Tuesday, May 01, 2007
RESISTANCE SYMBOLISED
The SMH’s Ben Cubby kisses up to our Cat-Meat Sheik:
Wry, charismatic and otherworldly, Hilaly has managed to mould himself into a symbol of resistance to the more materialistic elements in Australian culture, a stand that apparently appeals to many who follow Islam here.
Something that also might appeal: the article describes Hilaly as a “former sharia court judge”. It’d be interesting to know the sentences he imposed.
“I condemn and deplore the Holocaust and all the massacres that the Jews faced at the hands of the Nazis,” Hilaly says. “However, I, like many researchers in the world, shy off the number of innocent victims that had been estimated at 6 million.”
Key word: “innocent”.
Devotees tell an anecdote they believe shows the mufti’s character: Hilaly took a troubled young man into his home to offer him guidance, only to have his wallet stolen by the youth. “When I saw him and saw the wallet with him and the police came and placed him on the ground, I began to feel sorry for him and wept in sadness,” Hilaly says.
“I decided to divide my money with him and gave him $400. I asked the police to let him go and I agreed to forgo my rights against him.”
A measly $400 is nothing to Mr Meat, who is accustomed to carrying much larger sums.