----------------

MrBagel Funny: Latest Joke Listed

MrBagel News: Hottest News Stories

Bodgey Bagels Latest Caption Contest

Mr Bagels Latest Cartoon

Mr Bagel Latest Videos

Sunday, 5 November 2006

Sheikh Hilaly Sermon at Sidon Mosque 13.02.04 - A Call to Jihad?

This is a translation of the Sermon that the Mufti of Australia made whilst in Lebanon in 2004. This translation comes from the Australian Embassy in Beirut.

It is provided here as some context to the present controversy concerning the Australian Mufti.

[Click read more to...]

Dear Brothers,
As I examine the situation of our nation from North to South and East to West, I notice that our nation is managed by leaders who act like Pharaohs, whose policies are pro-American and who have devilish plots.

As I examine the status of our nation, run by half men, I tell myself that the children of Palestine are real men. Whenever someone asks me: did our nation die? I answer: no, because there is a vein of life beating in the south, in cities like Sidon and Tyre, and in Southern Lebanon, that tells us that our nation is not dead and will never die. Our nation has never knelt down and it will only kneel before God.

Thus I thought that the true meaning of manhood should be the title and the theme of this blessed gathering at this Mosque, the Mosque of Jihad and manhood. This Mosque reminds me of the time when Muslims used to gather on Friday at the Prophet's Mosque.
The Prophet's Mosque was built of palms, had only three columns and was two meters by four. That was the Mosque where Islam first started and spread throughout the world. The sons of that Mosque trampled with their feet the palaces of Cesar and the King of Perse, stopped people from worshipping stones and taught them to worship God.

So I told myself, thank God, for what makes a Mosque are the men in it and not the stones or minarets nor slogans, nor sycophantic behaviour. Before we run short of time, I would like to ask this question: what's the difference between a man and a male in Islam.

This is a topic that we discussed two or three years ago in the North, but some brothers asked me to link this concept to the positions of Jihad taken by the sons of Palestine and the sons of the south in these difficult moments.

Dear brothers, what's the difference between a man and a male?
A male is one of two kinds created by God. He created all human beings, male and female. Even liquids, solids and gases are male and female but it is called negative and positive.

Electricity for example, cannot give birth to light unless there is a marriage between negative and positive. God said 'we have created everything in couples'. Blessed be God who created everything on earth in couples, and who based the life system on this duality: male and female.

As for manhood, it's a quality that has a special meaning in Islam. Some think that every male is a man. But the fact is that every man is a male but not every male is a man. God, when he talks about those who defended and protected our religion, he is referring to men and not males.

When the Koran talks about one of these people in the old times, he refers to him as a 'man' and not a 'male'. Some think that manhood means making children. But I tell you, and I have four wives and plenty of children, that this is not true. Don't think that the true meaning of manhood is restricted to having children.

If this was the case then a rooster will be a better man than you and you fathers. Remember that a rabbit has children every 40 days. Manhood cannot be measured by weight because an elephant weighs more than an entire family, nor by length because camels and giraffes are very tall, nor by speed because a dog runs faster than a whole running team, nor by cleverness because a fox can be more clever than you, nor by carefulness because a crow can be more careful than you.

Thus manhood in Islam has a special meaning. Believers are men who did what they promised God to do, and where did they graduate from (sic)? I refer to the Sura of Light which defines the meaning and conditions of manhood in Islam. According to Islam, real men are those who don't put business before prayer and religious duties.

They are those who fear God and who are rewarded by God for what they do because God rewards without limits. Dear brothers, according to Islam, manhood has specific conditions and characteristics.

Before I come and stand before you, I was reading a daily newspaper. On its front page, I read the following: '(Arab leaders) are searching for a place to hold the Arab summit'. Your leaders are looking for a place to hold their summit because none of them has the courage to host the meeting.

There is no Arab capital capable of convening a summit; a summit without men, a summit for half men. When I think of the true meaning of manhood and then think of them (Arab leaders), I can't help but say that they are trash, that they are a shame, that they sold their values and their brothers, they dishonoured themselves and their honour.

What do we tell God? We tell him that wolves are running his sheep? They are trash, they meet for a Summit but in the end they don't give birth to either a mouse or a cockroach because they lack manhood.

Brothers of Islam, there is a war of infidels taking place that requires real men and strong positions that prove our manhood towards God, his prophet and his religion. True manhood appears before God. A real man does what is asked of him and abstains from doing what he shouldn't.

Those who put their business before their religion are not real men. If it's time for prayer and you don't pray, then you are not a real man. Those who care for their living more than they do for he who gives life are not real men. Those who care for their gifts more than they do for he who gives them gifts are not real men.

Real men shouldn't put their business before God. Do you remember when our nation used to be ruled by real and honest men? In those days, a Muslim woman was made prisoner by the Roman forces. So she asked the Caliph to help her. When the prince of believers heard her cry for help, he called his generals for an urgent meeting to help one single woman.

So the Caliph sent a very famous letter to the King of the Romans and told him: 'When you receive this letter, release the Muslim woman you hold prisoner. If you don't, I will send an army that starts where you are standing and ends where I am standing. When the king received the letter, he not only he released the Muslim woman, but also sent Roman women to take care of her and guard her until she entered the borders of the Muslim kingdom.

