Radical sheiks have attracted a following because of their ability to relate to young people, writes Irfan Yusuf.
SOMETHING is rotten in the state of Australian Islam. Mainstream imams are preaching mainstream peaceful Islamic theology in a language young Muslims don't understand. More young Australian Muslims are attending classes given by locally born imams who are educated and radicalised overseas, mainly in Saudi Arabia. What is the solution?
The Prime Minister's Muslim Advisory Council wants a system for regulation and accreditation of imams which it hopes will weed out the radical imams, who are accused of misleading gullible youth to a version of Islamic theology which isolates them from broader Australian society.
What the council fails to mention is the reason mainstream imams are not able to attract more young people.
In Christian churches, the hierarchy is dominated by clerics who determine not only theological issues but also manage church affairs. Lay members have varying degrees of input. But imams are not priests or clerics but are more akin to legal counsel who can be consulted on matters of religious law.
Australian mosques are governed by societies whose members generally come from its congregation. These societies are generally divided on ethnic and linguistic lines. Membership is often limited to members of a single ethnic community.
The Lebanese Moslems Association, based in Lakemba, manages the Imam Ali ben Abi Taleb Mosque, one of Sydney's largest. Yet the association's constitution refuses full membership and voting rights to anyone ineligible to hold a Lebanese passport. The Muslim League of NSW manages the Green Valley Mosque. Its constitution allows only persons of Fijian-Indian origin to be members.
Mosque management committees are therefore run along ethnic lines. As such, the imam is generally someone who will toe the ethnic, cultural and linguistic line of whichever group runs the society.
Inevitably imams are brought from overseas. Often they are related to members of the societies' executive committees, many of which are run like family fiefdoms. The ability to speak English and relate to young people is not a prerequisite for employment.
Imams are expected to play roles consistent with Islam's status as a cultural artefact in most mosques. The sermon is rarely, if ever, in English. Women are excluded from many mosques. One Pakistani imam was dismissed in part for holding classes for women inside the mosque.
Yet for the majority of Australian Muslims, such cultures are irrelevant. The most recent study of Australian Muslims, conducted by Professor Abdullah Saeed of the University of Melbourne, shows that most were born in Australia and are aged under 40.
With few imams able to speak English, and with mosques unable to provide a culturally relevant version of Islam, it is little wonder many young people flock to the more radical sheiks. One of these, Feiz Mohamed, was brought up in Australia and speaks fluent English. He heads the Global Islamic Youth Centre in Liverpool.
Many will remember Feiz for his remarks attributing sexual assault to the manner in which some women dress. But for thousands of young Muslims, Feiz is the only person who stands between them and jail or drugs.
Feiz might have some unusual views on theology, but his ability to relate to young people has enabled him to attract a large following. His centre is welcoming to young people; its prayer hall doubles as an indoor sports arena, it has internet facilities, a gym, a cafeteria, and a multimedia and book store. All classes are conducted in English. Women are welcome.
Few mosques are willing to imitate this model. Mosque societies are not prepared to open their doors to women and young people.
Regulating imams is only part of the answer. But who will manage the regulation process? It isn't the role of government to tell religious congregations who should preach from their pulpits.
Unless Australian Muslims at a grassroots level take back control of their mosque societies from the governing ethnic cliques, the system will remain in the hands of the same people who have overseen the system of overseas and largely irrelevant imams.
This will lead young Australian Muslims to turn to the "thick sheiks" or leave their faith altogether.
First published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 29 December 2005.
Words © 2005-10 Irfan Yusuf
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