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$2.65m to âsaveâ hardlinerâs mosque
Saudis have donated almost $2.65 million to buy a mosque in Sydney for supporters of one of Australiaâs most hardline Islamic clerics. Saudi fundraiser Sheikh Muhammad Bin Abdullah Al-Dawish said that his campaign to raise money for the mosque had been successful after the intervention of the mufti of Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Al-Dawish told The Weekend Australian from Saudi Arabia that the mufti had "spoken to a few officials" and the money was raised. He said he did not know who was behind the mosque in Sydney and he had never visited Australia. But Muslims would always donate if they thought a mosque anywhere in the world was under threat of closure. "This is not unusual. People all through the Middle East would make donations if this happened in Canada or Australia," he said. Articles have appeared in Arabic newspapers and websites overseas appealing for donations to help pay for the Sydney mosque, with warnings that Jews or Buddhists were trying to buy the site. Supporters of the project in Australia expressed surprise yesterday at Sheikh Al-Dawishâs comments, saying that no money had flowed through to them. Supporters of Sheikh Abdul Salam Mohammed Zoud are trying to raise funds before next monthâs settlement date for the mosque in the southwestern suburb of Belmore. Supporters paid a 10 per cent deposit for the property and two adjoining sites ahead of the auction in May. The mosque is around the corner from Sheikh Zoudâs small prayer hall, whose congregation includes Bilal Khazal, charged this month with compiling a jihad book that was likely to facilitate a terrorist act. French terror suspect Willie Brigitte was married at the prayer hall to former Australian soldier Melanie Brown before his deportation from Sydney late last year. Sheikh Zoud, who is among clerics teaching a fundamentalist form of Islam called Salafi, was unavailable for comment yesterday. It is unclear if his growing congregation would move from the prayer hall after the settlement date to the larger mosque, which is currently closed. Supporter and Sydney-based cleric Moussaab Legha said he doubted the money for the mosque had been raised offshore because nobody from his community had heard about it. Sheikh Legha from the Voice of Islam radio station said locals were working hard to raise the money themselves. Advertisements were being played on the radio station and people were collecting donations in the streets. Sheikh Al-Dawish said he and two other clerics formed a committee in Saudi Arabia to raise the mosque money, with notices posted on Islamic websites and chatrooms. "The Islamic community is concerned about the Judaisation of the neighbourhood and a deposit has been paid in case the mosque is sold to the Jewish community," one of their notices says. Posted by: TS(vice girl) 2004-06-25 |
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