Wednesday, November 01, 2006


Daging and tudung saji.

Assalamualaikum wrh. wbt.

First of all, I would like to apologize if I unintentionally insult any of my audience along the way. I have a tendency to do that. Alhamdulillah, I am not some major public figure. Otherwise, I might get in some hot soup that is so eagerly brewed by the half-witted politicians who (hopefully not for very long) govern this gorgeous land.

Yes. I am referring to Sheikh Taj-el-Din. Or as my people call it, Tajuddin. Which is my uncle's name, incidentally.

Moving on.

I am in no way available for comment on the issue. Mainly because I wasn't there in Lakemba. And also because my first impression of him was that he had said something wrong. But I would like to thank Allah for helping clear my mind on this one, and for letting it be open enough to field all sorts of opinions from left and right.

First of all, let me state that the current Australian government is unashamedly right-wing (from my little understanding of Australian politics, that is). They, for the most part, have unquestionably racist views of how Australian should be (do Google for 'John Howard, racist comment, Islam, Arabs', and you'll get the picture), and they refuse to actually listen to their people which really defies the whole idea of democracy (as my Bio lecturer so graciously indicated in his retirement rant about David Hicks being undefended by his country, peppered with Australian expletives and plenty of the f-word). Howard and Costello should shut their yanks from going on and on about how so-and-so nation is not democratic, and start getting scared about Beazley winning this one. Because if they continue with the chaos they're spinning and mucking around with, and not take back some of the more idiotic things they have done to the people of Australia, then Beazley seems to be the sure-winner in this one.

Howard and Co. have certainly no love from Victorian university students, what with us bearing the painful brunt of VSU. The majority of us, anyway.

Secondly, I have deduced from a prolonged observation, that the Australian people are a pragmatically emotional lot. That may sound paradoxical to you, but trust me, that's what they are. They tend to be let by their emotions, but within the limits of logic and political-correctness. And so if they are upset, they will most certainly show it. But with carefully-measured restrain.

Again, Howard seems to be the sole exception to this rule.

And now to the point. I have decided to give the two cents of others' here, in hopes that what little virtual audience I have will rest assured, that the Mufti of Australia and NZ is not a masochistic caveman from some long-ago culture, but that he has merely been, as so many Hollywood and Malaykayu (geddit?) personas call it,

"Misquoted".

Do read with an open mind what I get from MUIS-news:

