Bahasa Lakemba?

Recently I played host to some Malaysian journalists visiting Sydney under an exchange program under the auspices of the Australia-Malaysia Institute. Like all things Malaysian, the delegation was truly multi-ethnic. They consisted of one Indian, 2 Malays and 2 Chinese. They were also multi-lingual. All spoke English, though 2 blokes (an Indian and a Malay) wrote for newspapers printed in Bahasa Malaysia.

The Institute is largely funded and managed by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT). The DFAT officer wanted to make sure the journos saw the brighter side of Muslim Australia.

So on Thursday night, I invited the journos to dine with some Muslim professionals and business people. Among the crowd were former executive members of the Lebanese Moslems Association (LMA), the organisation which manages the mosque where Sheik Tajeddine Hilaly regularly preaches.

Our guest Malaysian scribes were already aware of the Hilaly story. Not content to speak to articulate middle class Muslims, the journos wanted to speak to the Sheik himself. They insisted I arrange for them to visit Sheik Hilaly, even prepared to see the Sheik at his mosque (located some 35 minutes by train from their city hotel).

I'm not sure if the journos did manage to find the Sheik. I put them onto the Sheik's adviser and translator, an Australian Lebanese chap named Keysar Trad.

The Sheik & the uncles

Keysar Trad is a household name in Australia. He served for a number of years on the LMA executive, including at least one term as President. At the time, Trad was one of the few LMA executive members who could speak English. He was also quite well-read, and was involved in a number of translation projects.

When Sheik Hilaly was appointed Mufti back in the late 1980's, his English-language skills remained poor. Given that most of his congregation were native Arabic-speakers, Hilaly did not require an interpreter. Though one wonders how much this largely uneducated northern-Lebanese crowd could understand the Sheik when he spoke the classical "Shakespearean" fus-ha Arabic (with an ever-so-slight Egyptian twang).

Living a culturally sheltered life solving problems of the Lebanese ghetto was a tough job, but somebody had to do it. Hilaly performed admirably well, making himself available at all hours of the day and night, attending to all kinds of domestic and not-so-domesticated disputes. The Sheik was less of a jurist and more of a social worker.

Yet media attention focussed more on events overseas involving Islam and Muslims. Hilaly could see that the Uncle Letmesplaynyoo's running Muslim umbrella bodies were ill-equipped to face the barrage of media queries. Despite appointing him as Mufti, the uncles hadn't bothered t provide Sheik Hilaly with the resources and support he needed to do the job.

Handling Muslim Australia's alleged dregs

Indeed, neither the former villagers of the LMA executive nor the peak body Uncles enabled Sheik Hilaly to invest the time needed for him to learn proper English. It is easy to blame Sheik Hilaly for not mastering the language. But Hilaly clearly had the most Muslim problematic congregation in the country, a congregation characterised by high unemployment, poor educational achievement, few role models and other social problems.

The Lebanese Muslims were regarded by other ethnic Muslim groups as the dregs of Muslim Australia, a PR disaster and a burden few wanted to associate with. The snobbish middle class Pakistanis of my parents' generation saw the Lebanese as an embarrassment. The Lebanese also looked at non-Lebanese with disdain. I remember visiting the Imam Ali Mosque in Lakemba with my family on one occasion before Sheik Hilaly arrived. I won't forget the racist taunts we received as we walked in with our shalwar kameez outfits.

No ethnic or cultural Muslim community wanted to deal with the Lebanese. None, that is, except their newly-appointed imam. And Hilaly was well-suited to this role, having lived in Lebanon for many years and having been appointed by the LMA on the recommendation of the Mufti of Lebanon.

Looking after this highly fractured and tribalised community was a full-time job. The more recent arrivals of Australia's Sunni Muslims hailed largely from Tripoli, Mina and surrounding districts. They were a heavily fractured community whose leadership was dominated by a number of key extended families.

Hilaly was able to rise above this Tripolian tribal politics and earn the respect and trust of the competing factions. Maintaining that trust was itself a full time juggling act. If he were to effectively operate as Mufti also, Sheik Hilaly needed support and resources.

