Australia: Sheikh to keep post as Islamic leader

Al-Hilali

Not only is the jihadist Sheikh Hilali going to stay on as the Mufti of Australia. He also wants an apology from Australian Prime Minister John Howard and others who criticized his now-infamous remarks praising suicide bombing and other terrorist acts.

A spokesman for the Mufti, Keysar Trad, said the politicians who had criticised Sheikh Hilali, including Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, should apologise to him and to Muslims.
"They have seized on comments which have been misrepresented to demonise an outstanding member of the community," he said.

After all, they were just poetry.

Interviewed about this by Geraldine Doogue on ABC Radio's Sunday Profile last weekend, Al Hilaly responded: "Actually it was poetry and in poetry we go a little bit into the imagination of presentation."

Says Gerard Henderson in Smh.com.au:

It has long been said that Al Hilaly, who is the imam at the Lakemba Mosque, has one message in Arabic and yet another (in translation) in English.
Surprisingly, he did not deny this when the claim was put to him by Doogue. He responded: "Of course, you are talking about two different environments" and added that "when addressing an Arabic community I am using the high literary Arabic language".

How convenient. It's just that no other prominent Muslim in Australia appears to experience such language-induced misunderstandings.

To some, Al Hilaly's presence in Australia is an example of what is wrong with multiculturalism. Born in Egypt, he arrived in Australia on a tourist visa in 1982 from Lebanon and declined to return home. Soon he was making extremist comments which culminated in a manifestly anti-Semitic address at the University of Sydney in September 1988 where he accused Jews of trying "to control the world through sex, then sexual perversion, then the promotion of espionage, treason and economic hoarding".

Chris Hurford, when minister for immigration in the Hawke government, wanted to deport him. He told the ABC TV's Insiders program last June that it was "appalling" his decision was "ever changed".

But it was - and Al Hilaly was granted permanent residence, leading to full citizenship, when Gerry Hand was immigration minister in 1990 during the final years of the Hawke government.

Many thanks to all the many people who sent me these stories.

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9 Comments

Budd | March 8, 2004 11:40 AM

It looks like Australia will have to learn the hard way. I thought that they had a very restrictive immigration policy...

epg | March 8, 2004 12:06 PM

Discrimination, discrimination, ad nauseum. The call of those that have no other argument. PC mentality is taking over so that No One will be able to utter an opinion. We will have to sit in silence and watch as they take over. Of course, silence is what they want as we bow down on the prayer rugs toward Mecca or pay our poll tax and cower in our dhimmi churches while we whisper our prayers, or better yet, no verbalization, thinkking and signing only.

Beware this could happen to you if we don't take action.l

ted | March 8, 2004 2:13 PM

there once was a mufti down under,
who wanted jews and americans blown asunder,
he disguised his thoughts
in language now caught
so why do the aussies get blamed for a p.c. blunder?

(message to malicious mufti: it's only poetry, pal.)

Helen | March 8, 2004 2:43 PM

Look, the Aussies can revoke this guy's citizenship the same way that they would if the guy were a Nazi war criminal. Revoke and deport. If his congregation objects, deport them, too. I'll take a page out of the liberals' play book. Hate speech of Al-Hilaly's kind cannot be tolerated. A foot up the rear of this mufti now will save lots of tearful funerals in the future.

Eric Mudasi | March 8, 2004 6:53 PM

In Malaysia we are already facing an onslaught of these people. Mind you, it is no fun fighting this people. It is time you Australians do something about these people , before your country tuns into an "Islamic Paradise".

Lilith | March 8, 2004 11:36 PM

Why do they come to the West that they hate so much and denigrate so often?

Let them stay in their Islamic states!

Lili

Nathan | March 9, 2004 9:14 AM

Why do they come to the west? To take over the world! (insert Dr. Evil laughter)
Except, this isn't a t.v. show. thats what Jihad is all about.
epg says it correctly. This PC leftist society we allowed to flourish is helping them immensely.
Our children are in for bad times if we don't reverse this trend now. I don't know if you've talked to the average 18-20 year old lately, but the majority of them are oblivious to whats going on, and in fact have been brainwashed by leftist educators to despise our christian roots on top of it. So, the little they hear of "poor repressed peaceful muslims", they tend to believe.

Helen | March 9, 2004 9:34 PM

Nathan has it dead on, Lili. Their aim is making all of the world one miserable, repressed, backward Islamic state. They intend to either bomb us into submission or preach some prettied up version of Islam so that blind nitwits will believe that Islam is a religion of peace. Islam is a death's head at the feast that is Judae-Christianity.

scott | March 15, 2004 2:19 PM

sad to see this. i'm a gay australian in london and i was hoping to one day come home and escape all this [what i thought, predominantly european] nonsense. e.g. the spanish elections. why don't we all just bend over and let them sodomise us now? [can give you a few tips and tricks!] no, i'm not laughing either....

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