Lakemba Mosque in Sydney following Friday prayers, Friday, Nov. 3, 2006. (AP)