Sheik Elhilaly is wrongBy Irfan Yusuf
October 27, 2006 12:00 dailytelegraph
IN April last year, a Sydney sheik made remarks linking dress to sexual violence against women.
He alleged that women who dressed a certain way were eligible for rape. When clarifying his remarks, the young imam made matters worse by claiming he was only referring to Muslim women who refused to wear the hijab.
That young imam was forced to retract and apologise for his comments. Muslims thought they had seen the end of such misguided and misogynistic religiosity.
Now, one of Australia's most senior imams has repeated the same slur. Sheik Taj el-Dene Elhilaly, whose title includes mufti of Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific (even if many across the Tasman and the Pacific have never heard of him), has now alleged that women are meat which should not be left uncovered.
To make matters worse, the Sheik's representative and translator has claimed that the Sheik was only referring to sex workers. As if sex workers are not entitled to the same rights as any other members of the community.
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward has called for Elhilaly's deportation. It's too late for that – the Sheik has been a citizen for over a decade. However it isn't too late to call for the Sheik's removal.
Yet it seems only the body which appointed him – the peak Muslim body known as the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils – can remove him. AFIC is currently being managed by an administrator appointed by the courts.
The latest Elhilaly gaffe illustrates the widespread misogyny that exists among Muslim religious leaders.
AFIC itself has tended to be a female-free zone. Until its most recent (and disputed) election, AFIC had not had a female executive member for some two decades.
Many ethnically-based mosques across Sydney and Melbourne bar women from attending or make life most uncomfortable for them.
This year, at least five Muslim men will join a host of other prominent Australian men as ambassadors for White Ribbon Day. WRD is an initiative of UNIFEM, the UN agency for women, and is a day to campaign for the elimination of all forms of violence against women.
Perhaps one step Elhilaly could take would be to impress upon his congregation the importance of heeding the White Ribbon Day message.
However, he must first apologise to women and men of all persuasions. Anything less than a complete apology would be unacceptable.
* Irfan Yusuf is a Sydney lawyer and UNIFEM Ambassador for White Ribbon Day
This kind of pressure on ISLAM is exactly what we need here in America (and more so in Europe).
ReplyDeleteWhere are the MUSLIM "apologists"? Why aren't "moderate" Muslims speaking out?
... is it because there aren't any, or is it fear?
I strongly concur with Tiger. Certainly for some, fear must be considered a factor. For others, the silence is deafening.
ReplyDeleteTo get a feel for how "intellectuals" are willing to ignore inconvenient facts, see
The lessons of a tyrant
The evidence of Stalin's barbarity was so overwhelming that the enlightened ones chose to give their man a pass. One might say the revolution was so important that if millions of eggs had to be broken and scrambled, well, the ends justify the means. Right?
I am sorry to say that when folk like Ash make lame excuses to obfuscate the behaviors of the Mufti of Australia and the Imam of Manchester, and their respective communities, they engage in the same duplicity as did the worshipers of Stalin.
Daylight Saving Time Yields Massive Daylight Surplus
ReplyDeleteOctober 28, 2006
WASHINGTON, DC—Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman announced Monday that the country's seven-month-long effort to conserve sunshine has resulted in the largest national daylight surplus since October 2005.
"We have built up over 200 hours of this precious, life-giving resource," said Bodman, noting that "the sun's rays are not going to last forever." "We have decided it would be most prudent not to squander this valuable daylight by distributing it to Americans, instead suggesting that they all just wake up a little earlier."
Bodman said the surplus will be stored in the Strategic Daylight Reserve—a system of opaque, sealed-off underground tanks located in Arizona—and only tapped in the case of the sun burning out or a particularly rainy afternoon.
So I say let's go hunt bad guys.
Deuce,
ReplyDeleteYour retort to C4 at the BC is excellent. Given the polarity of the electorate and the lack of compelling leadership, a constitutional convention would be a disaster. In case some have missed it, the US is not now blessed with Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, and Madison, among others.
When the next Israeli-Arab war erupts, possibly in the very near term, the EU may well be the cause. Sadly, this is the same EU accounted as a reliable ally by the Bush administration.
ReplyDelete“Pressed as to whether he was underestimating the fundamentalist religious imperative at the heart of the Hamas ideology, Solana said, “I cannot imagine that the religious imperative, the real religious imperative, can make anybody destroy another country…”
“I don’t think the essence of Hamas is the destruction of Israel…”
“Mr. Solana is correct. Hamas seeks to liberate Palestine. Mr. Solana, however, fails to share the same definition of Palestine that Hamas itself recognizes…”
Can anyone say, “Useful idiot?”
Allen, we shall see if the Prince of Lightness responds.
ReplyDeleteThis cartoon is iconic. Were I computer literate, I would post it. Take a look at the link. Oh, get ready for a month of Muslim outrage.
ReplyDeleteBeach Burqa Blues
Link
Apologies are due, all around
ReplyDeleteThe incident happened after a Warrior vehicle night patrol, which had been targeted by bombers, stopped a police car that had been acting suspiciously. The police in Basra are known to have been infiltrated by insurgents and rogue militias.
One of the Iraqi officers was punched to the ground after he emerged from the vehicle and cocked his weapon. "The policeman was lucky he wasn't shot," a military source said. All the officers were questioned and released.
But the local press reported that the Warrior had run over the police car and the officers had been strip-searched.
Brig Hamadi, the Basra chief of police, said he would withdraw co-operation with the British unless the incident was fully investigated.
Brig James Everard, the commander of 20 Armoured Brigade in southern Iraq, said: "When you have accusations that a member of the Iraqi security services have been treated inappropriately there's an immediate bandwagon of protest and I think that's understandable."
habu1,
ReplyDeletere: Sunshine Trust
Yes, this is just like the Federal government. Instead of privatizing the sunshine surplus, something that would help middle class investors, Oh NO, they create another bureaucracy.
I would love 100 shares of sunshine myself. Sniff, sniff, “Sunshine almost always makes me cry. Sure, there will be problems with transportation and storage. But think about the day when some pharmaceutical company will market sunshine. What a cheerful world it will be when anywhere and anytime the consumer can pop-a-top and surround himself in light. SAD will be a thing of the past.
Until that blessed day, we will just have to make do with,
Page Three girl
H/T Teresita
(Scroll to the end of the page.)
Gateway Pundit is reporting that the Mufti of Australia has been silenced for three months. That is true, but is it enough? Additionally, what is not made clear by the Gateway link is the fact that the Mufti's temporary suspension was not a volitional act of the Australian Muslim community. Rather, it came about as the result of the unrelenting political and legal pressure applied by the Howard government.
ReplyDeleteIn short, the means to the Mufti's short-term removal from his pulpit
is a condemnation of the intransigent Australian Muslim community.
re: fufu a.k.a. Sheik fufu
Why do people like fufu "feel" that having a feeling is a thought and an opinion is a fact? Where are the links and references? Give me something to work with. Geez.
10/28/06; 1:35 AM
Link
Well said Kardal. Welcome.
ReplyDeleteDear fruitloop Nazis,
ReplyDeleteCan you please refrain from posting my articles on your deranged blog.
I'm surprised rednecks like you have even learned to read. I thought one was required to fail an IQ test before being granted m,embership of the far-Right of the blogosphere.
Don't forget to take your pills.