"I agree to everything you have said so far- it is 100% correct and
>true. However, i ask you all- how many of you know verbatim what
>Sheikh AlHilaly said? how many of you can correctly quote him word
>for word? how many of you were present when he gave the Islamic
>lesson on the fourth day of Ramadan after Taraweeh? why are we
>always condemning the media for manipulation and misconstruing and
>misquoting and misinterpreting yet this time we are taking their
>side and believing their claims? well allow me to clear everything
>up for you.
>
>I heard Sheikh Alhilaly on that night at Lakemba mosque after
>taraweeh prayers,& and i heard his khutba this afternoon and i heard
>him explaining yet again this evening on The Voice of Islam and i
>assure you if you would call up and ask for a transcript of his
>latest interview, asked for a recording, or asked any member of the
>public who heard him tonight and understood him you will be
>confident of what i am about to inform you. The incident which
>instigated this whole debacle was, as i mentioned previously, an
>Islamic lesson on two sections of two verses of the Quran;
>"assaariko wassaarikato' (the thief and the thiefess) and
>"azzaniyato wazzaniy" (the adulteress and adulterer) (surah An-noor
>verse 2). he was explaining to a muslim audience the Islamic purpose
>regarding why in the first verse Allah started by mentioning the
>male criminal while in the second verse he started by mentioning the
>female criminal. the second verse was in reference to ADULTERY
>(unlawful sexual intercourse) NOT RAPE. and he went on to state that
>an adulteress or a prostitute is "USUALLY" the one who instigates or
>excites the male adulterer by wearing immodest and revealing
>clothing.
>
>Let me remind you that he was addressing an entirely muslim audience
>and his words were intended for muslim women. now, allow me to
>re-iterate HE WAS TALKING ABOUT ADULTERY and NOT RAPE. he then went
>on to make an analogy in reference to another topic entirely- hijab
>(or head scarf) and rape. and he asked his audience that if they
>were to leave a piece of meat in their backyard would it not attract
>cats? and they said yes and he said if you put it in your front yard
>would it still attract cats and they replied in the affirmative and
>then he asked them "what about if you covered this piece of meat?
>would the cats smell it or even go near it?" and they replied in the
>negative as i am sure& you would too.
>
>Let me clarify he was talking TO muslim women ABOUT muslim women and
>regarding their attire and was encouraging the wearing of the veil
>for ones protection IN HIS COMMUNITY. he did not REPEAT did NOT
>refer to non-muslim women in any form or manner, he did NOT condone
>the criminal act of rape , in fact he likened rapists to feral
>ANIMALS and he was quoted as saying ""I would like to unequivocally
>confirm that the presentation related to religious teachings on
>modesty and not to go to extremes in enticements, this does not
>condone rape," he explained. "I condemn rape and reiterate that this
>is a capital crime."
>
>Maybe this needs to be highlighted and posted in size 36 font. so,
>before we go ahead and join in the universal slander of one of our
>highly respected and learned sheikhs maybe we should make sure we
>have the correct information and listen to his side of the story and
>not blindly believe what the media presents us with, as Allah SWT
>said [surah alhujuraat verse 6];" ya ayoha alatheena aamano in
>jaa'akom fasiqon binaba'in fatabayanoo an tuseebo qawman bijahalatin
>fatusbi7o 3ala ma fa3altom nadimeen" (O you who believe! If a lier
>comes to you with any news, verify it, lest you should harm people
>in ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful for what you have
>done). after what evidence you have been presented with, do you
>believe that such a man deserves the avalanche of abuse, reprisal
>and condemnation that is unfortunately coming from our fellow Muslim
>brothers and sisters who undoubtedly have formulated their opinions
>based on the lies and deception of the popular media? does such a
>man deserve to be thrown out of office for merely explaining a
>section of the quraan? an why is it that an incident that occurred
>almost 1 month ago is only brought to the public forefront now? is
>it to draw attention away from another scandalous affair? i leave
>you to make up your own minds- but please ensure that you choose
>reliable resources and may Allah guide us all to the truth and
>righteous path. Ameen
>
>Your sister in Islam,
>Rania Abdou.

And from the man himself:

