On Sunday, a number of Australian imams will soon meet to discuss, among other issues, the question of whether there is to be a Mufti of Australia and New Zealand and, if so, whether it should continue to be Sheikh Taj ad-Din al-Hilaly.Tom Zreika, of the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA), has put together a series of proposals and has submitted these to the conference for discussion. Some of these comments, related to the need for imams to become surf lifesavers and fire fighters, were mentioned here.
The full document that will be delivered to the imams on the weekend can be viewed here.
One thing that seems to stand out in this document is the extent to which the imams of this country are blamed for the various ills of the Muslim community. The author’s criticisms may apply to the imams of one particular demographic but one can’t help but think that the vast majority of religious leaders are innocent of many of the things mentioned in this document. Is it fair or accurate?
Leave your comments and thoughts below.
17 comments ↓
The funny thing is besides LMA’s Imam, I can’t think of any other Imam that has caused problems so why are all the evils of society being blamed on them? Why not just address the troublemakers?
According to Tom the Imams are supermen who should do every job under the sun - they should fight fires, becomes lifesavers, mentor teenagers, eradicate racism and discrimination, go on talkback radio, dismantle gangs etc.. the only thing he left out was how they should solve world peace.
My dad has been an Imam for over 30 years and I don’t remember him ever causing a problem. He deals with enough problems everyday all day for very little pay and very little thanks. Being an Imam is a thankless job.
Tom Zreika should assess instead himself what HE is doing to help the situation of the Muslims rather than trying to shift the blame onto the Imam’s shoulders as if they are at fault that teenagers commit suicide or do drugs.
I don’t understand any of this. Pretty much everything he has said applies only to Shaikh Hilaly so I don’t know why he’s addressing all imams with these comments.
Also some of the comments are okay BUT he is making them as though most imams are not doing them already. I’ve never heard an imam say you shouldn’t obey the law, should carry out violence etc. These are just motherhood statements but they imply that imams ARE saying this stuff. No wonder Andrew Bolt is clapping on his blog over this.
This is not a set of proposals to take seriously - I mean it reads like it’s a document that wants to gag Imams and make them completely submissive. How many times do they need to make a proposal that Imams should be apolitical - the same proposal is repeated at least three times? (And I’m not even sure I agree that Imams shouldn’t be allowed to be members of political parties).
A lot of them are ‘common sense’ stuff. It’s patronising and dismissive. If this was a document to be taken seriously, it would take the Imams seriously.
I’m no great fan of sub-standard Imams, but come ‘on. I helped to run the Imams conference and one of the strongest themes that came out of the different workshops was that the Imams often feel they cannot make positive changes that rock the boat because they are at the behest of the mosque boards that employ them. There is nothing in this proposal that addresses the role of mosque boards and employers of Imams to facilitate healthy working relationships.
*Sigh* is this the *best* they can come up with???
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This is a great document full of sensible ideas. Sure, imams can’t be blamed or credited with everything, but it’s a good start.
Pommy, it’s sensible but really it’s all just about Hilaly and the rest of the imams don’t cause any problems.
Can anyone name a Victorian imam who has caused as much controversy as Sh Hilaly??
Sure. But it may be a good way to ensure there is never another Hilaly.
“Can anyone name a Victorian imam who has caused as much controversy as Sh Hilaly??”
Sheikh Omran
This is a very disappointing document on many levels.
To begin with the author (apparently a lawyer) has not written an executive summary nor references. Stylistically the language is stilted.
( is there any other form of daylight?)
and
(i.e. its bad enough to be spat on from a stationery car, but the height of indignity is to be spat on from one that is moving)
(for the rest, its ok to be negligent, but if we were at war it would be permissible for all to be negligent)
Overall it has a mawkish quality that makes me wonder if the author was weeping as he wrote it. The “way forward” (that awful blairite word) as outlined by the author , is also unhelpful.
The author makes a series of recommendations. In the first of these he conflates Imamship with religious scholarship.
The rest of the recommendations are a series of motherhood statements that Rodney King would have been proud of.
They appear to be the first draft of an employment agreement between a mosque committee and the Imam. He hasn’t required an Imam to tackle global warming but he is not far off doing so.
For example page 11 point 4: 12. How is an Imam expected to manage Islamic media? Does that mean Austrolabe?
The most fanciful part of the document is that he has password protected it so that it cannot be plagiarised.
As if anyone would.
first of all , say it 2 his face please
2nd - actually the journalists are turning everything he says into a controversy , he ain’t the one causing trouble. Matter of fact, he is doing his best. If you go to www.iisca.org you will see the reality of how the media is twisting his words and just how innocent and bubbly Sh.Omran actually is.
Allah yehmi.
p.s. r u better than him to talk about him? he is a sheikh for the love of God!
I agree with Umm Yasmin. Fatima he has been quiet lately but before he was in the news all the time just like the mufti.
he still is in the news umm kulthum but it’s only now we are starting to see the truth about what he is REALLY saying. Muslims will always be the black sheep so no matter what u say or how u say it, you are going to be looked down on by the society , and this was prophesized by Mohammad sallallahu alayhi wassalam when he said : “Islam began as something strange, and it shall return to being something strange, so give glad tidings to the strangers.”
and can u not talk about the shaykh? have you heard of respect for scholars? what are you doing for the society that gives you the right to talk about the sheikh?
Muslims will always be the black sheep so no matter what u say or how u say it, you are going to be looked down on by the society
What utter rubbish.
The sidelining of Hilaly and the recommendations of Tom Zreika are two important steps forward for Muslims in Sydney. People will only look down on you if that is what you want.
I agree with Fatima, (at least until the next federal election) Muslims will be under the pump, especially if the liberal primary vote continues to fall.
The PM has rolled out his greatest hits so far this year (personal smear, economic fear campaign), so there is no reason to doubt that he will reheat security and Anti-Muslim bigotry to the mix.
But over the longer term I agree with PG; I do think that Muslims will prosper in the West and the rate of conversion will go up. In a scientifically advanced and increasingly west, Christianity will have a very short shelf life.
Mohammad sallallahu alayhi wassalam when he said : “Islam began as something strange, and it shall return to being something strange, so give glad tidings to the strangers.”
this is not utter rubbish so please respect yourself
Fatima, most of us don’t look down on Muslims so what you have said is utter rubbish. It’s insulting.
People like Omran and Hilaly have harmed the image of Muslims in this country. People used to be tolerant of Islam and Muslims but after hearing the rubbish that has come out of their mouths, we’re all just getting a bit fed up. If you want to fix things up the first thing you need to do is tell these people to shut up and keep them away from the cameras. No offence.
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