Carnifex,

You are referring to a bad example and no, you are not supposed to praise bad behaviour.

Other Muslims ie myself and my wife, amongst so many other Australian Muslims, work 10 hours a day, raise two kids and happily pay $70K to the taxman every year to support our system.

If you see the rorts you are talking about (regardless of what religion they might think they are practising) simple, grab the number plates and report them to the tax office hotline.

In few cases I actually did more than that: I walk to them and tell them that their very own religion tells them that ‘work is a form of worship’.

If I judge all people of a certain faith because I saw a crime or offence committed by a guy wearing a cross or a Buddhist like outfit, the world will become an unlivable place.

Thanks Irfan for explaining some of the complexities of Islam as it is practised in Australia, and for suggesting some reasons why and how the radicalism that seems to be the catalyst for terrorist acts gains its insidious foothold. Quite rightly, you call upon Australian Muslims to do their bit in ensuring that the practice of Islam is completely separated from the preaching of the extremist imams who act as rabble rousers among alienated young Aussie Muslims.

However, as per usual your article has attracted the attention of our own (non-Muslim) rabble rousers, racists and ratbags, who respond to your very reasonable article with their typically ignorant and hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric. I take my hat off to Irfan, together with Waleed Aly and the handful of other Muslim correspondents who gently persist in trying to reach an accommodation with the dominant Australian culture via this forum, in the face of the rude, xenophobic and intransigent reception from the vociferously unreasonable minority here who redefine traditional Aussie racism by directing it towards an ostensibly religious object.

Keep up the good work, Irfan. We will only overcome the current hysteria if we can find ways to work together as Australians. The rabble rousing racist crew are in my opinion more of a threat to our social cohesion than are the thousands of Australian Muslims who would undoubtedly prefer to go about their daily lives without harassment from an authoritarian State, the ignorant racism at which Aussies have had so much practice, or the exhortations of 'mad mullahs' imported from Saudi Arabia or elsewhere.

P.S. Boaz: this is my first comment in this thread. As usual, you have your wires seriously crossed.

Nice piece Irfan terror is a crime against everyone. Redneck and his like are part of the problem not the solution. The show on ABC last night was so full of errors it was sad. Considering that the "reporter" was a ex CIA it's no wonder they got their intell about Iraq so wrong. As for redneck comment about Islamic law can you show me in the bible were it say's that adultery is no longer a sin punishable by death or working on the sabbath even? Islam is just like other faiths it practitioners generaly move with the times. There will always be hard liners in the ranks just like any other religion. In Australia most church leaders don't believe in the death penalty but some conservatives(US car sales man) do we have to make sure they don't get into power where every they are from.

BD,
I have studies Christianity – at school and a little at university. I do not believe I have a manufactured God image.

It would seem to me that since Muslims and moderates like me have a different image of God to you that you are the one who is unhappy with people who disagree with you – which you have consistently shown through your posts.

I would suggest that it is you who needs to seek a balanced view of God. Less fundamental and more open to the fact that a different belief system/dogma does not change the fact that we all worship the one God and hope for peace and charity.

Good luck with that…

ON TOPIC:
The fact that Ifran identifies a problem internal to his religion highlights the fact that Islam can be moderate. Blaming the whole of Islam for the issues it currently struggles with, is akin to blaming the whole of Christianity for the issues created by individuals who did not ‘follow the true word of God’ (see the similarity, those who use this argument?)

I believe Ifran would agree that Islam is in need of a Reformation. That Christianity required one (and thankfully it had it!) simply highlights the similarities between the two.

To quote:
“Order is not pressure which is imposed … from without, but an equilibrium which is set up from within”

Something all religion and people can learn…

I don’t blame you, Kalweb. We will never know what Muslims really think. While the lefty drongos lap up what so-called moderate Muslims know they want to hear, you are right to maintain your rage. Many Australians appear to have absolutely no idea what’s in store for them. Lying to infidels, even to other Muslims, to gain desired ends is standard procedure for Islamists.

How long do I have to keep being tolerant for when people are getting killed and muslims are planning more attacks?

Its not all muslims. But the fact is I AM TOLERANT and then we read of muslims in the UK a land from which many Australians ancestors were expelled (highland clearances, church of England tithes etc)killing and intimidating apostates from their religion of peace. Is this a minority of muslims who want to kill or agree that apostates should be killed?