A well-composed article. I see the authors point about uniting Muslims in this country as Australian Muslims and having leaders that have the ability to partake in public debate without seeking to be headline-grabbers. However, its hard to expect this united front of the muslim world, when Australian christians are not expected to do the same. Can you imagine the catholics, anglicans, methodists, 7th day adventists etc agreeing to have one representative? Huh!

That said, it appears (and correct me if I am wrong) that islam is a little different, in that it is very much a culture as well as a religion. I have no problem with the leaders of individual sectors of islam doing and saying their own thing to their congregation, but the islamic culture could well do with a united front in Australia. Someone who knows how to get a point across without inflaming public opinion (in any sort of public arena, those that are insensitive or inflammatory tend to get the boot eventually). I suspect the process will not be an easy one....

Oh; I just found another very well written article by Mr. Hassan and I happy that the author this time highlighted the problems within the Islamic community. I totally agree that the problems lay with the Islamic leaders not the people.

Country Gal, I appreciate your comments and positive thoughts. When people talk about Osama or Muqtada… these is no way the Islamic scholar, professor or Mufit…. These are political crap created by US agencies for their missions to serve. I am happy that the author has referred Muslims in Australia as ‘Australian Muslims’. In Australia every person including Muslims has to behave like one AUSTRALIAN.

It is laudable Syed says of the Muslim community (when living in a multicultural, multiethnic and multi-religious society), “they must know how to live with others and how to respect the others’ culture, faith and thoughts.” Syed adds,” Islam also teaches to respect the faith and beliefs of others. Prophet Mohammed denounced racism and sectarianism.” However, there is also a seemingly contradictory and basic denunciation of Western Secularism in his, “Minority religions and secular states" (Febuary 2006).

Syed clearly finds Western secularism acrimonious toward fundamental Islamic belief – the separation of Church and State, ideally, should not exist. “The theory of separation of state and religion makes several underlying assumptions that are hard to come by in the real world..” Secularism is a furphy - merely a front for the exercise of power for the political majority, “the states which claim themselves as secular states are actually the Christian, Hindu or Islamic states depending on who are in majority and in power.” After all, “The majority always dominate the minority: religiously, culturally and socially.” Echoed strongly here is the sentiment of Dr. Jaafar Sheikh Idris (Jumuah Magazine) where it’s stated, “Islam cannot be separated from the state because it guides Muslims through every detail of running the state and their lives. Muslims have no choice but to reject secularism for it excludes the laws of God… Separation of religion and state is not an option for Muslims because is requires us to abandon God's decree for that of a man.”

In spirit, full integration into Australian society doesn’t appear viable, for “when rulers of the Muslim majority states tried to implement the secular philosophy of the West in their countries, they failed to develop a system which could avoid the conflict between Islamic laws and secular ideologies.” Whilst Muslims are in the minority I’d advocate Syed is suggesting an uneasy truce, with our pluralism and democracy used as leverage to destroy any secular ‘values’. So, let’s have our ‘big day out’ and fly the flag, symbolising our freedom ‘from religion’ and in defiance of any political appeasement.

'Islam also teaches to respect the faith and beliefs of others. Prophet Mohammed denounced racism and sectarianism.'

If you are going to promtote tolerance I don't think using a man like the prophet Mohammed is a good idea. He would have to be one of the worst examples in history. His exploits are and have been well documented a number of times before.

If Islam was respectful for the beliefs of others, Muslims would not be killing each other as well as infidels throughout the world. If Muslims were respectful of others belief they would respect Israels right to exist. If Islam was respectful of others you would would feel at ease visiting Moslem countries and they would allow other religions to be practiced without discrimination like we do in Aussie.

Islam does not respect democracy and even in moderate Muslim countries like Malaysia one can not freely convert from Islam without a great deal of pain.

The evidence points to Syed Atiq ul Hassan describing his own version of Islam rather than the one taught by Mohammad.

Runner, plenty of Christians (and even churches) preach their own versions of Christianity, not that of the Bible. Why is it bad for a muslim to do the same?

Look, I dont know if the Koran has come literally from the words of Mohammed, or whether it was written some time later and supposed to be based on what he said. Certainly the bible is supposed to be the word of God, but in fact it is written by man, with all the fallibilities of man, and with the writers interpretation and agenda. That's why I believe that the bible should be a guide and not a word for word instruction book. Perhaps someone could enlighten us with the creation of the Koran (BD, stay away, I'd prefer to hear it from a muslim).

“Islam cannot be separated from the state because it guides Muslims through every detail of running the state and their lives. Muslims have no choice but to reject secularism for it excludes the laws of God… Separation of religion and state is not an option for Muslims because is requires us to abandon God's decree for that of a man.”

If that is true, as a non-Muslim I ask, can't individual Muslims just follow God's decrees and not expect others to? Christians are able to go to church, pay their tithes, submit to church authority, etc. without forcing the rest of society to (though they do try to influence everyone else, probably because they form the majority and because of the huge influence Christianity has had on Australia). Can't Muslims happily go to Mosque, have the women wear their hijabs, submit to mosque authority, etc. without trying to make the rest of society do so? In some part of England and I believe Canada, there are Sharia law sections- why? Is your god not big enough to accept individual worship, must you also force this worship on everybody else in a geographical location?

What runner said is correct. Saudi Arabia is the heart of Islam; Egypt the head, right? In Saudi Arabia, Christianity is illegal. Baptism results in the death penalty. Even the possession of a Bible or private Christian worship in a person's house is considered an "act against the State" so is severely punished. In most Islamic countries, conversion to another religion, and evangelism (an important part of the Christian faith) to a Muslim is illegal and also results in the death penalty. These are the countries whose people daily read their Korans, not Westernised migrants who are more likely to be out of touch with their religious text. I think it is more than obvious that Islam is NOT a religion which teaches tolerance of others' practices and beliefs.

(I have heard the expression "some Muslims are peaceful, but Islam itself is definitely not peaceful". What do people on OLO think of that statement?)