Former Imam of Mecca ridiculed after tweeting 'erotic' poem after Friday prayers

One of Saudi Arabia's best-known clerics was ridiculed this week after a sensual poem about a woman was tweeted from his account shortly after he conducted Friday prayers.

Adil Al-Kalbani, former imam of Mecca's Great Mosque and current imam of Al-Muhaisen Mosque, was ridiculed online after he tweeted the passionate poem about a woman eating a berry.

"My heart is pure," he wrote, before continuing with the poem.

Al-Kalbani's poem translated to:

"She bit her lips as I lay dying
She winked and made it worse
Her teeth became ice when she bit into a berry
And a bouquet of roses burst forth from her cheeks"

His tweet was met with shock, disgust and ridicule.

"The problem is, he tweeted this after he finished his sermon at Al-Muhaisen Mosque," one Twitter user said.

There were suspicions that his account was hacked, despite having expressed controversial opinions in the past.

"I suspect that this tweet was not written by our Sheikh. If there was someone who is tweeting from his account, only God can deal with you," one tweeter said.

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Al-Kalbani recently sparked controversy among Wahabbi Muslims in Saudi Arabia for holding some comparatively liberal social views.

At the time of his appointment to Imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 2008, many saw it as a sign that Saudi King Abdullah was slowly beginning to liberalise the ultra-conservative kingdom.

Sheikh Kalbani's recent record of "liberal" remarks and actions come as Riyadh continues to adopt a "moderate" state-sanctioned interpretation of Islam, although this view has been challenged by some.

Read more: Saudi Arabia has more women's rights than the West, says Saudi princess

Last year, in a video posted by Saudi newspaper Arab News, Sheikh Kalbani put forward the position that women and men do not need to be separated by a barrier while praying at mosque, as this was not done during the time of the Prophet Mohammed.

Kalbani previously argued that Saudi women face stricter restrictions today that "isolate them from society" than they did during the time of the Prophet Muhammad.

The cleric also said this year that despite his previous opinion on Shia scholars being heretics, he had changed his views.

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