How many Palestinian women are being imprisoned by Zionists in Israel? How many women were raped in Bosnia, Herzegovina and Chechnya? Where are real men my brothers? I want to remind you of some facts that happened in the past. On 5/9/1795, remember this date very well, a treaty was signed. There are still copies of it in Europe and Turkey.

This treaty was signed between Dari Hassan, the Head of the Islamic fleet and the representative of the Sultan of Algeria, and Washington, the President of the USA at the time. This treaty was signed on 5/9/1795. Repeat this date after me. This treaty stipulated that the US should pay Dari Hassan a certain amount of money if he granted protection to US ships when they passed through the Mediterranean Sea, because at that time the Mediterranean Sea was an Islamic lake.

So the US had to pay money to the Muslim fleet to protect its ships. Why is that? Because we were ruled by real men, whereas now we are ruled by half men who take their orders from the black house. May God help us defeat them. May they and their belongings become the prey of Islam and Muslims when we recover our manhood. Real men should not put their business before God, prayer and their religious duties.

Do you remember my dear brothers when Abdallah the son of Omar, was busy working in his field and couldn't attend the prayers with the prophet of God.
So he told himself: is this possible? My field is keeping me from attending the prayers next to the prophet of God? He fell on the ground, and was taken to his home to receive 'condolences' because he did not attend the prayers.

When the house was full of people, he said: my dear friends, you have noticed that my field has kept me from attending the prayers with the prophet of God. This field is evil, and I'm telling you now that I'm giving it up to the Muslim Wakf.

Whereas nowadays, we skip prayers to watch a game or a series on television, and we don't even feel sad. Why? Because we are not real men towards God.

A real man acts like one before God and his prophet. When a man wants to do something when God asks him to do something else, if he decides to do what he wants and not what God wants, then he is not a real man in the eyes of the Prophet. True manhood doesn't depend on age.

Sometimes we find a man who is over 40 or 50 years old and still acting like a teenager, still going to the beach in summer. Is that a real man? No. True manhood in Islam doesn't depend on age.

A child might act like a real man, while a man may act like a teenager. Some men, for example, don't like what the Sheikhs tell them. These people are unbalanced and cannot be considered true men no matter how old they are.

Those who don't believe what the Ulemas say, are not men, they are children. Those who are over 40 and do more evil than good should prepare themselves for fire. Those who don't believe in what the Ulemas say, those who don't respect any Imam whether he is alive or dead, are a catastrophe for Islam.

They want to get closer to God by cursing the Imams, They even go on the pilgrimage but don't pray with the Imam, neither in Mecca nor in Medina.

They pretend to be Muslims, but their ideas serve the Zionist and American project.

Real manhood has nothing to do with age. I want to remind you of the positions of the men and children of Palestine who are paying the price of our nation's powerlessness and who fight tanks with their bare chests, bombs with their prayers, and airplanes with their resistance.

The flowers of Al Aqsa are falling day after day. And our leaders are still looking for a place to meet. My dear brothers I want to remind you of a story that demonstrates the honourable position taken by a child. In the old days, there used to be a tyrant ruling Iraq.

One day a little boy passed near the tyrant's palace without showing any sign of fear of the soldiers. He passed near the palace, and the tyrant called the little boy.

The tyrant asked the little boy: what's your name. The boy answered: 'Abdallah'. The tyrant asked: 'The son of whom?' The boy, not wishing to implicate his parents, answered: 'I'm the son of my mother and father'. 'Where do you live?' asked the ruler. 'I live where God wishes', answered the boy. 'Where are you going?' 'I'm going to study the Holy Koran'.

The ruler asked: 'Have you memorised the Holy Koran?' And the boy answered: 'It is not appropriate to ask such question about the Koran? You shouldn't ask have you memorised the Koran. Only God has memorised the Koran'. So the ruler asked: 'Do you know the Koran?', and the boy answered: 'this is not an appropriate question to ask because only God knows the Koran'.

And the ruler said: 'What do you want me to say then?' The boy answered: 'ask me have you studied the Koran?' So the ruler asked the boy the question and asked him also to recite some verses from the Holy book. This boy was a true man because he stood up to the tyrant and was not afraid of him.

As for you, the sons of this country, a country small in surface but great in its positions, we were following closely the manly positions you took and what you have achieved when you intensified your strikes and heroic acts that forced Israel to withdraw and leave behind it its donkey Lahd (the Leader of the South Lebanon Army).

We felt proud of you and we thought there are still some men and some dignity left in this nation capable of achieving what you have achieved in the initiative between Hizbollah and the Israeli enemy (ie. The recent prisoner swap). This was an initiative that demonstrated the strength of Islam, and the tolerance, justice and openness of Islam.

Dear brothers, we need real men to answer the call of Jerusalem and the call of Palestine. Oh half men, you who look for a place to meet, if ever you meet you will stab your nation in the back. Jerusalem is calling you, but there is no answer. Al Aqsa is calling you and telling you 'I'm torn apart'.

Children and mothers are crying. Sons of Islam, there is a war of infidels taking place everywhere. The true man is the boy who opposes Israeli tanks with strength and faith. The boy who, despite his mother's objections, goes out to war to become a martyr like his elder brother.

