Foehammer’s Anvil

Oi! What’s that about jihad, mate? A report from NEWS.com.au about the infamous “uncovered meat” sheik and his successor:

OUTGOING Islamic leader Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilali did a bad job and embarrassed Australia’s Muslims, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today.

Sheik Hilali stood down from the position of Mufti of Australia yesterday.

The move followed a series of controversial remarks by the Muslim leader in the past year.

“I have to say I think that Sheik Hilali has done a very bad job as the leader of the Islamic community,” Mr Downer said on Sky News.

“I know many Muslims who have been embarrassed by him and have felt he hasn’t done Islamic Australia any good at all. Him standing down and a new mufti taking over, it has to be a step forward.”

The former mufti’s spokesman, Keysar Trad, said Sheik Hilali stepped down because of constant government pressure, with Prime Minister John Howard and Mr Downer telling the Muslim community for six months to find a new mufti.

Mr Trad, president of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, said there had been veiled threats to withdraw government funding from Muslim communities and some government ministers had threatened not to attend events if the sheik was there.

Sheik Hilali sparked outrage by describing scantily clad women as “uncovered meat” and joking about notorious gang rapes by young Muslim men.

He also said Muslims had more right to be in Australia than people brought to the country in chains as convicts.

“They are playing the man and not the ball. If something can be misinterpreted or carry ambiguity, they will go for the worst possible spin, so the mufti has decided to step down and let someone else take the pressure.”

He said the council of imams also had appeared to bow to pressure because it did not insist that the sheik continue in his role as mufti.

“Under normal circumstances they would say, `no way’ and insist he continue as mufti and not step aside,” Mr Trad said.

He described the new mufti, Sheik Fehmi El-Imam, as “a very nice man”.

“It appears the media likes him and people in the Muslim community like him.”

Mr Trad rejected calls for the position of mufti to be abandoned altogether, saying such demands came from people ignorant of the religion.

“The position of mufti is not like the Pope,” Mr Trad said.

“The mufti takes it upon himself to find answers to difficult theological questions. These people calling for the position to be scrapped are acting out of vested interests or gross misunderstanding of the significance of this position.”

Australia’s imams elected 79-year-old Sheik Imam to the role when Sheik Hilali said he would not seek re-election.

Today, Sheik Imam defended his predecessor, saying Sheik Hilali was misunderstood.

In his first press conference, Sheik Imam said the Australian media should be more open-minded.

He said his predecessor of 18 years did more good than he was given credit for.

“Maybe sometimes you may let your tongue go too far,” Sheik Imam said in Melbourne.

“I know that, but still, maybe he didn’t mean to harm others but the way he put it sometimes didn’t sound to others as pleasant as you want it.”
The new Mufti said the public should remember Sheik Hilali travelled to Iraq “in the midst of battle” to help free kidnapped Australian businessman Douglas Wood.

He called for greater co-operation between the Muslim community and the media.

“I want it to be a good relationship all the way, sometimes people say `we don’t like media’ I say let us like media … and let us like each other, let us know how to live with each other, how to handle each other, how to deal with each other.”

Sheik Imam has been described as a gentle soul who will not be as high-profile as his predecessor.

Director of the Islamic Council of Victoria Waleed Aly said Sheik Imam was widely respected.

“He is a very gentle soul,” Mr Aly said on ABC radio.

“He’s been around as an imam in Australia for some 50-odd years, he has got an Order of Australia, he is very widely respected and highly regarded in Victoria.

“He wants to ensure that Muslims and non-Muslim Australians are pulling in the same direction and that there’s a convivial relationship between the two.

“I think what you will find is someone who is slightly less high-profile in the role than previously.”

Sheik imam came to Australia from Lebanon in 1951 and is senior imam at the Preston Mosque.

He was elected Mufti for a two-year term.

Minders today barred him from answering questions about his views on the Iraq war but when quizzed about Jihad (holy war), the Muslim leader was more forthcoming.

He said the Muslim community would declare Jihad to defend Australia if the country was under attack.

“If you defend your country you are doing Jihad so we’ll do Jihad for Australia, to defend Australia.”

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