COMMENT: Bobby Sands joins al-Qaida while every other prison gang joins the Hayek Appreciation Society ...

I am very concerned. In fact, I’m very alarmed. I know al-Qaida are a nasty bunch of people. They kill more Muslims than non-Muslims. They are prepared to undertake all kinds of deadly attacks, including suicide bombings. They really don’t care about the strictures of the Islamic sacred law, and claim that flouting its basic provisions (such as the blanket prohibition of suicide) is necessary to wage their wacko pseudo-jihad.

Now I read reports of al-Qaida infiltrating prisons. Apparently, prisoners are studying the al-Qaida training manual. And the evidence? Muslim inmates are engaging in behaviour which is unique to al-Qaida. No other group ever engages in such behaviour. It can only be found in prisons infiltrated by this international terrorist outfit.

So what is this behaviour? According to a report in the Sun-Herald, the behaviour consists of … wait for it …

... hunger strikes, group protests and claims of mistreatment.

The behaviour also includes

... an internal organisational structure to maintain morale, resist interrogation and recruit members.

Clearly ethnic gangs and drug smuggling rackets in prison never develop organisational structures, preferring to follow the teachings of Friedrich von Hayek who claimed that the most durable social structures are those which emerge spontaneously.

And since when have prisoners been known to engage in hunger strikes or claimed of mistreatment? Clearly al-Qaida is at work here. Only Islamic extremists like Sheik Bobby Sands go on hunger strikes.

The report quotes the NSW Attorney General referring to the “insidious nature of these activities”. Apparently “international prison authorities had alerted Australian authorities to the existence of the manual three months ago”, despite the fact that the manual is freely available on the internet and has been known to the CIA since 1996!

The Sun-Herald has been pursuing this story rigorously. Back in April, they claimed that NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Woodham was of the view that there was a contradiction between being Aboriginal and being Muslim.

With this kind of incompetent reporting and/or administration, once again we have good reason to be alert and alarmed.

Words © 2007 Irfan Yusuf


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POLITICS: O'Farrell apologises to Moslems (sic.) over Lindsay ...

The NSW State Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, visited the Imam Ali Mosque at Lakemba in South-Western Sydney on Friday 30 November 2007. During his visit, O'Farrell made the following statement (taken from his press release of the same date) ...

Like all right-minded people I am appalled and horrified by the distribution of this offensive, racist and false material. It offends everything I believe in and I unequivocally condemn those involved.

I remain angered by the damage the episode causes to the Liberal Party and its supporters. The action of these rogue Liberals is totally contrary to the Liberal Party’s philosophy and beliefs.

Fifty seven years ago, the founder of the Liberal Party, Robert Menzies, accurately described as ‘stupid’ those engaging in racism and bigotry. Menzies said ‘We must strike down the tendency that exists in the minds of some persons to object to a man because of his race or his religion…prejudice against a person because of his race or origin is a sign of stupidity'.

While welcoming the Liberal Party’s swift and decisive action to expel those involved, I wanted to
personally meet with representatives of the State’s Islamic community and offer a formal apology. As Liberal Leader I remain determined to represent the interests of the whole community, irrespective of race, religion, gender or some other factor.

This city and State’s cultural diversity is a strength to be valued, not something to be toyed with during political campaigns. Those who seek to create division and conflict within our community
should always be condemned.

It's great to see Mr O'Farrell making some effort to apologise to the Lebanese Moslem (sic.) Association. However, he needs to understand that there are a whole group of Muslim New South Welshmen and women who are not represented by the Lebanese Moslem (sic.) Association.

Mr O'Farrell must understand that the Lebanese Moslem (sic.) Association only allows full membership to men eligible for Lebanese citizenship. Hence, all other men and all women are barred from full membership of the Lebanese Moslem (sic.) Association.

Further, the offending leaflet actually included the Turkish flag. Hence, it is arguable that the offence was largely directed at Turkish Muslims.

The vast majority of Aussie Turks living in NSW are either women or men not eligible for Lebanese citizenship. Hence, they are not represented by the Lebanese Moslem (sic.) Association.