The boy who tells his mother: 'Oh mother don't cry for me if a die. Oh mother, Jihad has been imposed on me and I want to become a martyr. Oh mother, Al Aqsa is imprisoned and I won't hesitate to help. Oh mother, come and say good bye for I'm going to fight and sacrifice myself.

Oh mother, free men defend their honour and consider martyrdom as an honour. Oh mother, I'm going with a stone in my hand to become a martyr' (cut)
Islam started with strangers and will return to strangers. In the old times they used to say that Islam started with strangers because it was defended by them.

The Islamic revolution started in the Arab peninsula but Islam was defended by non Arabs and the most prominent religious leaders in old times were non Arabs. Therefore we say that Islam started with strangers.

And I tell you that Islam will return to strangers if Arabs give up their religion or if preachers of Islam are persecuted. If this is the case, then Islam will become stronger and its strength will appear in other countries. And perhaps we will find one day an Islamic revolution, and Islamic ideology in western countries.

Don't be surprised if one day you hear the Muezzin calling for prayer and saying 'Allah Akbar (Allah is Great)' from the top of the white house. September 11 is God's work against oppressors. Some of the things that happen in the world cannot be explained; a civilian airplane whose secrets cannot be explained if we ask its pilot who reached his objective without error, who led your steps? (An allusion to 7/11) Or if we ask the giant that fell, who humiliated you? Or if we ask the President, who made you cry? God is the answer.

I'm telling you that there are no English Korans left in Australia or America or Europe. Everyone is converting to Islam: soldiers, pilots, engineers - those who are spending money to stop the ways of God will spend their money but will be defeated eventually. Trust me my dear friends.

Sometimes good lies in evil. Perhaps there will be an Islamic awakening that starts in the heart of America and restores the Islamic regime and the dignity of human beings. Islam is trying to find its way to people's hearts but it's being hidden by our attitudes, our mistakes, our behaviour and our divisions.

Islam is doing well in America, in Europe and in Australia. People are converting to the religion of God, and we feel proud when the banners of Islam are high and when our nation is united by Islam and we see that the nation follows God. In western countries, Islam is gaining ground every day.

We look forward to the day when religious texts are no longer misinterpreted and when there are no interpretations of Islam. It is not acceptable to limit Islam to one group or one sect. We shouldn't imprison Islam in one idea.

And if someone asks 'what's your nationality', answer him my nationality is 'there's no God but God'. If someone asks you to which party you belong, answer him 'My party is 'there's no God but God' and tell him 'Islam is my father'.

References:
ABC: Religion and Ethics: Sheikh Hilaly Sermon at Sidon Mosque

Bagelblogger News to You!
Technorati: *Australian Mufti * Sheik Al Hilaly * Sheik and Australia * Mufti blames women for rape * Mudti blames lack of hijab for rape *Australian Mufti and Illness * Muslim Outrage * BagelBlogger * Bagel

Read More...

Has Mufti Day ended Down Under?

Sheik HilaliMufti fortnight?

In actual fact, the last fortnight has been a kind of Mufti day, with all focus being placed on a Ramadan lecture of a senior imam at the Imam Ali ben Abi Taleb Mosque in Lakemba, Sydney.

The imam in question, Tajeddine Hilaly, also claims the mantle of "Mufti of Australia, New Zealand & The South Pacific". He was granted this title in the late 1980's by the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the umbrella organisation representing State and Territory umbrella bodies which themselves represent mosque management societies.

Imam Hilaly is no stranger to controversy. His time in Australian public life has had its highs and lows. His inability to communicate in English, despite living in Australia for almost 3 decades, has compromised his ability to relate to the vast majority of Australian Muslims, at least 70% of whom do not speak Arabic.

The mosque where Imam Hilaly preaches is managed by the Lebanese Moslems Association (LMA), an ethnic Muslim body which limits full membership to male Muslims eligible for Lebanese citizenship. The majority of its congregation are from Tripoli and surrounding districts in Lebanon. Most are uneducated and from working class backgrounds.
[Click Read More to...]
Saddam's sheik
Sheik Hilaly became the imam of the mosque after the previous imam (the late Khaled Zeidan) was removed after allegations of financial impropriety during the early 1980's. Imam Zeidan was closely linked to the Iraqi Ba'ath Party and bore a striking resemblance to the former Iraqi leader.

The effects of Lebanon's civil war continued to be felt in Lebanese diaspora communities. Saddam was supporting Maronite militias, and Lebanese Maronite communities were influential in Lebanese affairs in Sydney. The sacking of a pro-Saddam imam was seen as a slap in the face to key Lebanese Maronite power brokers, who did everything in their power to oppose Sheik Hilaly.
Hilaly was appointed to the position of senior imam at the mosque after receiving a recommendation from the then Mufti of Lebanon. Sheik Hilaly lived in Lebanon and was known to have links with both moderate elements of the Ikhwan al-Muslimeen (Muslim Brotherhood) and the Libyan Islamic Da'wah organisation.

First steps
One of the first steps taken by Sheik Hilaly was to build bridges between Sunni and Shia Lebanese Muslims. This outraged pro-Saudi elements who regarded any friendship with Shia Muslims as tantamount to opposition to Saddam Hussein's Western-backed war against Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran. The Saudi embassy were furious.

