www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1761080,00.html

Iraqi favourite to win Miss England is overexposed, say Muslim leaders

By Russell Jenkins

A MUSLIM leader in Liverpool has urged an Iraqi woman to withdraw from the Miss England competition as she and her fellow contestants arrive in the city for tomorrow’s final.

Sarah Mendly, 23, a biochemistry graduate, whose family fled Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, is the bookies’ favourite to win and become the first British Muslim to compete for the Miss World title. She is being put under pressure by senior Islamic clerics in the city, who insist that beauty contests go against the teachings of the Koran.

Hashim Sulaiman, of the Liverpool Islamic Institute, said: “There is no way a Muslim girl should be playing any part in this competition, because it is unlawful. The ladies in that contest are always very scantily dressed and the only part of the body that should be on display are the face, the hands and the feet.

“I would like this girl to withdraw from the contest immediately. I do not know what she was thinking in entering in the first place and I do not know what her parents were thinking when they allowed her to do so.”

Other Muslim clerics agreed that beauty pageants are outlawed under the tenets of their faith. But they were less unwelcoming to the four Muslims among the forty finalists.

Akbar Ali, chairman of the Islamic Society of Liverpool, said that a Muslim winning the competition would be regarded by many as the first step towards breaking down this religious barrier. He said: “Beauty pageants generally are not permissible under Islamic law.”

The finalists take part in a talent and beauty section today, including a photo-call at a city centre hotel, before the final tomorrow. The organisers say that they are acutely aware of sensitivities.

The three other Muslim finalists are Hammasa Kohistani, 18, Dilay Topuzoglu, 19, and Sonia Hassanien, 21. Miss Kohistani, who won a beauty pageant organised by the Asian community, is a model and student who speaks Russian and Farsi. Miss Topuzoglu, a model, is Miss Essex, and Miss Hassanien runs her own fashion design and clothes-making business.

No extra security measures have been put in place in a city that has a small Muslim population, scattered on each side of the Mersey. One young Muslim activist said: “Even if there was any contempt or dislike, I do not think that anybody would be willing to say anything because of the current political climate.”

Miss Mendly, who is Miss Nottingham, has pledged not to wear a bikini on stage. Instead she may wear a one-piece swimsuit under a sarong for the photo-shoot. She said: “I wanted to show that there are attractive British Iraqi girls who are proud of being both British and Iraqi.

“Some fanatics might say entering a beauty contest is wrong because you are putting yourself up to be judged by your physical appearance, but my family supports me.”

Miss Mendly was born to Iraqi parents in the United Arab Emirates. The family settled in Nottingham in 1983 when she was a year old. Apart from her immediate family, her relatives live in Baghdad.

She lists her ambition as “living life to the fullest” and hopes to use her fame to become a peace ambassador between Britain and Iraq.

Abdul Hamid, the vice-chairman of the Lancashire Board of Mosques, said that if Miss Mendly took part she would immediately cast herself out of the “circle of Islam”. He said: “It is simply not right for her to take part in this competition as a Muslim, because by entering she forsakes her faith. She has said she won’t wear a bikini, only a swimsuit, but what difference does that make? She will still be exposing her flesh in a beauty contest.”

A competition spokeswoman said that it was multicultural, adding: “The girls hold a British passport and are aged between 17 and 24. It is a non-political competition.”

This thread is worthless without pics!!

I really wish these idiots would get out of the 7th century.

You know the rules, guys. You can't post a thread like this without accompanying pics.

Who needs a picture, she's probably a pig anyway.

Quoted: You know the rules, guys. You can't post a thread like this without accompanying pics.

+1

Google is your friend.

8 out of 10.

Nice smile.

oink oink

KInda chunky but not too bad.

She is pretty, but I'd never date a slut who shows her elbows and wrists.

Quoted: She is pretty, but I'd never date a slut who shows her elbows and wrists.

I'd hit it.

Quoted: KInda chunky but not too bad.

dems som big arms.

retard......drum set....nuff said  

Quoted: She is pretty, but I'd never date a slut who shows her elbows and wrists.

Cute enough for me!  In my world that's a 9 for sure.  One of the guys at work was kidding me about my son bringing back an Iraqi war bride.  No problem if she looks like that!

Camera widens everyone a little.  I suspect she is super hot in person.  

Semi good in those pics.

Probably hot in person.  I agree.

I'd gladly rescue her from Iraq, and hit it.

Quoted: 8 out of 10. Nice smile.

Yeah, and I bet she fucks like an infidel!



Wait, that was tacky. I take that back.

i hope this contest happens before her mustache grows back, otherwise shes a loser

Quoted: I'd hit it.

Yep, nice boobies, and she's a biochemist too! If they raised her right, she can probably cook too!

I'd let her make me a sammich and then let her finish me off with desert.

Quoted: I'd let her make me a sammich and then let her finish me off with desert.

You like 'em gritty, eh?

Miss Mendly, who is Miss Nottingham...

I'd go Sheriff of Nottingham on that ass! All your taxes ass are belong to the Sheriff!

Think about it guys. Not only do those anti-American countries have oil, they might have an un-tapped (hehe) hoarde of hotties! Gas and babes, that's all we need to justify "liberating" them from those idiotic clerics and tribal oppression. A biochemistry hottie, we need more of those. I even found an article where a foreign paper described her as "una guapa musulmana". Think she might end up marrying some lucky British SAS guy?

Oops