Australia's Next Top Mufti (1 Viewer)

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Outspoken Sheik steps down

June 10, 2007 12:00

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Outspoken Muslim leader Sheik Taj el-Dene Elhilaly has stood down as Australia's Mufti.
The controversial Islamic cleric was reappointed Mufti at a meeting of Muslim leaders in Melbourne today, but declined to accept the position.
The Council of Islamic Jurisprudence and Research instead elected Sheik Fehmi Naji El-Imam, who will serve a two-year term.
The decisions were made at the Preston Mosque in suburban Melbourne at a four-hour meeting behind closed doors.
Sheik Alhilali was a surprising and controversial first choice for the Muslim leaders, who have come under intense pressure over the past year to sack the Mufti.
In a statement issued today, the council said Sheik Elhilaly had "gracefully declined'' to accept another term.
"We, the Australian National Imams Council, are proud to announce that Sheik Fehmi Naji El-Imam is appointed as the Mufti of Australia for a two-year term,'' the statement read.
"Sheik Fehmi Naji El-Imam will be working with the Council of Islamic Jurisprudence and Research under the umbrella of the Australian National Imams Council for the benefit of the Muslims and the broader Australian community.
"We recognise the great services that Sheik Taj el-Dene Elhilaly has provided over the years and we pray for his good health.''
During a rocky tenure, Sheik Elhilaly raised the ire of the Australian public and politicians, even dividing the Muslim community, with his often controversial comments.
The Mufti caused a storm of controversy last year when he likened immodestly dressed women to uncovered meat, suggesting they invited rape, during a Ramadan sermon to 500 worshippers in Sydney.
Those comments prompted calls for his resignation and were widely denounced by Muslim community leaders and politicians across the political spectrum.
Sheik Elhilaly was also 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 earlier 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.
Labor said Sheik Elhilaly was not serving the interests of the Islamic community by remaining in his position.
"Every religion has the right to choose their own leader and Labor respects that right for all religions,'' a spokesman for Mr Rudd said.
"However, in recent times it has become obvious that Sheik Elhilaly was not serving the interests of the Islamic community or the community more generally by remaining in his position."
In July 2005, Sheik Elhilaly was named Muslim Man of the Year at the first Australian Muslim Achievement Awards by Mission of Hope.
He also travelled overseas in 2005 to assist in the negotiations to bring home Australian businessman Douglas Wood who had been kidnapped in Iraq.
The Mufti has suffered ill health and was admitted to hospital last October after collapsing with chest pain.
The national imams council stripped the position of Australian mufti from Elhilaly, who had made attempts to shore up grassroots support within his community by returning to the pulpit.
Sheik Elhilaly was banned in November from preaching by the Lebanese Muslim Association following the revelations he compared scantily clad women to "uncovered meat".
Australian National Imams Council, which gave the besieged cleric a three-month grace period as mufti in March, indicated in March that he would lose his title today.
ANIC spokesman Mohamad Abdulla had also rejected claims last month that Sheik Elhilaly’s religious qualifications could not be matched by any other imam in the country.
"There are many qualified people in Australia,'' he said.
In May, Sheik Elhilaly was cleared by an Australian Federal Police investigation into allegations that his call on the Muslim world to unite behind Iran breached Australia's tough new sedition laws.

Mufti out ...Controversial cleric Sheik Taj el-dene Elhilaly has stepped down as Australia's mufti today. / The Daily Telegraph

http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,,21881345-5001021,00.html

 

[jb_nc]

lol

 

[ari89]

meh

 

[xXeMoxXxCoRexX]

He'll be back

 

[Serius]

aww, i liked him. He told us exactly how Islam works and how muslims think of us. He might have been a dead shit arrogant racist asshole, but at least he told us what he thought to our faces and was an accurate representation of his congregation.