In time, other Arab embassies would join them. Hilaly cut his links with Libya and attempted to steer his congregation on a course of independence from the nefarious influence of Middle Eastern governments, their financiers and their embassies.

Hilaly made a point of using his sermons to castigate Arab governments for their suppression of political opposition, their human rights abuses and their chronic corruption. He also criticised them for taking a lacklustre approach to Muslims in Lebanon and Palestine.

Embassies and agencies frequently recruited disgruntled individuals to record the Sheik's speeches. Eventually, some rather ugly comments about mainstream Australian culture, especially about women's dress, also surfaced.

Troublesome congregation
It is perhaps no coincidence that Sheik Hilaly's mosque was named after Imam Ali, the fourth Rightly Guided Caliph and the First Imam of the Prophet's Household. Ali assumed power at a difficult time, and had to balance competing interests in a fractured and divided community.

The task was enormous, and Imam Ali needed all his skills, knowledge and wisdom to face the challenge.

Far be it from me to find fault from a man of Ali's stature, a man the dust of whose horse is worth more than my best deeds. To speak ill of Imam Ali is regarded by all Muslims, Sunni and Shia, as a sacrilege.

Yet I cannot help but mention in the present context a characteristic of Imam Ali. He was a straight talker. He spoke his mind. He spoke what he believed to be the truth. And he never compromised.

Such qualities were certainly needed by anyone having to deal with the Sydney Lebanese Sunnis of Tripoli and Mena. It was hoped Sheik Hilaly could rise up to that challenge. In the end, the task proved too great for him.

Sheik Hilaly's congregation were an exception in the rule of Muslim Australia. They were largely uneducated. Few spoke English. Indeed, the LMA executive rarely had any member of their management board who spoke passable English. They cared less for being Muslim and more for being Lebanese.

Lebanon has a fine culture. Lebanese migrants in France, the UK, North America and Brazil are known to be educated, upwardly mobile and model citizens.

However, the Lebanese Sunnis who migrated to Australia during and after Sheik Hilaly's assumption of imam-hood in the early 1980's were from less educated and more working class backgrounds. Many were heavily traumatised from the civil war and the subsequent Israeli invasion.

Loose lips
There's an old saying - loose lips sink ships. Unfortunately, Sheik Hilaly has not always been known for exercising caution in his speeches and sermons. On numerous occasions, he has been caught out making offensive and completely inappropriate remarks.

When faced with negative publicity, Hilaly then claims he was misquoted, mistranslated or misunderstood.

One such occasion almost led to his expulsion from Australia. At a seminar on the first Palestinian Intifadeh organised by a small group of intellectuals calling themselves the Senior Usrah Group, Sheik Hilaly was quoted as saying that Jews used sex and corruption to control the world.

How such statements could benefit the Palestinians is anyone's guess. They certainly didn't benefit Sheik Hilaly. Within a few months, his face was on every TV news bulletin and newspaper. Jewish community leaders and politicians expressed their outrage, and pressure was placed on the Immigration Minister for Hilaly to be deported.

Politics saves the day
Somehow, political trends in Australia ensured that the acting Prime Minister, Paul Keating, deemed it in his political interest to grant Hilaly permanent residency. At the time, a large chunk of Hilaly's congregation lived in Keating's federal electorate.

Part of his electorate formed the state seat of Bass Hill, and had just been lost by Keating's Labor Party in a state by-election.
Keating was desperate. So were the LMA. They approached him and sought his assistance. His office suggested they create a position for him which reflected his filling an essential niche within the broader Muslim community.

But the LMA was ill-equipped to provide such a platform. The LMA was an openly ethnic organisation with little support or influence among the broader Muslim community. Many non-Lebanese Muslims saw Hilaly as an irrelevant firebrand, an imam who refused to learn English and an embarrassment.

Hilaly surrounded himself with bodyguards and seemed to spend more time talking Middle Eastern politics than developing Australian Islam.

The LMA executive themselves were hardly model citizens. Most were unemployed, uneducated and unable to speak English. Their community was an embarrassment, and were known more for appearing on Criminal Court lists and for receiving large personal injury compensation payouts.

Middle class educated Muslims from Turkish, Bosnian, Pakistani and other culturally Muslim communities saw Lebanese Muslims as an embarrassment. The LMA's membership rules and the rhetoric of many of their executive members also gave them a reputation for being openly racist.

On its own, the LMA could do nothing. They therefore approached the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC). After much cajoling and arm-twisting, AFIC decided to create the position of "His Eminence, The Mufti of Australia, New Zealand & The South Pacific".

Sheik Hilaly was appointed to that position. It was a purely political move, designed to give the Keating government the trigger to grant Hilaly permanent residency.

Hilaly's women
Hilaly's appointment was resented by other imams, especially the Turkish imams who were associated with the Diyanet Vakfi (Religious Trust) associated with the Turkish Presidency for Religious Affairs. Turks are among the largest and oldest cultural Muslim communities in Australia. Many arrived during the mid-1950's, during the notoriously racist White Australia Policy.

Hilaly also became a hated figure among chauvinistic Lebanese men. When the LMA refused membership to women, Hilaly encouraged women in his congregation to organise themselves. And so was born the United Muslim Women's Association (MWA).

