Egyptian Cleric Khaled Al-Gindi: Colombian Performer Shakira Is a Whore

Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian cleric Sheik Khaled Al-Gindi, which aired on Channel 1, Egyptian TV, on August 30, 2008:

Interviewer: What do you think of Shakira?

Khaled Al-Gindi: Oh my God!

Interviewer: Although it's strange to ask Sheik Khaled Al-Gindi about Shakira, I'd like to know what you think of her.

Khaled Al-Gindi: She is nothing but a whore.

Interviewer: A whore?!

Khaled Al-Gindi: Of course.

Interviewer: In my opinion, she is a dancer.

Khaled Al-Gindi: We are all entitled to our own perspectives.

Interviewer: I think she is a beautiful dancer.

Khaled Al-Gindi: Beauty is a relative thing. For me, beauty lies in moral values, not in a woman's body, charms, nudity, stomach, back, legs, or arms. I don't care about those things. In this country, we have been raised to respect moral values more than the values of superficial beauty. As the saying goes: "Beauty is for the worms, while moral values are everlasting."

Interviewer: So you were against her coming to Egypt?

Khaled Al-Gindi: Not only was I against it, but it was painful to me.

Interviewer: Painful?!

Khaled Al-Gindi: Whoever allowed her to come to this country... We know what happened when she came to Egypt – roads were blocked, the Al-Giza area was closed, all traffic was stopped – it was a disaster. Our youth looked frightening and ridiculous, I'm sad to say. Not all of them, I don't want to generalize, but this was a disaster. All the people living on Faysal Street, or in the Al-Giza area, are familiar with the dark history of this individual's visit to this country.