News websites and satellite channels have been deliberating a video clip in which Salafī preacher Ahmad Muhammad ‘Abdullah – known as “Abū Islām” states that “90 percent” of women who have been subjected to harassment or rape in Tahrir Square are “crusaders, widows, or inappropriately dressed women”, accusing them of going to the square with the intention of being raped. Abū Islām acknowledged the video, but said that some comments were distorted. He denied issuing a fatwá justifying sexual harassment. Female civil society leaders and the Islamist movement have both condemned Abū Islām’s statements, and the Muslim Brotherhood has denied any links to the preacher, insisting that harassment against any woman is forbidden, regardless of her religion. The Salafī Front has also distanced itself from the comments, calling them “illegal and disrespectful”. The initiative “I’ve seen harassment” (Shuft Taharush) intends to file a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office on Saturday, February 9 (Husām al-Hindī, al-Misrī al-Yawm, Feb. 9, p. 3). Read original text in Arabic.