In a Friday sermon delivered in Columbia, South Carolina, Egyptian-American cleric Muhammad Syed Adly warned his congregation against sending their children to non-Muslim schools. Imam Adly said that gay or lesbian teachers might pass it on to their students. "The behavior, the way the teacher walks, the way they act, the way they hold hands - all these things are contagious, and it's going to reach your son," he warned. The sermon was delivered at the Masjid Al-Muslimiin, which shares its location with the Islamic Center of Columbia, headed by Imam Adly. The sermon was posted on Adly’s YouTube channel on January 28.

Following is a transcript of the video:

Muhammad Syed Adly: I know that some of you do not believe in the concept of Islamic schools. That is fine. No problem. But all of us agree on the impact of the environment and the surroundings on our children. If you have a teacher who is gay or lesbian, they are going to catch [sic] this to your son. Same thing as your son sitting with somebody who can be sneezing and in a foul air – you're going to catch the disease. The behavior, the way the teacher walks, the way they act, the way they hold hands - all these things are contagious, and it's going to reach your son.

So, I'm not talking about science and chemistry and all those things. We are talking about that environment.