Source: The Daily Times

Wire Service: AP

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_20-3-2005_pg7_46

On March 19, 2005 the Associated Press reported, "Muslims in the Middle East on Saturday angrily denounced prayers led by a woman in New York City the day before as a violation of Islam.

One Egyptian newspaper, Al-Messa, reported the news of Amina Wadud leading Friday prayer services on its front page, with the emphatic headline: 'They are tarnishing Islam in America!' It referred to Wadud as 'the deranged woman.' A female Islamic law professor condemned the act as apostasy, explaining that a woman's body 'stirs desire' in men. Some suggested the event was a U.S. conspiracy to mold traditional Islam into a secular American religion."