Imams in India and worldwide attract lots of attention and criticism for declaring some crazy fatwas. But an Australian Imam was beaten up during a live debate show on an Egyptian channel for saying Muslim women should not be forced to wear the veil.
Imam Mostafa Rashid from Sydney and Egyptian lawyer Nabih al-Wahsh were discussing if women should wear headscarves or not. Rashid who had drawn flack in the past for his liberal-progressive view of Islam said that wearing veil is a cultural tradition and not a religious duty so they should not be forced to wear headscarves.
The lawyer however, got offended by this opinion and took off his shoes and hit Rashid on the head. Television presenter Mohammed al-Ghaiti couldn’t intervene between them and said, “I never expected that something like this could happen on air.”
Rashid, a scholar in Islamic theology, had once said that drinking alcohol is not forbidden in Quran.
