Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is facing a sharp Islamist backlash after sitting through a performance at a sports arena on Monday in Damascus featuring female dancers gyrating to the US rapper Missy Elliott’s sexually explicit song “Work It.”

The fury showed few signs of abating, even as Sharaa continued his tour of Gulf nations that took him to the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, following stops in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Typical commentary across social media platforms accused the jihadi-turned-statesman of apostasy and treachery to his cause. Some shared translations of the song’s lewd lyrics. “Even [Syria’s ousted dictator] Bashar al-Assad did not act like this,” fumed one user, while another labeled Sharaa “a donkey” and “a hypocrite.” The critique assumed a more jurisprudential tone among Islamic scholars, but the overall reaction was the same. “How could he?”

Others rose to the president’s defense. They pointed to footage showing him visibly discomfited as the dancers clad in black and carrying giant basketballs “worked it” during the inauguration of a new sports complex in the nation’s capital. The affair highlighted the precarious balancing act Sharaa has to maintain — assuring Western governments and anti-Islamist Gulf monarchies that he is no longer a religious extremist while convincing jihadi supporters that his purpose remains pure.

For now, Sharaa has succeeded in keeping the zealots in check, relying on the time-tested argument that to reach one’s goal, compromises — no matter how unpalatable — need to be struck. The line was trotted out to explain his break with al-Qaeda in 2013 and the ruthless pursuit of former jihadi allies who became too burdensome as he plotted his path to power from his Idlib stronghold.