I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. This is what happens when you appoint one man as the representative of 300,000 Muslims: every word he has ever said and will say is analysed, politicised and/or given an importance surpassing what it would ordinarily receive. Every word that Sheikh Fehmi has ever uttered on the public record, every letter of support he has written to the Immigration Review Tribunal, every lecture ever held at the sheikh’s mosque, and every other detail of the sheikh’s life is going to be scrutinised by those with an interest in selling papers or selling a particular agenda. This is one of the many reasons why this position of mufti should have been abolished. Sheikh Fehmi is a decent man who has, over many decades, served Islam and the Muslims of this country. He deserves better than this.
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Political Orthodoxy is such a wonderful thing, especially when it becomes a prerequisite for a positive ‘intergration’ of Muslims into the wider ‘Australian Community’, ostensibly based on such ‘Australian Values’ as ‘Freedom of Expression’.
Wonderful thing indeed!
Amir
A very good point. What do you make of this new guy?
Pommygranate,
If we must have a mufti — and I don’t think we do — then Sheikh Fehmi is a relatively safe choice. He’s been an imam for around 40 years or so and hasn’t caused the community any grief or been the centre of any Sheikh Taj style controversy. He is, by all accounts, a decent and kind man and, I think, he carries himself with some dignity. Despite having the ability to do so, given his position as the spiritual patriarch of the Melbourne Lebanese community, he hasn’t sought publicity or engaged in any kind of self-aggrandizing stunts or sought to generate controversy. He may have views that some might disagree with — for example, the Hezbollah stuff or the views on UBL’s guilt/innocence — but that’s probably the extent of it.
However, the reality is that this role of mufti means little to the Muslim community. Regardless of who fills it, nobody is going to look to that person as their spiritual leader or go to him for religious rulings (other than those people from his community who already do). It’s an artificial position which, in my view, more serves the interests of media and politicians than the Muslim community. Politicians need someone to pose with for photos to show they are “connecting” with the Muslim community and lazy journalists need a go-to guy for comment on “what Muslims think”. Nobody is interested in dealing with the myriad of groups and sects that make up the so-called “Muslim community”. Therefore, I think, his appointment is of far more significance and of more importance to these people than it is to the ordinary Muslims.
I do however think it is a sad indictment on the Muslim community that our leaders have thrown an 80 year old man recovering from a stroke into the media and political lion’s den. Honestly, I wish they had just gotten rid of the position and not embarked on this course because, ultimately, I don’t think it’s fair to Sh Fehmi to put him in this position.
thanks Amir. I may add your comment to my blog post on the new mufti, if that’s ok. it’s good to hear frmo people who actually know the people involved as opposed to the media who appear clueless on the entire situation.
let’s hope he’s no Hilaly! btw - what do you make of Tom Zreika? He seems a pretty smart guy to me.
No problem, Pommygranate and it’s a credit to you that you are trying to investigate these issues more deeply than most.
Two of the worst jobs in this country must be to be the mufti and to be the president of the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA). I disagree perhaps with some of the things that Tom Zreika has said and suggested (such as the call for imams to become lifesavers and fire fighters), but ultimately, he deserves some credit for at least trying to reform that organisation and, in general terms, his calls for Muslims to get more involved in their communities is worthwhile and needed. I’ve never met him so I can’t comment on him personally. Silma Ihram posted some comments on him a while back on her blog that might interest you though.
thanks Amir.
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