Aussie Muslim Suggests Integration

Seething and fatwas are sure to follow after this.

Imams urged to be lifesavers and fireys

MUSLIM clerics will be encouraged to become surf lifesavers and volunteer firefighters as part of a push by one of the nation's most influential Islamic leaders for greater integration of his community into the mainstream.

In a report to be considered by imams at a meeting this weekend, Lebanese Muslim Association president Tom Zreika likens the unpopularity of Muslims to attitudes to communists, and urges spiritual leaders to improve the image of Islam in Australia.

Mr Zreika says in the report, commissioned by the powerful LMA, that Australians have "had enough of us".

Trust me, Tom, it isn't just the Australians. Are you listening, Dougie Hooper?

Mr Zreika blames the bad English-language skills of some imams for poor understanding and "bitterness" towards local Muslims.

"We have become the new communism, particularly in the West, and some people in our community are so repulsed by our actions, it is making life unbearable for us and our offspring," he says.

The document, obtained by The Australian and dated November last year to this month, says Islamic spiritual leaders should not "be fooled that this country belongs to Muslims at the exclusion of others".

Cleric Taj Din al-Hilali came under fire in January for attacking the West for being "oppressive" and saying immigrants had more right to live in Australia than the "descendants of convicts".

In the 16-page paper, titled "Australian Imams: The Way Forward", Mr Zreika recommends that imams should not "bring problems experienced overseas to Australia".

One of the report's 95 recommendations says imams should not be linked to any organistions of suspicion. Another says clerics must declare as income all gifts from officiating at weddings and funerals, as well as any other financial gift.

The Sydney-based lawyer accuses some imams of negligence in their incitement of hate against the West. "The last thing this society wants is angry men and women following radical but charismatic cults, like figures who promote breaches of the law and violence on the preposterous justification that they are simply acting in self-defence in a time of war," he says. "We are not at war, and we need some of our imams to stop being negligent."

Memo to Tom: Beef up security.