Cleric calls for babies to wear burqas

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- A cleric in Saudi Arabia has issued a fatwa calling for all baby girls to be fully covered by a burqa due to reports of young girls being sexually molested.

Sheik Abdullah Daoud, in an interview last year on al-Majd television, said wearing the burqas will help protect babies, al-Arabiya News reported Sunday.

The video recently surfaced on social media, prompting outrage from fellow Saudis on Twitter. Some said Daoud should be held accountable for what he said because it breaches individual privacy.

Sheik Mohammad al-Jzlana, former judge at the Saudi Board of Grievances, said Daoud's fatwa made Islam and Sharia law look bad.

Al-Jzlana urged people to ignore Daoud's statement and any unregulated fatwas. He said it makes him feel sad anytime he sees a family veiling their baby, describing it as an injustice, al-Arabiya News reported.