Clerical Errors
Shocking quotes from Islamic clerics
A clerical error is a harmless slip: a typo, a wrong date, a misplaced decimal point. The errors collected here are of another kind. They come from imams, muftis, ayatollahs and preachers, and they call for the death of apostates, the stoning of adulterous women, the sale of captives and the killing of Jews.
These are not words from the fringe. Alongside a few small-time preachers, you will find two Grand Muftis of Saudi Arabia, a Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, the imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the head of Turkey’s state religious authority and two Supreme Leaders of Iran. Each quote comes with its source. Check them: that is what they are for.
We do not target believers, who are often the first victims of these sermons. We target the men who speak in God’s name from a pulpit, a ministry or a television studio. Most of them are not misreading their scriptures: they quote them chapter and verse. Clerical errors usually get corrected. These ones get applause. Their critics have the floor in Unforgivable Sentences.
Filter by category Dress code for women 3 quotes
- Incitement to Hatred and Violence15
- Jihad and the establishment of a global caliphate14
- Violation of women's rights9
- Death penalty8
- Antisemitism7
- Superiority of Islam and Muslims6
- Prohibition of freedom of thought and expression5
- Slavery5
- Hatred of non-Muslims4
- LGBTQ+ repression4
- Obscurantism4
- Dress code for women3
- Apostasy2
- Ban on blasphemy2
- Forced conversions2
- Marriage of underage girls2
- Persecution of minority communities2
- Physical and psychological abuse of children2
- Domestic violence1
- Extramarital sexual relations1
- Flogging, Stoning and Other Corporal Punishments1
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Who has torn honour to pieces in my country? Who makes my country’s daughters dance? Who is asking them to wear skimpier clothes? Whom should I hold accountable for this sin?
Tariq Jameel Preacher of the Tablighi Jamaat (Pakistan) · Prayer during the Prime Minister’s Covid-19 telethon, April 23, 2020 Source -
Many women who do not dress modestly […] lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes.
Kazem Sedighi Interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran (Iran) · Friday sermon, April 2010 Source -
They [the made-up, uncovered women] never did anything good, not those. They do not know how to be useful, neither socially, nor politically, nor professionally. And this is so because by uncovering themselves they distract men and upset them. They even distract and upset other women. […] If you do not like Islamic dress, you’re not obliged to wear it because Islamic dress is for good and proper young women.
Ruhollah Khomeini Leader of the Islamic Revolution (Iran) · Interview with Oriana Fallaci, Qom, September 1979 Source
