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October 30, 2006
I guess Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali's words express the widely shared views and sentiments among the first-generation Muslim immigrants in Australia. What Hilali says is consistent with a strict, conservative interpretation of Islam, and so highlights the fundamental difficulty with Islam's attempts to integrate with modernity.
Bill Leak
The old era of immigrants see moral corruption endemic in Australian secular society, the kind they believe has led to a breakdown in families. Their views overlap with Australian social conservatives in general [eg., those who cluster around in The Australian and Quadrant], who see human freedoms, especially with regard to sexuality, as having gone too far.
The Islamic and Christian religious conservatives see their religious texts (the Koran and Bible respectively) as the literal word of God, and not as a product of history. Consequently, only a strict interpretation of the text is appropriate.
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