One of the country’s most senior imams, who was targeted by an Islamic State “kill list”, wants religious leaders to be trained in Australia so they can better mesh with the national culture and language.
Sheikh Shadi Alsuleiman, president of the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC), also told the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion about a six-fold increase in Islamophobic incidents, of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Jews after the Bondi Beach attack, and the “open-air prison” of Gaza.
Naveed Akram and his father, Sajid, are accused of carrying out December’s Bondi Beach attack that claimed 15 innocent lives after being radicalised by IS propaganda.
The younger Akram survived and is awaiting trial on murder and terrorism charges, while Sajid was shot and killed during the attack.
Their car had been adorned with the black flags of IS and a manifesto, allegedly recorded by the pair, contains more of the terrorist group’s iconography and lines.
Alsuleiman on Friday morning told Commissioner Virginia Bell he was one of 30 religious leaders, world-wide, who was put on an ISIS kill list.
“ISIS is a terrorist, dangerous organisation that has no links to Islam,” Alsuleiman said.
“They are the enemy of the entire humanity, including Muslims.”
Alsuleiman was added to the list in 2017 because he discouraged violence in the name of Islam and encouraged Muslims to follow the laws of the land.
Two years later, Naveed Akram was interviewed by security services for socialising with an IS cell in Sydney’s west. The young men in the cell were radicalised in Australia and subscribed to hardline domestic preachers.
Alsuleiman said the ANIC “stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Jewish community, post-Bondi”.
“We sat down with the Jewish rabbis. We met with the Jewish leaders,” he said. “We showed our solidarity, support in the best way that we can.”
Alsuleiman on Friday said his organisation was building the Islamic Institute of Higher Education to produce home-grown imams and religious leaders “born or raised in Australia”.
“At current moment, there are two options. Bring imams from overseas or send Australian Muslims to study overseas,” he said.
‘We stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Jewish community, post-Bondi… We showed our solidarity, support in the best way that we can.’
Sheikh Shadi Alsuleiman, President of the Australian National Imams Council
“One of the challenges that we see with imams who come from overseas who are trying their best to accommodate for the community is that there is a big gap with understanding the cultural understanding of the Australian context and the language.”
Alsuleiman said he wanted the proposed institute to help men and women become leaders who can teach Australian-born Muslims “by preserving the classical and traditional understanding of Islam with the Australian context”.
The commission has heard about a sharp increase in antisemitic reports to police and community groups since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel in October 2023 and the war in Gaza that followed.
Alsuleiman said Islamophobia, too, had increased dramatically. A registry run by his organisation had recorded an increase of more than 600 per cent since it was established in 2022.
“Unfortunately, there’s been a huge rise and spike in Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment in particular towards the vulnerable people of the Muslim community, women who wear hijab or elderly men and women, and young Muslims,” he said.
“There’s a huge concern and stress within the Muslim community over the spike and the rise of Islamophobia, anti-Muslim hatred, prejudice and sentiment, anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian [sentiment].”
Alsuleiman was asked about another ANIC imam, Ibrahim Dadoun, who told a crowd in October 2023 he was “elated and smiling” when he heard of the Hamas attack on Israel.
The speech attracted media attention, and ANIC asked Dadoun to explain his comments.
“After he explained himself, it was very clear that he did not condone or support the killing of innocent civilians, whether they are Palestinians or Israelis,” Alsuleiman said.
“On the face of it, without explanation” the comments could be understood as suggesting the attack was justified, Alsuleiman conceded on Friday. He described them as a “serious mistake” by Dadoun.
Alsuleiman said he did not want to see any people suffer as Palestinians in Gaza suffered since Hamas was elected in 2007, and Israel blockaded the territory.
The blockade has been widely characterised by United Nations and other experts as unlawful collective punishment, though that is contested.
“The Palestinian people in Gaza, they were under an illegal blockade for more than 15 years,” Alsuleiman said.
“It was described to be the largest open-air prison by Amnesty and other human rights agencies and organisations.
“And this is not something that resonates with me as a Palestinian, resonates with me as a human being.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