Hilaly was a passionate advocate for women's involvement in Muslim community management. He spoke powerfully against domestic violence, and gave his blessing and support when the MWA opened its first Muslim women's refuge in Sydney.

The MWA is often criticised for being dominated by Lebanese women from select families. However, the bulk of women using the refuge facility are from non-Lebanese backgrounds, including a fair proportion of non-Muslim women who find the MWA's crisis accommodation more culturally appropriate.

Hence, when the most recent case of foot-in-mouth disease afflicted the Sheik, the MWA were the first to castigate the comments but also to defend the man. They paid tribute to Sheik Hilaly's historical role in founding and supporting the MWA's activities.

Hilaly has other supporters. But after his recent comments about women's dress, he also has gained numerous critics. Hence, debate rages within the Muslim community about what his future role (if any) should be in the Muslim community. Many (including the writer) believe that the time has come for Hilaly to resign or retire gracefully.

At the same time, elements of the Australian media and pseudo-conservative establishment have used the Hilaly controversy to paint Muslims in a certain light to suit their mono-cultural revolutionary agenda.

We are told conservatives believe in maintaining the status quo. But some Australian conservatives want to tear down the Australian multicultural status quo. They see Muslim-bashing as their surest road to success.

[Bageblogger: There are points in this essay that I take exception to, but the essay is provided here for insight into the "Mufti saga" ]

This is an article that appeared on Alt.muslim on Nov 1 2006

Here:http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=1813_0_25_0_C

Irfan is a lawyer and writer based in Sydney, Australia.

This article is reproduced here for the sake of review.

*Mufti Day is an expression used in Australia when School students are allowed to come dressed in their casual clothes.

Bagelblogger News to You!
Technorati: *Australian Mufti * Sheik Al Hilaly * Sheik and Australia * Mufti blames women for rape * Mudti blames lack of hijab for rape *Australian Mufti and Illness * Muslim Outrage * BagelBlogger * Bagel

Read More...

Hysteric Cleric - He gets sick every time there's trouble - and We're getting sick of his trouble!


You can HUFF, You Can PUFF.. But We've had enough... of you Muff!

[Click Read More to...]

Media Circus after Mufti is accused of assaulting police

and gets 'rushed to hospital'.

Now I don't mean to bring undue attention to some one so obviously ill but have you noticed how convenient Australian Mufti, Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilaly 'illneses' have been?

__________________________

[1] - Sheik assaults Police officers [7/1/03]

-Mufti gets arrested for assaulting Police officers and traffic violations, gets rushed to hospital for 'Chest breathing problems'

According to the police press release, a 62-year-old man, now known to be the Mufti, was stopped by a highway patrol officer because a piece of metal was allegedly protruding from the side of his car. After further inquiries, police claim his car was both unregistered and uninsured, and they say he was arrested, along with another man who emerged from a nearby apartment block, because they started to argue and struggle with the police.

But the Mufti's lawyer, Stephen Hopper, says he has concerns over how his client was treated. The Mufti had to be hospitalised after the incident for an ongoing heart condition, but was later released.

Right: 'The Mufti had to be Hospitalised'
__________________________

[2] - Sheik fights critics from sickbed
Channel 9: [26/10/06]

Mufti gets interviewed on Television by Channel 9 Australia for controversial comments on women bringing rape apon themselves through the way they dress.
The Lakemba-based imam Taj el-Din al Hilaly - said to be ill and depressed - issued a statement from his bed late yesterday saying he was shocked about how his remarks last month had been interpreted....

He went on to say in relation to a serious gang rape victim

"if she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred."

Right: Shown laying down with asthma and using a ventolator
__________________________

[3] - Mufti ill at reaction to sermon [27/10/06]

Sheik Alhilali appeared badly affected by the backlash, with a spokesman saying he was depressed and confined to bed breathing with help of an oxygen tank.

The mufti of Australia and New Zealand was last night under intense pressure from within the Muslim community over the sermon in which he likened scantily-dressed women to uncovered meat eaten by animals.

Many Muslim leaders and groups yesterday distanced themselves from his remarks and some called for their religious figurehead to stand down.

Five Muslim leaders at Gallipoli Mosque in Sydney's west said many Muslims were "sick and tired" of religious leaders such as Sheik Alhilali claiming to speak on their behalf.

Right: Mufti ill at reaction to comments

__________________________

[4] - Hilaly in hospital, condition unknown [30/10/06]

Muslim cleric Sheikh Taj al Din Al Hilaly remains in hospital in Sydney after apparently falling ill but his condition is yet to be confirmed.

An ambulance was called to the Lakemba mosque, in Sydney's south-west, this afternoon where Sheikh Al Hilaly was due to have a meeting with the president of the Lebanese Muslim Association to determine his future.

There has been outrage in the wider community over the sheik's reference to women in a recent speech.

The president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, Tom Zreika, spoke briefly outside the mosque.

"I have come to discuss the issues at the invitation of the mufti of Australia," Mr Zreika said.

"Due to unforeseen circumstances we'll be unable to continue our private meeting and there'll be no further comment."

His contrition came just hours following his collapse shortly after turning up at a crisis meeting at Lakemba Mosque yesterday morning.

