Poor old Mustafa! Seems that he would be a real loser, anyway; Muslim or not.

"SIC 'em, Rex" was the dog-whistle heralded by our Prime Minister against the mufti after the unambiguous and reprehensible cat-meat metaphor.

"But while exposing the vice of the mufti, John Howard also exposes his own double standards when critiquing religious leaders.
On September 12, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a lecture at the University of Regensberg in Germany, where he contrasted Islamic conversion by force with Christian conversion by reason. He quoted from Byzantine Emperor Manuel II who alleged in 1391 that the prophet Muhammad promoted "things only bad and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith his preached". The Pope eliminated any ambiguity by cementing the contrast: "God is not pleased by blood — and not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature."
Given the pontiff's lineage with St Peter and the global climate in which his speech was delivered, it is reasonable to expect that he and his meticulous minders should have known better, rather than apologise after the event.

"Sporting the title of Grand Mufti, more on par with Cardinal George Pell than the Pontiff, Taj al-Din al-Hilali should have known better and there he has no excuse either. He knew from past controversies that his Arabic sermons were under scrutiny, translated into English and fed to media channels. He knew that his words could provoke a backlash against those he ostensibly represents. He knew that front-page headlines were not a "storm in a teacup" and could never be trivialised as a "no worries, mate" situation. He knew that there is a new and growing generation of Muslims, empowered by the
Prime Minister's Muslim Community Reference Group, who denounced his misrepresentations of their faith. He knew that Muslims everywhere were already experiencing vilification under the cloud of the "war on terror".

Both the mufti and pontiff should have known better given their positions and the volatile climate. Both issued conditional apologies for the outrage provoked rather than for the remarks themselves. Both insisted that they were quoting from another source.
But their treatment was different by our Prime Minister."

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/howards-double-standards/2006/10/30/1162056924240.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Seems like the auhor has made up her own form of Islam. Good on her. But it is not the Islam of the book.

As I understand islam from various web-sites, news papers, books and even the koran islamic women are and always have been third class moslems in the eyes of moslem males.
Even mahomad declared that very few women would be in their paradise why because they do not have the intelligence/wisdom to follow islam and ,of course, they have been cursed by allah by being female in the first place.
In islamic nations their word is held as half of a male. Should a woman go to court? and charge a man with rape then she MUST! have four male witnesses who will testify on her behalf. If she has no four men (pervs who watched this rape) then she is in danger of being charged with adultery or fornication and executed.
I simply cannot understand a woman wanting to remain a moslem. Regards, numbat

Shakira said....

[We may fear old men such as Hilali and Osama bin Laden, but even more we fear the young men they inspire.]

I'm not so afraid of those young men, but of the Anglo reaction to them. Why am I afraid of this ? Because by the request of a Muslim father and son (lovely individuals by the way) at my gym for information on Self Defense in the light of the current climate, it becomes clear that many innocent and kind individuals will possibly be victimized.

Just this morning on Youtube, I read this recent 2006 comment from a Lebanese Muslim regarding Cronulla.

*[Expletives deleted]...we OWN you*

It appears from direct communication, he was among the Revenge Attackers and/or knows who they were.

The 2 extremes are the 'White Power' mob and people like this person.
In both cases, communities are likely to side with their own. Though most white Aussies have the sense to recognize the stupidity of the White Power mob, but pushed far enough, a reaction will still be likely.

Given the vast majority of Anglos....the outcome is fairly predictable and ugly.

Apart from any rights and wrongs in this, it does illustrate the cultural and social incompatability between elements of the Islamic community and its host.

Shakira shows the impact of disempowerment of her brother, the same applies to unemployed Muslim males in Australia who adopt a similar attitude. The unemployment rate is very high among young Muslim males.

Lets hope they don't seek empowerment through radicalist views like those expressed at the Haldon Street Prayer Hall in Lakemba.

There is, of course, an alternative to all this religious warmongering, persecution and disempowering of women... it is to accept that there is not a skerrik of rational, scientific evidence for any of the gods worshipped by the three largest cults. It's all hearsay. All are derived from philosophies that were no doubt useful all those centuries ago, but have no relevance whatever now.
as for the notion that morality somehow derives from a superman in the sky -- that's nonsense. Morality is the 'good' that ensures human survival, and is to be found in all human societies over the last 150,000 years -- long before these relative newcomers to the religious scene; Judaism, Christianity and Mohhammedanism. Let's face it; humans have worshipped over twenty thousand gods in their history -- this recent unpleasant trio of gods are more violent and repressive than most previous gods, but no more believable. If you want people to behave decently to each other, follow the secular humanist values that have inspires great men always.