Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali

[Ben]

Im not a racist, against religion or anything but this guy makes me angry. i read an excellent letter to the editor in todays newspaper from someone saying somthing along the lines of 'after al-Hilali said what he said about women and rape, there was no riots, bashings, strikes or anything major by Westerners'. Compare this to how Muslims reacted to a cartoon of Allah or Mohammad. This goes to show how civilised Aussies and Westerners are.

I dont have much else to say but Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali should not only be sacked as the top Islamic cleric but deported because of what he said about white girls.

John Howard, the man, said that the cleric may have breached Australia's counterterrorism laws by praising militant jihadists in Iraq and Afghanistan. HE PRAISED MILITANT JIHADISTS. this is not the sort of people i want living in my country.

If there are any Muslims on here, dont take offence, this is targeted at al-Hilali, and as i understand a great number of you want him sacked from the top job too.

if this didnt make sense or you dont understand... i dont care.

[gnome]

he's an idiot


especially as most rapes are about power not sexual desire hence ruling out what the woman wears or what she looks like...


why does he think old ladies get raped, are they walkin round in skimpy clothes, no thank god they arent!



he really should be de-mufti-ised or whatever it is they do


he makes the whoel muslim community look bad becaues they are standing by him when im sure most muslims would definately not agree!

[Jackle]

He did invoke his power of free speech... and we can invoke ours by bagging him. Something i am surprised about, is the media made no mention of his role in helping to free douglas woods.

[gnome]

i thought he was the same one


probably cos douglass wood is an idiot


and


it doesnt make up for being stupid

[Ben]

Originally Posted by gnome

i thought he was the same one


probably cos douglass wood is an idiot


and


it doesnt make up for being stupid

f*ck yeah man, well said, was gonna say the same thing

[mc68]

id have to disagree with nixon and Mr T, cant we just do something to his voicebox?

[Dominic]

I think some Anglican bishop said something recently like most or all religions oppress women. Interesting point.

At this stage, the complaint from other Muslim leaders is the press are bashing Islam. To that, I'd say Christian churches and leaders get hung out to dry in the media every time they do or say something dumb too (and so they should). It's called free press.

Here is the latest:

MUSLIMS' first loyalty should be to God, not Australian society, Taj el-Din al Hilaly told worshippers at Lakemba mosque yesterday during a defiant speech in which he firmly reasserted his place as the leader of "moderate" Australian Islam.

The sheik said he would retire and publicly gag his own mouth with tape for six months if an impartial panel found him "guilty" of inciting rape with his comments last month about women's dress.

"We consider ourselves as servants of Allah firstly and servants to Australian society secondly," he told more than 2000 mostly male worshippers gathered at the mosque for prayers amid tight security yesterday.

In a long, circuitous speech given before the official statement - in which he called upon a judicial panel to interpret his controversial sermon - the sheik accused a sect within the Islamic community of plotting his downfall by disseminating the audiotape of his controversial "uncovered meat" speech.

"The plotting will always get back to the plotters. We say to them that Lakemba is the centre and headquarters and the leadership of the Muslims of Australia, the castle and palace of moderation and the mainstream Muslims."

The mosque and its followers loved Australian society and would work to ensure its peaceful development, he said. "Anyone that wants to go against the preaching of Lakemba is … the enemy of Australian society."

He said a rally in his honour at a Lakemba park today would not take place. Police planned a "major presence" in Sydney's south-west today, despite the apparent cancellation of the rally.

The sheik spoke in Arabic, but was translated into English. He invited a panel of a judge, two lawyers and two interpreters to listen to his September sermon.

If the panel found him "guilty" of justifying or inciting rape, or that he had branded all Australian women "uncovered meat", he would retire. He would cover his mouth with masking tape in public for half a year, and do 600 hours of community service with a women's group.

While he would not step down, Sheik Hilaly asked the Australian Federal Imams' Board to open nominations for his position as mufti of Australia. The media was held behind police cordons outside the mosque.

A loudspeaker announcement urged worshippers not to talk to reporters as they left: "Walk out happy and smiling. This is the moment the media are waiting for. They want to provoke you." The sheik left the mosque to a large cheer and shouts of "Allah Akbar!" He picked up a bouquet and presented it to a police officer, Constable Michelle Angell.

"He said, 'This is for appreciation and respect for you and the police,' " she later revealed.

The Lebanese Muslim Association's president, Tom Zreika, said the role of mufti was given to the nation's top Islamic scholar.

"[If] there's someone better than him, he will step aside."

■ The Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner told the ABC it would be beyond the power of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission to examine whether Sheikh Hilaly had slandered women.

The most important thing I think he said was reported this way:

While he would not step down, Sheik Hilaly asked the Australian Federal Imams' Board to open nominations for his position as mufti of Australia.

There were murmurings that he would be Australia's last mufti, as in, after him they wouldn't have another.

I think it is very important to have a religious leader who other senior leaders report to and look to for leadership. I don't know how it actually works on the ground with Islamic leadership but the catholic church for example certainly benefits from it's leadership structure of priests / bishops / archbishops / cardinals / pope.

The chain of accountability has more layers and processes than that but without it there would be all kinds of mayhem and nutso factions could head off in stupid directions and not get their heads pulled in.

From the mufti's most recent comments, it gives me more hope that Islam can exist and grow successfully in Australia in a positive way appropriate to an Australian setting.

Only recently I was perplexed as to why the pope quoted a provocative statement that was negative towards Islam. Something along the lines that Mohammad had supported the use of violence to promote it's religion in the early days. Well guess what, the Vatican / catholic church did too.

You think Muslims were pissed at him, you should have heard what some Christian church leaders were saying privately in the corridors at lunch. Phase two of that play ended up with the pope getting together with a lot of Islamic leaders for a chat on a number of issues (very timely given what is going on in the world atm). Perhaps that was the planned end game, or just a good save from a stupid comment.

I think there is a lot that both Islam and Christianity can offer Australia. The problem at the moment though is there is probably more the two groups need to learn from each other to get to a place where either are really respected and supported in the community as they both hope to be.

For those who think the Mufti should be deported, tell me where do we deport the catholic Cardinal Pell to if he says something stupid or pisses off the Australian public? You can't just get rid of someone because they make a mistake or piss people off. Well not today anyway, back in the day they did that. The answer is to get other people in the ranks of a religion to collectively or through a chain of command to chat with or sack them.

As for the rest of us, what if, in Australia, we stuck to being Aussies. When someone makes an ass of themselves everyone lets them know. But we give each other a fair go and accept we are all different and very human, get over it and move on.

And go the symbolic gesture:

He picked up a bouquet and presented it to a police officer, Constable Michelle Angell.

"He said, 'This is for appreciation and respect for you and the police,' " she later revealed.