Mis-managing the Mufti

Australian Muslim community organisations have spent little money on decent media and public relations. At the time of writing, I visited the LMA's website. On the left hand side is a box containing the words "Public Relations". I clicked on the box and the words "coming soom" appeared! By the time this gets published, I doubt that situation will have changed.

In Australia, we have plenty of ethnic language newspapers in Arabic, Turkish and other languages. But sadly, ost Muslim organisations were dominated by the sort of people Chicago comic Azhar Usman would describe as "Uncle Letmesplaynyoo" types.

The elderly uncles were more concerned with political infighting and earning money through donations and grants from Middle Eastern governments. They were reluctant to support a Mufti who used the pulpit to criticise Middle East governments with whom their organisations had lucrative contracts in halal meat certification.

Middle Eastern money always came at a price. The 1980's were a time of sectarian fervour. Today's Bush administration may regard Iraqi Shia Muslims with favour. But American administrations back then were paranoid about Shia Muslims from Iran exporting their version of revolutionary Islam.

Hilaly refused to engage with sectarian politics of the pro-Iraqi and pro-Saudi kind. He was distrustful of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, whose administration had bankrolled and armed the most radical and bloodthirsty Christian militias in Lebanon. Hilaly also was committed to greater cooperation between Sunni and Shia Muslims, and sponsored numerous joint-programs between the two communities.

Once he was appointed Mufti, Hilaly was not provided with the facilities and assistance he needed to do the job properly. Indeed, he wasn't even provided with a job description. The peak national Muslim body which appointed him had no idea exactly what role he was going to play. Hilaly, rightly or wrongly, decided to play a very public role analogous to the often highly political roles played by senior imams in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East.

There were no shortage of government and broader community institutions and groups willing to engage with Hilaly as Mufti of all Australian Muslims. The problem was that he could not speak their language (and by "their", I mean not just broader Australia but the vast majority of Australian Muslims).

Quite a few Muslims (including myself) have been quite critical of Trad for his insistence of defending even the most indefensible statements of Muslim figures in Australia. But unlike so many other Muslims, Trad was prepared to talk to the media when no one else would.

Hilaly's Muslim critics

At the same time, many Muslims resented the public role Hilaly played. It wasn't uncommon to read letters to the editor published in major newspapers across Australia written by Muslims and requesting reporters not to describe Hilaly as the "Mufti" or "spiritual leader" of Australian Muslims.

Many Muslims expressed concern at the frequent reports of Sheik Hilaly's verbal gaffes. Often these were the result of highly questionable translation by suspect groups who have their own jaundiced agendas. For such groups, any comment on Middle Eastern matters which did not involve blind acceptance of the most extreme positions of the Israeli far-Right was enough to be pilloried.

The problem with Hilaly was that his verbal gaffes and controversies were so regular, and his responses so embarrassing, that he soon became a public relations liability. The Sheik's spin seemed to be spinning out of control, and the image of all Muslims suffered.

In the final instalment of this tale, I will discuss Hilaly and his relationship with the pro-Syria al-Ahbash cult. I will also discuss efforts by the Australian government to fund and engage with this fringe Lebanese cult at the expense of the vast majority of Australian Muslims with little or no relation to Lebanese religious politics. In this sense, the al-Ahbash's attempts to gain government recognition are similar to those of the followers of Hisham Kabbani and Nazim Qubrussi in the United Kingdom.

Irfan, again you show your short sightedness and bias by attacking the successful and popular Sunni group Al-Ahbash.

Your ill-informed use of language; such as cult indicates how blinded you are with your hate about this international moderate association; al-ahbash.

Irfan, calling an association such as the Islamic Charity Projects Association (one of the biggest Islamic associations in Australia) a cult only shows how pathetically flawed you are. References such as these just tell the readers how unreliable your scribbling is!

