A Muslim-convert preacher from Queensland claims it is sexual harassment to make him shake hands with a woman.
Sharia law supporter Sheikh Zainadine Johnson used the Arabic term for sin to describe the idea of making physical contact with a female who isn’t his wife.
‘I don’t shake hands with women and believe it to be haram however some women insist,’ the former rock band guitarist said on Facebook.
‘Isn’t that sexual harassment? I mean really I feel sexually harassed when they try to force me.’
The red-headed Sunni imam, a Sunshine Coast-bred surfer previously known as Zean Johnson, went further and likened shaking hands with a woman to being touched on the bottom.
‘I’m talking about someone who insists and basically forces us to shake,’ he said.
‘It’s my body and I should have the right to decide who can touch and who can’t.
‘You see it as innocent however there are many men who feel a whack on the bum is innocent. And that is classed as sexual harassment.’
Sheikh Johnson’s comments were too much for some on social media, with one woman describing his sentiments as disturbed.
‘You are turning shaking hands - an interaction of friendliness and trust - into something perverse. I think you might need counselling,’ she said.
‘Seriously? Do you touch and shake men’s hands? Sexual harassment?’
However, Sheikh Zaindine, a 44-year-old former bass guitarist with Brisbane rock ban Grinder, urged her to ‘please respect differences’.
The Muslim convert, who is now an imam at Logan south of Brisbane, lives by Sharia law and last year likened it to Christianity’s Ten Commandments.
Secular Muslims reject the Islamic legal system which discriminates against women.
Islamic Council of Queensland spokesman Ali Kadri, who shakes hands with women, defended Sheikh Johnson.
‘I am not a bad Muslim for shaking hands on occasion and neither are you an extremist for not shaking hands,’ he said.
Sheikh Johnson’s comments were made on Ali Kadri’s Facebook page, under a Tuesday post arguing religiously-conservative Muslims weren’t necessarily extremists.