Veiled Saudi cleric-basher comes third in poetry contest
AFP
ABU DHABI- A veiled Saudi housewife who stirred controversy for bashing extremist clerics in verse has failed to win the top cash prize in the popular "Million's Poet" programme on Emirati television.
Although Hissa Hilal impressed the jury, she did not garner enough audience votes to win the title and its five million dirhams (1.36 million dollars) prize. That sum went to her Kuwaiti rival, Nasser al-Ajami.
Another Kuwaiti, Falah al-Mourki, was second and was awarded four million dirhams (1.08 million dollars).
Hissa Hilal takes part in 'Shaer al-Million' (One Million Dollar Poet) in Abu Dhabi, March 2010. (AFP/HO/File)
Wearing the Saudi traditional head-to-toe black abaya cloak, with a veil masking her face, Hilal recited her last poem in the contest, a defence of the freedom of thought.
The sole woman among five finalists, Hilal rose to stardom after a series of poems blasting "evil" extremist fatwas (edicts) by Muslim clerics, a challenge which resulted in death threats being made against her on the Internet.
The annual competition in the United Arab Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi, draws masters of bedouin dialect poetry, known as Nabati, which is highly appreciated by Gulf Arabs.
Hilal has drawn the wrath of Islamist conservatives in her country after criticising its strict segregation of the sexes and blasting fatwas that reject an easing to allow women to take on jobs that are currently for men only.
The contest's panel, whose voting accounted for 60 percent of the final score, gave her the highest score and praised her courage for expressing her opinion "honestly and powerfully."
But Hilal lost out after the audience vote, which accounted for the remaining 40 percent, was not enough to give her the crown.
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