The Mufti of Australia is *Sheikh* Hilali but the Mufti of Cyprus is Nazim Qubrusi? Rude... I don't know anything about Australian muslim politics, but I'll have to go with ozmuslim on this one and read your words with caution.

I never claimed Nazim Qubrusi was the Mufti of Cyprus. However, I do note that both the al-Ahbash cult and Nazim Qubrusi's followers are trying to sell themselves to Western governments as having a virtual monopoly over 'moderate' islam.

The al-Ahbash cult has appeared in the public arena in Australia accusing their internal Lebanese political opponents of being extremist or terrorist or security risks.

Yet the al-Ahbash sect have themselves been found in an independent UN Report to be directly linked to the assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri.

I'm not aware if any such allegations have been made against the Nazim Qubrusi group. However, their 'Sufi Council of UK' has sought to curry favour from the Blair government by making disparaging claims about other Muslim groups.

Personally I think the al-Ahbash cult and the Nazim Qubrusi sect are a much of a muchness. They are as bad as each other. The irony is that they attack each other.

Still, that shouldn't surprise anyone. They are, after all, fighting over the same turf. The only difference is that Nazim Qubrusi's group don't just focus on one nationality. The al-Ahbash cult, on the other hand, are largely almost solely concerned with representing Lebanese Sunni Muslims.

What?? Independent UN Report linking al-Ahbash to the assasination of Hariri?? This just goes to show how ignorant you are Irfan! There was no such report, the investigator Mehlis was sacked for his unprofessionalism, and he was succeeded by Brammertz who never mentioned the word Ahbash once in both his reports!

Also, the international tribunal has not even been set up yet to charge anyone with the killing! Irfan, it seems you have set up your own imaginary court system in your head! Irfan, you are a fool and your scribbling is pathetic and inaccurate.

If there is a cult around this joint, it's you and anyone who reads your scribbling with credibility!

"I never claimed Nazim Qubrusi was the Mufti of Cyprus."

You don't have to *claim* it! What a strange reply! The point is that you are showing bias in your writing when you describe two men of equal rank, one with a polite honorific, one without. Unless you didn't know that Shaykh Nazim is the Mufti of Cyprus, in which case you're not doing your homework. Either way, poor journalism.

Is it just me? Or have the competing forces of al-Ahbash cult and the Qubrussi group suddenly appeared out of nowhere?

Maybe I should just leave and let them sort it out. I'm sure they'll get on like a house on fire ...

(pardon the pun!)

Ozmuslim and I are neither a force nor in competition. We are two readers of AltMuslim, myself since 2002, who are trying to give you a little constructive feedback. In that, I think we agree perfectly:

Prejudicial language is inappropriate in journalism purporting to be fair and balanced

aa.

ozmuslim follows Irfan around in different places and makes almost identical comments anywhere he writes.

Go to the forums of NewMatilda.com where Irfan writes something about the Australian "Allah Made Me Funny" tour ...

http://www.newmatilda.com/home/articledetail.asp?ArticleID=1935

Click on the forums ...

http://www.newmatilda.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1306

and there you will find ozmuslim calling him/her/itself "heythere" and typing ..

"Irfan, your jealousy of the success and popularity of the sunni sydney based group ICPA (al-ahbash) is blinding your eyes and mind!

Your claims about them are full of inaccuracies and lies. They regard Said Nursi as a Wali (great pious scholar) contrary to your false claim, and they don't make takfir against those people they disagree with.

Irfan, you are a silly and stupid scribbler. You are either stupid, a nitwit or both!"

Same message, slightly different words. This is what happens when the Syrian embassy pays for your ESL classes!

The al-Ahbash are irrelevant to the situation of Muslims in the US, Australia or any other Western country. They are only interested in arguing about ancient futile issues. For them, Islam revolves around mawlid and showing reverence to the Prophet's relics. Their jihad is against anyone they deem wahhabis (including Syrian scholars they despise e.g. Dr Said Ramadan al-Buti).

I'm just waiting for the al-Ahbash to issue a fatwa against Azhar Usman ...