#Trending: Saudis fight back at cleric's sexist comments
Social media users in Saudi Arabia have made it clear that a misogynist cleric's recent comments about women were totally out of line and unacceptable.
2 min read
27 Jan, 2016
Saudi women voted for the first time last month [Getty]
Twitter users in Saudi Arabia have lashed out at Sheikh Ali al-Malki after a short video of him making derogatory comments about women went viral.
"Be grateful to whoever marries your daughter. They have taken a burden off your shoulders and relieved you of a disgrace," Makli said on a programme on Bedaya TV.
Social media users across the kingdom were quick to respond using the Arabic-language hashtag #MalkiSaysWomenAreADisgrace, and clarify that the sheikh stands alone with his outrageous comment.
"If Ali al-Malki thinks that women are a disgrace then my mother, sisters, wife and daughter will be the most beautiful disgraces in my life until I die," tweeted MBC's managing editor Mohammed al-Enzi.
Stand-up comedian Thamer al-Meshari said: "We call our daughters disgraces, when in fact we are the disgraces. The only thing wrong with our daughters is us!"
Computer scientist Adi al-Hudhaif lamented: "Pretty soon we'll be going back to killing infant girls."
Blogger Mohammad al-Dughayyim quoted Egyptian Nobel prize laureate Naguib Hafouz: "I hope that whoever underestimates the abilities of women, re-lives his childhood without a mother."
Last month, Saudi women headed to polling stations as they were allowed to vote and stand as candidates in the country's municipal elections for the first time ever, a small step forward in the deeply conservative kingdom.
"Be grateful to whoever marries your daughter. They have taken a burden off your shoulders and relieved you of a disgrace," Makli said on a programme on Bedaya TV.
Social media users across the kingdom were quick to respond using the Arabic-language hashtag #MalkiSaysWomenAreADisgrace, and clarify that the sheikh stands alone with his outrageous comment.
"If Ali al-Malki thinks that women are a disgrace then my mother, sisters, wife and daughter will be the most beautiful disgraces in my life until I die," tweeted MBC's managing editor Mohammed al-Enzi.
Stand-up comedian Thamer al-Meshari said: "We call our daughters disgraces, when in fact we are the disgraces. The only thing wrong with our daughters is us!"
Computer scientist Adi al-Hudhaif lamented: "Pretty soon we'll be going back to killing infant girls."
Blogger Mohammad al-Dughayyim quoted Egyptian Nobel prize laureate Naguib Hafouz: "I hope that whoever underestimates the abilities of women, re-lives his childhood without a mother."
Last month, Saudi women headed to polling stations as they were allowed to vote and stand as candidates in the country's municipal elections for the first time ever, a small step forward in the deeply conservative kingdom.
!["There are currently 898 barriers across the West Bank, including iron gates, earth mounds, and permanent checkpoints. That's an increase of 18 barriers in a span of three days." [Getty]](/sites/default/files/styles/image_684x385/public/2194538797.jpeg?h=199d8c1f&itok=EbXkZo0X)
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