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| Down Under |
| Some Aussie imams condone violence |
| 2006-01-29 |
| THE nation's most senior Islamic woman has attacked Muslim religious leaders who condone "wife-beating" and other forms of domestic violence. Aziza Abdel-Halim, the only female member of the Prime Minister's Muslim Advisory Council, has warned that Islamic women are being "put down" by imams and their rights ignored. "Women have suffered from sometimes ill-informed imams ... who have tried to put down women and negate some of their rights or activities," she said yesterday. "And some of them (imams) have condoned men beating women, which is un-Islamic." The comments, unusually outspoken for a female Muslim leader, have surfaced amid concerns that no female community representatives had been invited to the coming national imams conference in Sydney. The conference is likely to see moderate spiritual leaders attempt to crack down on radical clerics and their extremists views and to develop a national board of imams. The imams meeting will be attended by 10 community representatives and 62 imams, including firebrand cleric Mohammed Omran, who has come under fire from the Federal Government and moderate Muslim leaders for espousing radical views, including that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is not a terrorist but a "good man". Sister Abdel-Halim, president of the Muslim Women's National Network Australia, said the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the conference host, was being "unjust" by not inviting female community representatives to attend. "Women are half of the community and they bring up the other half, so you shouldn't really exclude them from anything," she said. "There should be some women observers who have a background in ... Islamic studies, and these women will represent the women within the community and should have an input." She said the women may "raise a few points of concern that the imams may not be aware of or may be aware of and may be reluctant to address". Sister Abdel-Halim's comments about cruelty towards Muslim women were backed by Jamila Hussain, a lecturer in Islamic Law at the University of Technology Sydney, who said many imams were out of touch with issues concerning Muslim women. She worried that some spiritual leaders were indifferent to the cruelty being experienced by some women at the hands of aggressive partners. "We don't know what imams are telling the men," Ms Hussain said. "Are they taking a stand for example against domestic violence? They should be, but we don't know whether they are or not. We suspect that some are, but probably the majority are not." Sister Abdel-Halim told The Australian that "imams wield a great deal of power over the community". "When people go to congregation, the imam for them is the source of religious knowledge and what he says to a lot of them is indisputable," she said. She said that, along with the imams who would be present at the conference, male and female academics and youth leaders should also be invited to share their views. She said she thought the AFIC board of executives "find educated women very threatening because women are ... very good community organisers and high achievers when it comes to (setting up initiatives)". The federation has recently come under attack from community youth representatives and other Muslim leaders for not being representative of the Islamic community in Australia. The Australian's phone calls to the federation yesterday were not returned. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 Shouldn't it be Some Aussie imams condone violence in English |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-01-29 18:49 |
| #2 when will we see the mass-Bobbitting of Islamic brutes by their abused wives? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-01-29 17:01 |
| #1 Aziza Abdel-Halim, the only female member of the Prime Minister's Muslim Advisory Council, has warned that Islamic women are being "put down" by imams and their rights ignored. blizzards of seething fatwas 6.....5...4..3..2. |
| Posted by: RD 2006-01-29 16:08 |