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Politics : The Truth About Islam -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (8242)	6/10/2007 11:24:32 AM
From: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 20106

Firebrand cleric steps downSam Edmund June 11, 2007 12:00am news.com.au CLERIC Sheik Taj el-Din al-Hilaly, who infamously suggested scantily dressed women invited rape, stood down as the leader of Australia's Muslims after a four-hour closed meeting. Muslim leaders had been under pressure to sack the firebrand, but the Sheik quit after a four-hour closed meeting at the Preston Mosque yesterday. Sheik Hilaly refused to comment as he was ushered to a waiting car for a return flight to Sydney. However the Council of Islamic Jurisprudence and Research later said the Sheik "gracefully declined" to accept another term. Prominent Melbourne cleric Sheik Fehmi Naji el-Imam, regarded as a moderate Islamic leader, was named his successor. Sheik Imam -- a member of Prime Minister John Howard's hand-picked Muslim Community Reference Group -- immediately distanced himself from his predecessor and appealed for a fair go. "We are here to stay so we want to have a very nice relationship with everybody and for everybody to have a nice relationship with us," he said. "We extend a hand to you, you extend a hand to us. Give us a fair go, we will give you a fair go." The shake-up was welcomed by Australia's peak body of Islamic councils, which branded Sheik Hilaly outspoken and Sydney-centric. But one of the Sheik's closest supporters declared he was still the best man for the job. Keysar Trad, who has often served as spokesman for Sheik Hilaly, said many would be surprised by the change. "I am quite disappointed," he said. "(Sheik Hilaly) is the man for the job and we shouldn't settle for anyone else. "His own position was white-anted by so-called Muslim community leaders." Sheik Hilaly's comments last year when he likened scantily dressed women to uncovered meat sparked widespread calls for his sacking. Sheik Hilaly also was scorned for praising jihadists for fighting against coalition forces and has been accused of mishandling charity money raised after last year's Israel-Hezbollah war. He snatched headlines again this year when he declared himself "more Aussie than (John) Howard", labelling the Prime Minister a dictator and saying Australian Muslims were more entitled to the country than those with a convict heritage. Sheik Imam, who migrated from Lebanon in 1949, will hold a meeting with Muslim leaders in the coming weeks to formulate his plan for the future. "I'm not controversial," he said. "We are to express ourselves in a way that, not only to please you, but to say the truth. "Maybe that sometimes hurts. "We are part of this community in Australia. We are all Australian. "In Australia there are many different nationalities, religions and cultures so we live with all this and we want to have a united body which works together." Asked why he thought Sheik Hilaly was walking away from the job, Sheik Imam said: "Maybe he had had enough, I don't know. He had got to the stage where he wanted to leave, he said. The Labor Party last night said Sheik Hilaly had failed to serve the interests of the Islamic community. "Every religion has the right to choose their own leader and Labor respects that right for all religions," a spokesman for Labor leader Kevin Rudd said. "However, in recent times it has become obvious that Sheik Hilaly was not serving the interests of the Islamic community or the community more generally by remaining in his position." Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Ikebal Patel paid tribute to Sheik Hilaly's term as mufti and said ill-health prevented him from continuing. "His health hasn't been the best in the last year or two and that certainly has been putting a lot of pressure on him," Mr Patel