DAR AL HARB - AUSTRALIA: HALILI (OF THE UNCOVERED MEAT & WHITE CONVICTS FAME HAS BEEN GAGGED

Muslim group gags Hilali
Richard Kerbaj
February 10, 2007

WITHOUT a hint of irony, Tom Zreika chose Australia Day to give Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali the bad news.

Over the telephone, Zreika, president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, informed the controversial Islamic cleric it was in the public interest for him to take a break from delivering sermons at Lakemba Mosque, in Sydney's southwest.

But Hilali, 66, was not going to readily relinquish the pulpit, especially as the advice was coming from Zreika, the young Muslim he endorsed to become president of the LMA.

However, in subsequent conversations, he gave ground and the pair reached a "mutual agreement" that involved Hilali not delivering sermons for the foreseeable future.

The objective was to finally kill off the long-running controversy sparked by Hilali last year when he compared immodestly dressed women to uncovered meat.

The Australian last October exposed Hilali's inflammatory sermon, in which he suggested that rape victims who did not wear Islamic dress were as much to blame as their attackers.

And just days before his return to Australia last month, he ridiculed the country on Egyptian television. He said Westerners were "liars and oppressors" who had less right to live in Australia than Muslims.

The subsequent deal was a win for the Muslim community. However, the terms of the agreement were such that Hilali's supporters and critics could both spin the outcome.

While his opponents portrayed his exit as a blow to the Muslim old guard, his supporters insisted he had chosen to step aside to attend to community issues.

To underline the point, when The Australian broke the news this week that Muslim community leaders were drawing up a retirement package for the sheik - including a weekly stipend and rent-free accommodation - the cleric responded in characteristic fashion.

Hilali went on SBS Arabic radio on Thursday, declaring no one could stop him delivering
sermons. According to Hilali's ally, Sydney-based Islamic leader Keysar Trad, Hilali said: "I'm working on more important issues but no one has stopped me from delivering sermons."

Zreika then issued a press release in Arabic to SBS Arabic radio and the community radio station Voice of Islam, denying that an "agreement had taken place between the association and the sheik in relation to his retirement".

"The association under no circumstance offered or requested from the sheik to step aside from his position or to stop his religious activities inside Lakemba Mosque," he said.

Moreover, with the association due to meet on Thursday night, there were suggestions from Hilali's supporters that he would be delivering a sermon at yesterday's prayers.

By yesterday morning, it was a different story.

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1) Muslim group gags Hilali