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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1 comment:
Medeological rape
I think only 9/11 received as much coverage as mufti's comments about adultery. Of course it was portrayed as mufty is somehow supporting or justifying rape. Question now is What will they make of comments by sheikh Omran? He clearly said that this is capital crime in Islam and so on... but this statement is only reported in one article so far. How media is going to label sheikh Omran is yet to be seen, but, familiar labels will be used...
Interesting enough is that at the same time in the media we have following stories that are not receiving 1% of attention:
1. Melbourne "gang" rape and abuse young disabled girl and sell it on DVD for $5. read article
2. ANGLICAN priests "silenced, bullied or threatened" when they tried to report child sex abuse. And: Church to pay compensation to child sex abuse victims, which already total $4.5 million read article
...this is only last week, local news... But of course this is not as important as "meat" comments... also not important is that 57% of women in Australia have been subjected to physical and sexual violence during their lives. I wonder what would be media reaction if something like this happened to the Muslim Imams or in the mosque?
Finally,compare this media onslaught to comments by our Prime Minister re Pope's remarks about Islam.
"We should take a deep breath on these things and all have a sense of proportion … They don't like what was said. I'm sure the Pope was not intending to attack Islam. He's expressed his regrets, and I think we should really move on." read
Amir Abu Maryem
Read:
Ruling on the crime of rape in Islam
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