Sheik Hilaly was rushed by ambulance and police escort to Canterbury Hospital in western Sydney, complaining of "chest pains".

Above Right: Condition 'Unknown'.
__________________________

[5] - Ill Hilaly agrees to step aside [31/10/06]

Press coverage intensifys due to refusal to apologise, rushed to hospital after collapsing with 'chest pains' before Mosque Meeting.[4]

Misses out on important meeting with Tom Zreika President of Lebanese Muslim Association. An ambulance took the Sheikh to Canterbury hospital.

Zreika said, "I have come to discuss the issues at the invitation of the mufti of Australia. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we'll be unable to continue our private meeting..."

Right: Mufti on the way out? -

3 days later he ignored his promise to refrain from preaching and delivered a sermon to hundreds of supporters Friday. [5c] Nothing this Man says is believable. He hides behind 'Arabic',his lack of 'English', his translators, 'his poetry' he recites during sermons, when he is caught out, it's 'lack of context', it's cultural differences as he preachers Jihad unaware he is being recorded. He lies, decieves, preachers hatred and division.

Above Right: More excuses, and broken commitments.
__________________________

[6] - Sheik out of Hospital [1/11/06]

AUSTRALIA'S embattled grand mufti may be out of hospital but he should never return to his position of influence, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday.

The mufti collapsed on Monday with chest pains as he faced calls to resign over his statements that scantily clad women invited rape.

The sheik collapsed during a meeting with Lebanese Muslim Association president Tom Zreika on his future amid calls for him to quit following his comments suggesting immodestly dressed women invited sexual assault.

Although he gave his strongest indication he would consider quitting in a written statement on Monday, his daughter yesterday said he was adamant he would not be quitting.

``He will not step down,'' she said.

``He's been always strong, tall, and defiant and none of this will shake him and bring him down.''

__________________________

Meanwhile, Melbourne's Sheik Mohammed Omran stood by his belief that Muslim rapists received harsher jail sentences than non-Muslims, saying he had a right to speak out as an Australian citizen.

The cleric also defended Sheik Hilaly's status as a mufti, saying his position should be respected.

"We should respect the turban on his head. This is a sign of a Muslim scholar,"

Sheik Omran told a gathering at his Brunswick mosque on Friday.

"You are not attacking Sheik Taj here, you are attacking the scholars and behind the scholars their Islam altogether . . . this is what makes these people (Hilaly's critics) happy, to make us, sorry to say, barking on each other, and that is not (what) we should do."

Right: Controversial Fundamentalist Sheik Omran comes to his aid.
__________________________

[7]- Defiant sheik turns on 'Islamic plotters'
[4/11/2006]

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 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."

Right: Mufti Suddenly feels better as he defies 'Islamic Plotters'

__________________________

References:
[1] ABC AM Programme: Sheik Taj el-Din Al Hilaly Facing Summons
[2] SMH:
Shiek fights critics from sick bed
[3] The Border Mail:
Mufti ill at reaction to sermon
[4]
ABC News Online: Hilaly in Hospital condition unknown
[5] The Australian:
ill Hilaly agrees to step aside
[5a] ABC News On Line:
Sheikh will step aside, Muslim colleague says
[5b]
Washington Post: Australia's Cleric Preaches Despite Vow
[6]
Herald Sun: Sheik out of Hospital [Nov 1 2006]
[7] SMH: Defiant sheik turns on Islamic plotters

News.com.au: Sheik Hilaly prises Iraq jihadists

News to You!
Technorati: * * * * * * * * BagelBlogger *
Bagel

Read More...

Tuesday, 31 October 2006

Muddle Headed Mufti - The Drama Continues


Align Center

This cartoon by Sturt Krygsman was very eye catching.


Sheik Hilali is a man of controversy and contradictions


H
e is revered by the Muslim community almost everywhere he goes in Sydney's southwestern suburbs, the nation's Arab heartland.

Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, the 65-year-old spiritual leader of Muslims in Australia, is so popular he is never allowed to pay for a meal when he eats in Muslim restaurants. When others offer to pay for him, they are also politely refused. "He is the Mufti and we are happy to provide for him," says the owner of La Roche, a Lebanese restaurant in Lakemba.

The sheik - often seen tearing around the streets in his white Ford Falcon and being mobbed by followers, including women - has an enormous power base of supporters among the Muslim communities in Sydney.

He is renowned for his kindness, charity and support for women's movements. He helped establish the Muslim Women's Association and he runs classes for Muslim women every Thursday at Auburn.

Hilali offered to help Australian model Michelle Leslie, who was jailed in Bali for drug possession, after she converted to Islam. He also offered her support after she decided to return to the catwalk, modelling swimwear.

[Click Read More to...]

He has won praise for encouraging inter-faith dialogue and for keeping a lid on tensions in the Muslim community.





But the man known as the nation's most senior Muslim cleric has created enormous controversy in the 20 years since he was appointed the leader of Australia's Muslims, a position that carries the title of Mufti. His critics are as strident in their condemnation as his supporters are devoted.

