So is this Saudi grant a legitimate issue or simply a non-issue being made an issue?

Also, who on earth is Fadi Rahman and when did he become a prominent leader of the Islamic Community?

I would agree with Griffith Uni on the TJ group being a non-threat, and Ameer Ali’s argument is ludicrous, I understood it as saying ‘they teach people to want to go to heaven, which makes them easily susceptible to terrorism’. Completely ignoring the fact that Islam teaches that what al-Qaida are doing is evil, and evil acts don’t open the gates of Paradise, rather they padlock them.

That being said, Kerbies articles are always a pleasure to read.

Jihad body linked to top univeristy: By Richard Kerbaj
April 29, 2008

THE Muslim cleric at the centre of Griffith University’s Saudi embassy donation affair – Mohamad Abdalla – is regarded as the Brisbane leader of an Islamic group whose overseas members have been linked to al-Qaeda and the 2005 London bombings.

Dr Abdalla, who has refused to be drawn on the Tablighi Jamaat group, has been identified as its Brisbane head by Muslim community figures, including prominent Islamic leader Fadi Rahman.

“He’s the head of Tablighi in Brisbane,” said Mr Rahman, who attended the 2020 Summit as a delegate with Dr Abdalla.

“I know Mohamad Abdalla very well,” he said.

While Griffith University denied Dr Abdalla was a Tablighi leader, it praised the group – which has been investigated and cleared by ASIO – as a “peaceful movement” that provided spiritual support to disadvantaged community members.

The university also said some Tablighi members attended Dr Abdalla’s Brisbane mosque.

“Based on advice we have received from a number of Queensland Muslim organisations, the group Tablighi Jamaat is not a sect, is not secretive, is not political, is not violent,” the university said in a statement issued last night.

“It is in fact a peaceful movement with the social justice aim of helping Muslims become better Muslims.

“Dr Mohamad Abdalla is not … the leader of Tablighi Jamaat in Brisbane.

“Dr Abdalla, as a leading imam in the Brisbane community, is associated with a number of groups openly involved with Brisbane’s mosques.

“This group is among more than 20 ethnic groups openly associated with Dr Abdalla’s own mosque.”

The Australian revealed last week that Dr Abdalla, director of Griffith’s Islamic Research Unit, helped the university apply for a $1.37 million grant from the Saudi embassy – of which the institution received only $100,000 – and offered the Saudi ambassador a chance to keep elements of the donation a secret.

The university said Dr Abdalla had in the past week received strong support from Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson, Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth and “leaders from both the Jewish and Christian communities of Brisbane”.

The Tablighi’s non-violent teachings about the importance of the afterlife had left some young followers susceptible to recruitment by terrorist outfits as suicide-bombers, said former Howard government adviser Ameer Ali.

“They are not violent, they don’t preach violence. But their mind is set – they’ve prepared the minds of the youngsters who can be trapped by the jihadis and terrorists,” he said.

“So when the jihadis say are you prepared to go to heaven … it carries with their thinking because they are not interested in this world, they believe (their) future is in the next world.”

Dr Abdalla refused to answer questions about his connection with the Tablighi when interviewed by The Australian, except to say membership of the group was not controversial.

Muslim leaders have urged Griffith University to return the Saudi grant.

Fadi on the Griffith Islamic Research Unit issue.

http://www.fosterandpartners.c.....fault.aspx

Considering the booms in the Gulf, Russia, India & South East Asia, it seems the 21st Century will be an Asian one, and personally I believe Australia could really capitalize on this.

Here is an article about it in a Turkish newspaper if there are any Turkish readers who can translate and verify its contents.

That article put up by DD I am hoping is a satirical one, because if not it is a little disturbing.