Balanced perspective on the turmoil surrounding recent controversial comments made by the Mufti Taj Al-Hilali.
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Sheik claims court bias
Mark Dunn and Evelyn Yamine
October 30, 2006 11:00pm
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A MELBOURNE cleric claims a gang of rapists was jailed for up to 60 years because they were Muslim.
It came as Sydney firebrand Sheik Taj el-Din al-Hilaly stepped down indefinitely last night after being rushed to hospital with chest pains.
Days after igniting a storm of controversy by comparing immodestly dressed women to "uncovered meat", Sheik Hilaly said the pressure was affecting his health.
In a statement from his hospital bed, the mufti said he had asked for "indefinite leave from my duties at Lakemba mosque".
Sheik Hilaly has received support from his Melbourne rival Sheik Mohammed Omran.
Sheik Omran said the gang rape case central to Sheik Hilaly's explosive comments revealed an anti-Muslim bias in the judiciary.
In a recent sermon, the Brunswick cleric said the rapists were treated worse than murderers.
He said a father who raped his daughter was jailed for just three years.
"I feel there is no justice here. They (the Sydney gang) deserve more than 60 years . . . in Islam they deserve the capital punishment if they really did that," Sheik Omran says in an audio from the sermon available on his website.
"But . . . 60 years and someone else three years -- and they did the same crime. Why? Three years for someone, even raped his own daughter, what (is) worse more than that. But they make big fuss about these kids (the Sydney rape gang) because one of them has names Mohammed, one Ahmad.
"Even if you killed someone you don't go for 60 years. This is where I think everything is unbalanced. We want either justice for everyone, either everyone goes for 60 years or everyone goes for three years."
The besieged Sydney mufti was rushed to hospital after collapsing in a meeting with the Lebanese Muslim Association, which was deciding his future. "The pressure of the last couple of days has had an obvious effect on my health and wellbeing," he said in a statement.
The mufti said his comments were not intended to offend women and conceded the comparison of women to exposed meat was "inappropriate and unacceptable for Australian society and Western society in general".
The sheik is also facing a police inquiry into whether he breached anti-terror laws after comments supporting jihadists fighting coalition troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday he was concerned recent events would irreparably damage the reputation of Muslims within the broader community.
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