The sheikh's statement
>>> 31Oct06
>>> In full of a statement issued last night by Sheik Taj Aldin
>>> Alhilali entitled ``Explanatory Statement by the Mufti El-Hilali
>>> regarding the recent media campaign'':
>>> I would like to outline clearly and plainly some of the facts and
>>> basics that formulate my faith, belief and my understanding of the
>>> teachings of the true religion of Islam.
>>> 1. The crime of rape against any woman is an abominable crime; it 
>>> has no justification, and the perpetrator deserves the severest 
>>> punishment and would not deserve to belong to a religion or to 
>>> humanity.
>>> 2. Women in Australia or any other western society are free to wear
>>> what they like, and no Muslim has the right to dictate the rulings
>>> of his religion on others. While non-Muslim women can cover or 
>>> reveal whatever they choose of their bodies, Islamic Shari'a made 
it 
>>> incumbent upon Muslim men to lower their gaze. It is prohibited for 
>>> them to stare at the beauty of strange women.
>>> 3. It is my duty as a religious leader to advise Muslim women to
>>> adhere to and abide by the Islamic dress code. Having said that,
>>> Muslim women are free to comply with or reject my advice, and their
>>> reckoning will be with Allah the Almighty.
>>> 4. By saying the "exposed meat" displayed in a degrading way is a
>>> simile for a woman making herself subject to abuse by men with
>>> diseased souls whose animalistic instincts will overcome them
>>> whereby they would abandon their humanity, mind and religion. These
>>> men are responsible for their crime.
>>> 5. The metaphor I used of the "exposed meat" was not appropriate 
for 
>>> the western mentality. It has been quoted and misinterpreted by 
some 
>>> groups with ill intentions. This metaphor was used in a private 
>>> lesson given inside the mosque after the Taraweeh (optional night) 
>>> prayers on the fourth day of Ramadan. It was meant for the Muslim 
>>> attendees at the mosque and not the general public and particularly 
>>> not the general women of our Australian society.
>>> Apart from the above-mentioned facts, I would like to make it known
>>> to all my brothers and sisters in and out of Australia that:
>>> After the Taraweeh (optional night) prayers on 27/09/2006 at the
>>> Lakemba Mosque in Sydney, Australia, I gave a lesson to the members
>>> of the Islamic community of Australia, the title of which was: "Why
>>> did Allah, the Almighty, mention 'man' before 'woman' in the crime
>>> of theft? as is quoted in the Quran: ((As for) the thief, the male
>>> and the female, ...) (Al-Ma-idah 5.38) while he mentioned 'woman'
>>> before 'man' in the crime of adultery?, as is quoted in the Quran:
>>> (The woman and the man found guilty of adultery or fornication,...)
>>> (An-Nur 24.2)".
>>> This lesson lasted approximately 15 minutes, 10 minutes of these
>>> were spent on explaining the meaning of the first verse, and the
>>> remaining time was spent on giving advice and guidance relating to
>>> the way a woman dresses and the methods of seduction and the beauty
>>> given to her by the Almighty Allah. I emphasised that exceeding the
>>> limits in this regard is dangerous to both men and women; and that
>>> the devil exploits these charms of seduction to tempt both men and
>>> women to commit adultery and fornication. In this case, both men
and
>>> women are committing a sin. So the topic did not deal with the 
crime 
>>> of rape.
>>> At the end of the lesson when I was explaining the reason why
>>> 'woman' was mentioned before 'man' in the verse dealing with the
>>> crime of adultery, I said it was because she possessed the charm,
>>> the methods of seduction and all similar devices given to her by
>>> Allah to tempt the man. For that I borrowed a metaphor used by an 
>>> author called Ar-Rifa'i. He said exposing the meat in an illicit 
way 
>>> would encourage the cats to devour it. I didn't mean by that to 
>>> humiliate immodest women; I meant to censure the person who would 
>>> abandon his humility and turn into a vicious animal; and there's a 
>>> big difference between a cat's behaviour and that of a human's, as 
>>> the latter is commanded and responsible for their actions.
>>> I confess that this analogy is inappropriate and unacceptable for
>>> the Australian society and the western society in general.
>>> I am deeply saddened and distressed by the acts of some devious
>>> groups which lurk in the dark watching me, and who cannot tolerate
>>> the moderate, balanced way which I adopt to advocate for women's
>>> issues, national harmony and co-existence, and to hold fast to the
>>> love of our Australian home, to protect it from all forms of
extreme
>>> thoughts and to reject all acts of violence and any act that
>>> breaches the rule of law.
>>> Yes, I feel deeply saddened that such an ordinary lesson has been
>>> used to slander and defame me after it had been translated with the
>>> ill intention of dubious media that wishes to incite and they
>>> present an unfair campaign, the aims of which are very well known.
>>> Once again, I turn to all the women of Australia and the world. You 
>>> are the shining lights of the world, you are more than half of the 
>>> society, and you are the daughters, the sisters, the mothers and 
the 
>>> aunts. How could any sane person think of humiliating you?
>>> You are the cherished pearls, the dearest thing in the world. So 
>>> don't be taken as offerings at the temples of the merchants of 
>>> pleasure, or advocates of decadence and corruption.
>>> Each one of us is responsible for accounting for his or her own
>>> actions before he or she is asked about them by the almighty Allah
>>> (on the Day of Judgment). Once again I am very sorry and apologise
>>> for what resulted from an unintentional analogy.
>>> With all my respect to the women of the world.
>>> In due course I will take the necessary decision that shall lift
the
>>> pressures that have been placed on our Australian Muslim community
>>> and that which will benefit all Australians.
>>> The pressure of the last couple of days has had an obvious effect
on
>>> my health and well-being. I ask the public to give my family and I
>>> some privacy, time and space to recover. I have also asked for 
>>> indefinite leave from my duties at Lakemba mosque.

>>> Sincerely,
>>> Sheikh Taj El-Deen El-Hilali
>>> Mufti Of Australia
Credit goes to my sister Shabia A.M. and brother Shiraz Ali-Patel (secretary of MUIS 2006) for extracting the respective letters. Jazakumullahu khayr.

Wassalamualaikum.

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this has been a rant by Syazwina Saw at 11:20 am

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