He was pilloried this week for a sermon delivered at the Lakemba mosque during Ramadan, which compared women who don't wear hijab-style dress to meat left out for cats. "If one puts uncovered meat out in the street, or on the footpath, or in the garden, or in the park, or in the backyard, without a cover and then the cats come and eat it, is it the fault of the cat or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem ... If she was in her room, in her house, wearing her hijab, being chaste, the disasters wouldn't have happened. The woman possesses the weapon of seduction and temptation," he said.

Following a nationwide outcry, he issued a statement saying that any form of harassment of women is unacceptable. "I fully respect women. Any degrading conduct towards or disrespect to women is degrading conduct and disrespect for my mother, my sister, my wife and my daughter."

His 25-year-old daughter Asma al-Hilali defended him, saying "he has probably spent more time working for women's rights than for his own family. And he has upheld the values of all women, no matter what they wear." But it was too late. There were widespread calls for him to be stripped of his title and citizenship, and deported.

Hilali's leadership of Australia's Muslims has always been disputed by sections of the Islamic community.

He was appointed to the honorary position of Mufti with the support of the country's peak Islamic body, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, in 1989. But there is no formal hierarchical structure for the Muslim faith in Australia, although there have lately been moves to set up a board that registers Muslim leaders.

And there have always been some Muslim leaders who say he has no right to use the title of Mufti or to say he is Australia's most senior Muslim cleric.

Some Islamic leaders in Victoria do not recognise his claims to national leadership, and much of this can be sheeted home to the wide ethnic differences between Muslims across the country.

Hilali is Egyptian-born and most of his followers in Sydney are Lebanese. Yet in Victoria, many Muslims are of Turkish or Albanian background and disagree with some elements of Islam in the Arab world.

Controversy has dogged the university-educated sheik since his days in Egypt, where he was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. The brotherhood is one of the most influential Islamist movements in the world. It was founded in Egypt in 1928, and Egypt is still considered the centre of the movement. It promotes an Islamic state through non-violent means. But breakaway members of the group have gone on to establish terrorist groups, including al-Qa'ida.

Hilali arrived in Australia in 1982 and overstayed his tourist visa. He came to the attention of the authorities in 1988 when he gave an anti-Semitic lecture to a group of Muslim students at the Universisity of Sydney. It was titled The Disposition of Jews in the Light of the Koran, and he was quoted as saying: "Judaism controls the world by secret movements (and) destructive doctrines and groups such as communism, libertinism, Freemasonry, Baha'ism, the Rotary clubs, the nationalistic and racist doctrines. The Jews try to control the world through sex, then sexual perversion, then the promotion of espionage, treason, and economic hoarding."

Following this speech, federal immigration minister Chris Hurford attempted to have him deported for inciting hatred and being against "Australian values". He survived the push and was granted permanent residency in 1990, and eventually citizenship.

Efforts to deport him failed because of the large support he had within the Islamic community in Sydney and from Labor politicians including, according to reports, Paul Keating when he was treasurer in the Hawke government.

Hilali, who now holds joint Australian and Egyptian citizenship, has since been regularly accused by Australian Jewish organisations of anti-Semitism, an accusation he denies.

Hilali was born in Egypt into what he says is an environment of knowledge and scholarship. "My father, my grandfather (and generations of forefathers) were scholars who were inheriting the teachings," he said in a radio interview. "My mother died when I was a child and the one who raised me was my aunt, who actually recited the whole Koran by heart. And she used to teach me. I learned to recite, to memorise the whole Koran, when I was 10 years old. She also taught me a lot of poetry, which I still remember."

After getting married in 1975, he and his wife Souhair travelled extensively, and their four children were born in Egypt, Lebanon and Australia. They settled in Sydney and led a quiet life for almost a decade before Hilali was arrested in 1999 on trip to Egypt after allegedly buying pharaonic antiquities from a smuggling ring for $192,000.

He was charged with smuggling antiquities. Egyptian prosecutors alleged Hilali had conspired with Egyptian priest Nassid Elias Michael and his son Bassem Michael to buy the artefacts. He was sentenced to one year's jail but the case was overturned on appeal.

Then, in 2003, he was stopped by police in Sydney and charged for driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle. He was charged with assaulting and hindering police, which lead to reprisal attacks and public condemnation of the police action. Although charges of assaulting and hindering police and resisting arrest were later dropped, he was fined $400.

In 2004 he created another furore with a speech he gave in a mosque in Lebanon. It was claimed he praised the September 11 attacks on the US as "God's work against the oppressors" and supported Arab martyrs and a holy war against Israel.

Hilali said the translation was out of context and that anyone who rejoiced in or supported "the 9/11 event knows nothing about the Islamic teachings". He denies he supports terrorism and has put out numerous statements condemning acts of terror.

Earlier this year Hilali split from AFIC, the group that supported him as the Mufti, saying he no longer wanted its "money or sympathy". Hilali warned the council to stop feuding. "I would like it to be known that for what is left of my life, I have taken the decision to take my stipend from God and will not accept a salary from any organisation, whether Islamic or otherwise," he said.

Hilali's split from AFIC came after the embattled group had to apologise for saying his $40,000-a-year salary would be stopped because the council's accounts were frozen. They had suggested he apply for the dole.

Hilali warned the leaders of AFIC - which had been ethnically divided since its April elections, when a group of Pakistanis took control from Fijian Indians - that they should not squander the community's money on court brawls.

