Jihad on the Bookshelf

It's a colourful book that sits on a shelf in the country's largest Islamic bookshop deep in the south western suburbs of Sydney.

But unlike much of the texts surrounding it, 'Jihad and Jurisprudence' is considered by moderate Muslims to pose a danger to society.

Inside, Australian laws are described as "null and void" and all Muslims are called to participate in violent Jihad, or Holy War, in "Infidel Lands" - including Australia!

Its author Abu Qatada is the suspected leader of al-Qa'ida in Europe and is under arrest in Britain.

Joining a Jihad group is, he states, "not a seasonal choice" but a Divine Order. "Infidel Christians and Jews who live on Muslim lands can be considered protected people, but those who are not in Muslim lands can have no protection and cannot be trusted; they are War Infidels."

The Arabic-language book was bought by The Weekend Australian from The Islamic Bookstore, in Sydney's Lakemba.

It is evidence of what moderate Muslims fear is the spread of radicalising books and pamphlets that could serve as a convincing rationale for Terrorism among younger impressionable members of the Australian Muslim community.

Among those concerned are the country's most senior Islamic leader, Sheikh Taj Din Al Hilaly, and Islamic scholar Mohsen Labban.

Both warn this literature could lead to Muslims isolating themselves from mainstream society and create a situation where radical ideas can be incubated.

"They (fundamentalists) choose certain translations which have this tendency towards dogmatic and violent attitudes as the meaning of verses (from the Koran)," Mr Labban says.

"What we are talking about is shaping the mind. A mind that makes you dogmatic, superior and intolerant towards everyone else. This leads to no tolerance for integration or assimilation or acceptance, and perhaps antagonism towards the rest of society."

Sheikh Hilaly himself is an unwilling recipient of this kind of literature, including the works of the 18th century founder of the fundamentalist Wahabi form of Islam, Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahab.

But some time ago he made a firm decision about how to deal with the caches of booklets and pamphlets that turn up unsolicited every few months on the doorstop of Lakemba Mosque, the most prominent place of worship for Australia's 280,000 Muslims. So seriously does he take the literature's ability to influence people, he makes trips to the rubbish tip to dispose of it.

In an interview with The Weekend Australian several months ago, Sheikh Hilaly refused to reveal who was behind the material - which is understood to be distributed unsolicited to other Mosques.

Most of the literature raising concern is Wahabi, the extremist form of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia. Based on a strict interpretation of the Koran, Wahabism has developed a negative reputation worldwide because its adherents include Osama bin Laden and his followers as well as Afghanistan's ousted Taliban.

Wahabi's believe laws laid down in the Koran, termed Sharia law, should be the way society is governed. Other moderate Muslims say official groups are spreading this literature, rather than a few individuals returning from the Middle East with books in their suitcase.

But the moderates are reluctant to name these groups publicly, fearful of dividing the Muslim community and attracting unwanted attention.

The Saudi embassy in Canberra has a dedicated branch called the Daawa Office to distribute Islamic literature but has refused to answer repeated questions from this newspaper about its role.

The Weekend Australian understands responsibility for spreading Wahabi literature worldwide rests with the Muslim World League and its affiliate the InterNational Islamic Relief Organisation, both registered in Australia.

They are Saudi Government-controlled and have both been implicated in funnelling money to al-Qa'ida. The US Central Intelligence Agency says the IIRO funded six militant training camps in Afghanistan.

The MWL is run out of an apartment in Melbourne's northern suburb of Preston. Director Mohamed Ahmed says about four shipping containers of literature arrive every year from Saudi Arabia for distribution in Australia, but says the material is never extremist -- merely copies of the Koran and other booklets to aid Sheikhs and Imams. Shafiq Rahman Abdullah Khan, who is listed on registration documents as IIRO Director, says he has no knowledge of the organisation.

The Australian Government has expressed its concerns to Saudi officials about the distribution of literature as well as money flowing from Saudi Arabia to schools, Mosques and Islamic centres in Australia.

But it remains a delicate area for the Government. Religious freedom is a fundamental right in any Democracy. And the importation and dissemination of fundamentalist doctrine is therefore legal.

However, Wahabism remains a potent label that some Muslims use against their rivals to try to damage their reputation.

"It's a derogatory term that some people use to describe Muslims they don't agree with," says Amir Butler, chair of the Melbourne-based Australian Muslim Public Affairs Committee.

Such name-calling is expected to surface in coming months as Lakemba Mosque braces for management committee elections in June.

Observers expect a power struggle between a coalition of young firebrand Sheikhs, including Sheikh Shady el-Souleiman whose impassioned sermons can be heard at the United Muslim Association in Lakemba, and Sheikh Feiz Mohamad, who teaches at the nearby Global Islamic Youth Centre. They are expected to challenge the older generation who support Sheikh Hilaly, a leading moderate.

"There is no doubt we would like to see him out of there," one member of the coalition says of Sheikh Hilaly.

Jihad and Jurisprudence has a Wahabi rationale. Qatada rejects Democracy, elections and Parliaments. According to Wahabism, they contradict Islam because God made laws, not man.

Wahabi followers in Australia exist on the fringes of the peaceful mainstream Muslim community.

"Wahabism has been in Australia for a long, long time, they have their own centres, they have their own organisations, they just go about their business," says Mr Butler.

"If they are distributing their literature, well good luck to them, but they don't have a monopoly on literature. Other communities spread their literature as well. If you go to a Turkish Mosque, you won't find Wahabi literature there.

"And even if it is widely distributed and read, it doesn't mean that they become Wahabi's or that they even agree with it."

Qatada's book clearly differs. The Jordanian-born cleric says violent Jihad should occur everywhere and all Muslims are obliged to participate to remove the Infidels. "Muslims, there is no substitute for fire, no substitute for arms, no substitute for blood," he exhorts.


See Also:
The Rising Tide of Islamic Fundamentalism (I)
The Rising Tide of Islamic Fundamentalism (II)
The Holy Qur'an Says...
The Myth That Must Die!
Oh Moderate Muslims, Where Art Thou?
Why We Fight!
Calling Evil By Its Name
Western Leftists Join al-Qaida in 'Red Jihad'