OPINION: Survivor Hilaly will continue to be irrelevant

I HAVE good news and bad news in relation to Sheik Hilaly. The bad news is that, thanks to an aggressive media and political campaign, Hilaly will probably survive as senior imam of the mosque in Lakemba managed by the Lebanese Muslim Association.

The good news isn't really news at all. Hilaly's status in the Muslim community is the same as it was when he first arrived in Australia. For most Muslims, Hilaly barely registers on their spiritual radar.

Three out of four Muslims don't speak Arabic. The vast majority communicate in English. When I want to communicate with Muslims in Sydney, I don't go to the Arabic press or speak on Arabic radio. I write for this newspaper. More Muslims in Sydney read this newspaper than any foreign language paper.

This Sunday, Sydney's newest mosque in Bonnyrigg will be officially opened. Citizenship Minister Andrew Robb will be there for the event. So will be the most influential imam in Australia.

Am I talking about Hilaly? Nope. Australia's most influential imam is a man who presides over the vast majority of imams in Australia. Most mosques are managed by Turks. Most Turkish mosques employ Turkish imams.

So when Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs head Dr Ali Bardakoglu visits Australia in the next week or so, it should be a media event. It will certainly be noticed at most Australian mosques.

I rarely, if ever, attend Friday congregational prayers at the LMA mosque in Lakemba. The sermon is always in Arabic.

Very rarely is any translation done. I learn nothing. Frequently, sermons are known to take up to two hours.

I'd rather pray where the sermon is in English and I can budget for time on a busy afternoon.

Hilaly may proclaim himself the mufti. But to most Australian Muslims, he is at best irrelevant and at worst a complete embarrassment.

Perhaps it is a good thing Hilaly refuses to learn English.

If his views on Jews and women and cats were anything to go by, he deserves the status of irrelevance he has with Australia's overwhelmingly non Arabic-speaking Muslim communities.

(Irfan Yusuf is a Sydney lawyer. First published in the Daily Telegraph on 04 November 2006)