"There is no place in our society for these ethnic groupings that only produce grudges and personal score-settling," he said.

His split with AFIC did not affect his standing in the community and he continued to hold the position of Mufti.

A month ago he was dumped from John Howard's Muslim Community Reference Group after denying the Holocaust and calling it a "Zionist lie". He also referred to Israel as a "cancer".

Yesterday, Hilali was busy apologising for any offence caused by his remarks about immodestly dressed women and saying he had been misunderstood.

He said in a public statement that "women in our Australian society have the freedom and right to dress as they choose; the duty of man is to avert his glance or walk away".

[Developing story more updates to come]


Article written by Natalie O'Brien,
Taken from the Australian:

Muddle Headed Mufti

Bagelblogger Always Fresh!
Technorati: * Muslims * Islam * Australia * Islamic headdress * Sheik al-Taj al-Din al-Hilaly
Poll * Hijab * Muslim Advisory board * Lebanese Rapists * Australia * Justification of Rape * Sheik Hilaly * Sydney gang rapes *Iktimal Hage-Ali * * Incitement to crime * Muslim incitement to a crime * Keysar Trad * Australin Mufti * BagelBlogger * Bagel Blogger

Read More...

Thursday, 26 October 2006

Australia's Leading Sheik says: Women who don't stay at home and wear a Hijab cause Rape

An overwhelming majority of people believe Australia's most senior Muslim leader should be kicked out of the country after blaming women who don't wear Islamic headdress for being preyed on by men.

Eight-four per cent of respondents to a poll on The Daily Telegraph's website today say Sydney-based Sheik al-Taj al-Din al-Hilaly should be deported for a speech in which he likened women to abandoned "meat'' that attracts voracious animals.

More than 682 people have voted in the poll so far.

In a Ramadan sermon the sheik also alluded to the infamous Sydney gang rapes, suggesting the attackers were not entirely to blame.

While not specifically referring to the rapes, brutal attacks on four women for which a group of young Lebanese men received long jail sentences, Sheik Hilaly said there were women who "sway suggestively" and wore make-up and immodest dress "and then you get a judge without mercy (rahma) and gives you 65 years."

"But the problem, but the problem all began with who?" he asked.
[Click Read More...]

The leader of the 2000 rapes in Sydney's southwest, Bilal Skaf, a Muslim, was initially sentenced to 55 years' jail, but later had the sentence reduced on appeal.

In the religious address about adultery to about 500 worshippers in Sydney last month, Sheik Hilaly said: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat?

"The uncovered meat is the problem."

The sheik then said: "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred."

He said women were "weapons" used by "Satan" to control men.

"It is said in the state of zina (adultery), the responsibility falls 90 per cent of the time on the woman. Why? Because she possesses the weapon of enticement (igraa)."

Today a former member of the federal government's Muslim Advisory board, Iktimal Hage-Ali, said she had listened to a recording of the speech and believed the sheik should be stripped of his position.

"I was just flabbergasted,'' she told ABC radio.

Treasurer Peter Costello branded the sheik's comments as "totally unacceptable''.

Mr Costello said comparing women to uncovered meat invites people to treat them in a degrading and dehumanising way.

He said the leaders of Catholic and the Anglican churches in Australia would never make such a comment.

"This is totally unacceptable. This is comparing women to uncovered meat,'' Mr Costello told the Seven Network.

"We really need political leaders to speak out against it.

"But I hope that the moderate Muslim leaders will speak out today and condemn these comments.
"Make it clear to Muslims that this is not the view of Islam and that they will really take some kind of action to disassociate themselves from the comments which Sheik Alhilali has made.

"And take some action to try and pull him into line.''

Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward said the Mufti should be sacked and deported.

Ms Goward said the sheik had a history of making such comments and many would feel Australia's tolerance had been abused.

"It is incitement to a crime. Young Muslim men who now rape women can cite this in court, can quote this man ... their leader in court,'' she told the Nine Network.

"It's time we stopped just saying he should apologise. It is time the Islamic community did more then say they were horrified. I think it is time he left.

"I repeat, I think it was time he was asked to go and I would encourage the authorities to consider whether a man who incites young Muslim men to crime, because that is essentially what he has done, should be allowed to stay,'' she said.

But Keysar Trad, the mufti's associate, said the sheik had been talking about abstinence, fidelity and dress codes but not rape.

"He wasn't talking about the hijab. He was talking about people who engage in extramarital sex,'' Mr Trad told ABC radio.

"He's always encouraged fidelity and abstinence until people get married.

"He's talking about those people who prey on others - whether men or women - who seek to engage in sexual conduct outside of marriage and do so through alluring types of attire.''

Asked to verify that the sheik had referred to women who don't wear the hijab as "uncovered meat'', Mr Trad said: "From my discussions with him, the issue was not whether they wear a hijab or don't wear a hijab.

"The issue is that every society has a certain dress code, a normal dress code that people go by. So if somebody goes beyond that dress code, if men or women get to the stage where they dress in a manner that is provocative then these people are doing something wrong.

"He was not talking about rape.''

BB: This way to Your departing Flight Sir.....

Bagelblogger Always Fresh!
Technorati: * * * * * *
* * Australia * * * * * * * * * * BagelBlogger * Bagel Blogger
*

Read More...