In my opinion, the Lebanese Moslem (sic.) Association has as much right to represent Australian Muslims living in New South Wales as the South African National Party of the apartheid era had of representing all South Africans regardless of ethnicity and colour.

I say this because the Lebanese Moslem (sic.) Association practises both ethnic and gender apartheid in the constitutional provisions governing its membership.

I really wish politicians would stop pretending that this racist organisation somehow represents Muslims or indeed multicultural Australia.

Until the Lebanese Moslem (sic.) Association is prepared to integrate into the broader Muslim communities and adopt Australian Muslim values, it should be seen as a fringe ethnic and sexist body with no right to speak on behalf of anyone other than its all-male financial members.

© Irfan Yusuf 2007


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COMMENT: Personal[ly plagiarised] Reflections of Afroz Ali

The Afroz Ali saga continues. One reader has tipped me off about some of Afroz's allegedly personal reflections which, it turns out, aren't really his at all.

In the section on inspiration, Afroz presents one of his personal reflections - the story of an empire moth. Of course, this is Afroz's own personal reflection. Hence, he has not attributed the story to anyone else.

Here's an excerpt from this profound and completely original personal reflection ...

A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to force the body through that little hole.

Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. It just seemed to be stuck. Then the man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The moth then emerged easily.

Wow, amazing story. And all authored by Afroz. The fact that this story appears on other websites such as this one is sheer coincidence. The fact remains that this is Afroz's original personal reflections.

So let's not accuse Afroz of plagiarism, lest we be flown to the Planet Saturn by a giant flying pig.

(Thanks to SJH)

© Irfan Yusuf 2007

COMMENT/MEDIA: On Afroz Ali, Saudi qualifications & the ABC Compass Progam

Shaykh ash-Shuyukh Fadilat ash-Shaykh Kiai Maulana Mullah Hujjat al-Islam Allamah Ayatullah Hoca Khwaja Moulay Sidi Imam Afroz Ali is described on the ABC Compass program as follows ...

Imam Afroz Ali is founding president of the Al-Ghazzali Centre for Islamic Sciences and Human Development in Sydney’s south-west. Imam Ali has qualifications from Saudi Arabia ...

Anyone reading or watching this would presume Afroz has completed more than one degree from Saudi Arabia.

How would ABC have gotten this information? Who told them about Afroz's Saudi degrees? And if it isn't true, did Afroz take steps to correct it? If not, why not?

This isn't the first time such false and exaggerated claima have been made by Afroz or about him in his presence. In 2003, the University of Sydney described him as an "Islamic scholar". Yet he refuses to come clean and provide evidence to back up his claims.

I therefore once again request Afroz to produce his Saudi qualifications. Surely it would't be hard for him to scan these and place them on his blog. Or even to tell us what these qualifications are, where he obtained them and in what years.

© Irfan Yusuf 2007

BLOG: New blog from a “qualified imam” ...

Shaykh al-Shuyukh Fadilat ash-shaykh Maulana Allamah Hujjat al-Islam Ayatullah Mufti Sidi Imam Afroz Ali has launched his own blog.

And in an act of ultimate hubris, Ali’s quotes page has him quoting himself in the company of such illustrious people as the Prophet Muhammad, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson and Mahatma Gandhi. My favourite is where he quotes himself at Al Gore’s climate change training. He won’t quote Al Gore himself.

His self-portrait now has him claiming, amongst other things, to be

a qualified Imam in the Islamic Tradition, having studied under Traditional Islam and received licence [sic.] to teach in various Islamic Sciences.

In what sense is he qualified? Why hasn’t he provided details of his alleged qualifications to the NSW Board of Imams, despite having been asked to do so for over 12 months?

To this day, he has not answered the queries of his detractors and critics (including yours truly) about the true extent of his alleged qualifications.

In past days, he has claimed to hold two (2) degrees from the Islamic University of Madeena. After much questioning, he finally admitted to not having completed even one degree from that institution.

Yet as if to muddy the waters even more, Afroz now claims that

[h]is studies have taken him from university-based Islamic University- Madina, Saudi Arabia then moving towards Traditional Scholarship in Yemen, United States and Mauritania, where he has spent considerable time to learn from the most esteemed Rightly Guided Islamic Scholars of our time. He has also travelled to Cairo, Egypt for further studies in Islamic Jurisprudence with Scholars at al-Azhar University and Arabic Language at Markaz Aleem.

