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Detroit, Michigan (AHN)- Ginnah Muhammad, 42, is a devout Muslim, so as such, she feels she was forced to choose between her small claims court case and her religion, Friday.

Judge Paul Paruk, in Hamtramck District Court, told Muhammad she had to take off her niqab; a scarf and veil, which covers her face and head except for her eyes, or he would dismiss her case. The judge said he needed to see her face so he could judge her truthfulness when she testified.

Paruk told the Detroit Free press he offered to let Muhammad, who was born in the United States and converted to Islam at the age of 10, wear her niqab in court, except when she testified. "I felt I was trying to accommodate her as best I could," Judge Paruk said.

Paruk said that as a fact finder, he has to see the face of a person testifying.

Judges have leeway on how to run their courtroom, in Michigan, and there have been no rule specifications regarding religious attire.

"My job in the courtroom is to make a determination as to the veracity of somebody's claim," the judge said. "As part of that you need to identify the witness and you need to look at the witness and watch how they testify."

Muhammad had gone to small claims court to contest a rental car company charging her $2,750 to repair a vehicle she had leased after thieves broke into it.

"I just feel so sad," Muhammad said. "I feel that the court is there for justice for us. I don't feel that the court recognized me as a person that needed justice. I feel I can't trust the court."

Metro Detroit has one of this country's largest Muslim populations.

Can't they crucify the heathens for contempt anymore, I thought that was still on the books? Only for a little while though, lest they call the NAACP or whatever. I'd have tuned into Court TV for that.

I don't understand what the judge's problem was. I'm sure CAIR will be on the case to bring forward a lawsuit for this outrageous act of religous intolerance. Maybe an honor killing is in order.

Meanwhile, in Australia...

Source

Cleric blames rape on 'suggestive' women

By Mark Chipperfield in Sydney
Last Updated: 11:48am BST 26/10/2006

Australia's most prominent Muslim cleric was threatened with deportation today after he was reported to have said that women who "sway suggestively" and do not cover up can provoke sexual assault by men.

In a sermon marking the end of Ramadan, Sheikh Taj el-Din Al Hilali told worshippers in Sydney that women who display their bodies were like "uncovered meat". He said that women should stay hidden at home, or wear the hijab, or Islamic scarf, in public.

"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park ... and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it?

"The cats or the uncovered meat?"

Sheik Hilali's remarks are a clear reference to a high-profile trial involving a group of Muslim teenagers who committed a series of brutal gang rapes against Australian women in Sydney six years ago.

The Egyptian-born cleric was roundly condemned by the more moderate sections of Australia's Islamic community - including many prominent Muslim women.

John Howard, the prime minister, described Sheik Hilali's comments as "appalling and reprehensible".

The cleric promptly issued a statement claiming that his sermon had been incorrectly translated and misunderstood. He went on to condemn rape and said that he respected the right of Australian women to dress as they saw fit.

But the government's sex discrimination commissioner said she believed his remarks warranted tough action.

Pru Goward, a close confidant of Mr Howard, alleged that the sermon amounted to an incitement for Muslim men to rape women who they deem immodest in their dress or behaviour.

"It is an incitement to a crime," she said.

"Young Muslim men who now rape women can cite this in court. It's time we stopped saying he should apologise. It is time the Islamic community did more than say they were horrified. I think it is time he left."

Relations between Muslims and white Australians have become increasingly strained, spilling over into pitched battles between gangs of Lebanese and white youths in December last year.

Earlier this year Mr Howard told authors of a book about his premiership that the minority of Muslims in the country who "rave on about jihad" and hold "extreme attitudes" towards women do not fit into Australian society.