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December 26, 2005

Australia: Muslim Clerics Requested To Follow New Code

Muslim clerics will be placed on a register, and visiting imams will be offered a social education on Australia, in a new measure proposed by John Howard's Muslim Advisory Council, which aims to keep radical clergy under control.

Yasser Soliman (pictured), spokesman for the council, states in a report by ABC.net.au that the move came as a response to concerns from the Muslim community. Muslims and some imams are concerned about people who set themselves up as clerics.

"Some of them come from overseas not being able to speak English and they occupy thereafter a position of leadership, and we don't think that people who can't speak English will be able to lead effectively in Australia because they can't be part of the solution when a problem arises", he said on ABC Radio.

The story is also covered by AAP in The Age and NineMSN. The idea behind the proposal was first aired at a Muslim summit in August, and has the backing of many moderate clerics.

However, there are some imams who are not happy with the suggestions, angered that the proposals include monitoring of sermons.

Soliman suggested that there were five or six such clerics, and they were unlikely to respect or follow the guidelines. "They will be identified as not plugging into the mainstream and not representing the community very clearly. At this stage there is a big fog about where they fit in," he said.

"Clerics coming from overseas especially would benefit from understanding the politics of the country, the political system, the language if they are not very fluent in English. It is important that any gaps be identified. It is not something that should come across as being an insult to a cleric."

The guidelines, Soliman admitted, are only advisory, and he had no power to enforce them.

Soliman is also a former head of the Islamic Council of Victoria, and it was he who notoriously had Pastor Danny Nalliah and Mr Daniel Scot of the Catch the Fire Christian ministry prosecuted under Victoria's religious vilification laws. Rather patronisingly, when the two pastors were found guilty on December 18, 2004, Soliman hugged Pastor Danny.

Soliman said of the incident: "I said to Danny (Nalliah), it's time to move forward and I hope we can talk to each other directly and try to develop understanding. He smiled and said he had nothing against me personally. Daniel Scot said he had to be free to say what he needed to say. I've given them my card."

Soliman's case has so far cost the two Christians, who fled Islamist persecution in their native Pakistan, a total of $100,000 Australian, and it is still not over, as appeals are continuing. A rather biased account of Victoria's blasphemy laws and Steve Bracks the state premier who introduced them, can be found here on Brookes News.

Soliman is also on the government's Council for Multicultural Australia (CMA), which lists his CV as: Managing Director of Diversity Connect International; IT consultant; member, Executive Committee of the Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria; President Islamic Family and Childcare Agency; member, Police and Community Multicultural Advisory Committee; former President, Islamic Council of Victoria.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 26, 2005 8:52 PM

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