So why are Afroz's Arabic language skills so weak?


What Afroz won’t say on his blog is that he has been tried and convicted of a dishonesty offence. He also won’t be up front and honest about the true extent of his so-called qualifications. Yet he expects us all to believe his claims to being a “qualified imam”.

Of course, none of this detracts from the good work and initiative shown by the volunteers who help Afroz’s al-Ghazzali Centre in its projects. Yet as I’ve said and written before, one needn’t tell porky pies about one’s self to make a contribution to the community.

In conclusion, if Afroz Ali is a qualified imam, then I am an Olympic marathon runner and John Howard is Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Words © 2007 Irfan Yusuf

COMMENT: Is this another ASIO stuff-up?

He is the closest thing Australia has to the perfect imam. He is softly spoken and speaks fluent English (as well as Arabic and Farsi/Persian). Far from being an anti-Semite and sectarian bigot, he actively engages in interfaith dialogue with members of all faiths. He has consistently condemned all forms of political violence in the name of Islam.

So why on earth would ASIO want Sheik Mansour Leghaei to deport himself from Australia ? Apparently, they think he is spying for the Ahmedinejad regime in Tehran . And their evidence?

ASIO claim to have a notebook of the Sheik’s which apparently contains words like “jihad” and “infidels”. Apparently the Sheik wants to kill everyone who refuses to believe that the Koran is “the book of heaven”.

The problem with this, of course, is that neither Sunnis nor Shiites regard the Koran as “the book of heaven” in any sense. Firstly, they believe the book was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel here on planet earth. Secondly, they don’t believe that the Koran is “the” (as in the only) heavenly or divinely inspired book.

Indeed, any Muslim who regards the Koran in this manner is not regarded as a Muslim. If you believe in the Koran but refuse to believe that God sent scriptures to Moses, David and Jesus, you can kiss your plans of going to the Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca , a city which traditionally bars entry to non-Muslims).

This really is kindergarten stuff. It’s mentioned numerous times in the Koran itself. Had Sheik Leghaei preached such heresy, I doubt his Imam Hussein Centre in Earlwood (let alone that wacko ruling in Tehran ) would want Leghaei on their payroll.

Then again, as Cambridge Muslim scholar Tim Winter (also known as Abdal Hakim Murad) observes, so much Islamist political doctrine is based on heresy. But seriously, the good folk at ASIO need to seriously consider expanding their knowledge base on Muslim theology if they are to combat those promoting the scourge of Islamist terror.

Words © 2007 Irfan Yusuf

COMMENT: PM opens conference of Islamic scholars ...

Imagine if John Howard took time out from sucking upto Catch The Fire Ministries, the Exclusive Brethren and other fringe extremist groups. Imagine if he made time to open a national conference of Islamic scholars and theologians.

Then again, imagine if Australia has a properly functioning national conference or board of Islamic scholars. The so-called Australian National Imams' Council is in a mess, with mass-defections and resignations.

We in Australia don't have the luck of the Kiwis. Across the ditch, PM Helen Clark opened the New zealand Imams. Conference in Auckland on 27 October 2007. There was no media rucus. No shock jocks or tabloid columnists made an issue of her presence. In fact, the event received hardly any media attention at all (at least none that I could find on Google news).

Ms Clark no doubt is aware that imams are hardly in a position to deliver any votes. I'm not aware of a single imam on either side of the Tasman who has openly endorsed a political candidate. Well, apart from Sheik Hilaly endorsing Kerry Chikarovski's candidate in the 2001 Auburn by-election. And that didn't prove overly helpful to anyone (except perhaps ALP candidate Barbara Perry).

And the last time we heard about imams and politics was when The Australian allowed one of its cadet journalists to report on him attacking one of his internal community opponents over the issue of voting. I must say that I agree with Sheik Hilaly on this issue, but it was a bit silly for the newspaper to allow itself to be used as an instrument for intra-Muslim community politics.

(Sheik Hilaly's opponent, Dr Paul (Ali) White, was referred to in the article as "Mr White", despite it being well-known that he holds a PhD.)

In any event, it's great to see the Kiwis getting their political act together.

Words © 2007 Irfan Yusuf


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COMMENT: Baghdad - once a city for all faiths ...

The October 7 2007 edition of the New York Times magazine includes a profile of Iraqi-American author Kanan Makiya, who wrote (under the pen-name of Samir al-Khalil) one of the most influential biographies of Saddam Hussein.

There's plenty in the profile to blog about. Despite spending much of his undergraduate years a supporter of the Palestinian cause, Makiya wasn't exactly fond of fellow Columbia University Professor Edward Said. Makiya promised George W Bush on the eve of the Iraq invasion that Iraqis would greet US forces with "sweets and flowers".

What particularly struck me was the description of historical Baghdad. The profile speaks of perhaps Makiya's most important achievement - the documentation of Saddam Hussein's atrocities under the auspices of the Iraq Memory Foundation.

Since 2003, Makiya and his small staff have scoured Baath party offices and dungeons, adding to a collection that would reach more than 11 million pages of records. And they began filming interviews with the regime’s victims. 

Makiya’s dream was to build a museum for the archives on the site of the Victory Arch, the memorial commissioned by Hussein to commemorate Iraq’s so-called triumph in the Iran-Iraq War ... Among the foundation’s most vivid achievements are the 190 videotaped testimonies from Hussein’s victims. They include Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds and even Jews.

One of these testimonies takes us back to a time when Baghdad was a centre of Jewish cultural life. Thanks to the infiltration of Ba'athist ideology, the tolerance of devout Iraqi Muslims was undermined. Suddenly, anyone deemed non-Arab became a target. And supporting Palestinian rights became a cover for some of the most virulent and despicable acts of anti-Semitism.

In December 2003, at the age of 98, Shao’ul Sasson, for example, described his arrest and torture at the hands of the Baath Party police. Sasson, who died in 2005, was an Iraqi Jew. As late as the mid-1930s, Baghdad was one of the world capitals of Jewish life, with Jews making up a third of its population. Most of Iraq’s Jews either fled to Israel or were expelled beginning in the late 1940s; most of the rest were harassed or killed. In January 1969, in one of the Baath Party’s first displays of public brutality, 13 Iraqi Jews and 4 other men were hanged in a public ceremony in Baghdad before a crowd of about a half million people. Iraqis were bussed in from around the country to witness the event.
“I was born in Baghdad,” Sasson says on the videotape. “My father was the chief rabbi. He sent me to a Jewish school to learn Hebrew, but I can’t remember much of it.
“I was working for Mohammed al-Damarchi. My salary had been stopped because I was Jewish, and there was a warrant out for my arrest. They knocked on the door and asked for Shao’ul. 

“My wife said, ‘Let him take his clothes or put something on,’ but they said there was no need, as I would be brought back soon. They blindfolded me and took me away. I could tell we were going to the notorious Al-Nihaya Palace prison, because I lived in the same area. . . . They asked me to confess to everything, but I told them I didn’t have anything to confess to. And yet they insisted I must. They brought a metal bar and hit me on my legs. I fell into the wall and broke two teeth. Again, they told me to confess and hit me on the legs. Again, I fell and broke a few teeth. I lost 9 or 10 teeth that day.
“I saw Abdul Rahman al-Bazzaz (the former prime minister). They had hung him up and burned his tongue with matches. . . . My worst experience was the day I saw all the prisoners hanging up on either side of the corridor. 

“They put me in a cell where the floor was covered in urine and feces. I couldn’t bear to stay in it, so I would bang my head hard against the wall in an attempt to kill myself.”

The Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said: "Those who so much as lay one finger on the dhimmi (non-Muslim citizen of an Islamic state) will have me witnessing against them on the Day of Judgment."

Sadly, so many Muslim politicians like to flex their political muscle at the expenses of non-Muslim minorities. Those of us fortunate enough to live as Muslim minorities in non-Muslim countries should be at the forefront of campaigning for non-Muslim minorities in Muslim countries.

© Irfan Yusuf 2007