Extremist Students Takeover Of Mosque A Disturbing Development

Hardline international students have wrested control of a major NSW mosque, ousting the local imam amid accusations the group is rapidly converting followers to extremist Islam.

Up to 150 university students from Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Egypt who follow the fundamentalist Wahabbism ideology are claimed to be central to the overthrow of the executive board of the Newcastle Muslim Association.  Deposed association president Yunus Kara has accused the students of pushing for new leadership of the port city's mosque in order to advance their own extremist agenda and continue "brainwashing" local Muslims. 

Wahhabists follow the strict teachings of Mohammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, a religious reformer who co-founded Saudi Arabia in about 1750. They are conservative and believe strictly in segregation of men and women amongst many other radical beliefs.  

Newcastle Mosque's deposed imam, Bilal Kanj, said while the students openly denied their Wahabbi beliefs and radical Koranic interpretations, they were converting people during prayer group meetings and other religious gatherings. "If you were to ask them, they will deny they're Wahabbi," said the Australian-born cleric, who moved to Newcastle three months ago to work as a full-time spiritual leader. "They play it very discreetly. We've been studying them all of our life and we know how to spot them very easily."

Mr Kara said the international students were aged between 20 and 30, and were known to make home visits to members of the port city's 600-strong Muslim population to preach their beliefs. This home preaching may suggest that the appointment of a new imam is not an immediate priority of the new leadership. Mr Kara said radical students had gathered more support over the past two years after they had begun to flock the mosque in larger numbers. He said an absence of proper religious leadership at Newcastle Mosque over the past 30 years - prior to Sheik Bilal Kanj's appointment - also meant the students could exploit the void to spread their own ideologies.

Meanwhile Australian Union of Jewish Students president Joel Burnie claims Islamic extremism is a widespread problem on Australian campuses. Posters, political rhetoric, student stalls and protests by Muslim students were common, Mr Burnie said the ousting of a moderate Muslim at Newcastle by hardliners was a "disturbing occurrence".  But militant Muslims were active across the country, he said. "There is teaching of Islamic fundamentalism on Australian campuses," he said. "It happens quite often". Mr Burnie said there were worrying divisions emerging in Australia. "It worries me that there seems to be an ever growing cultural divide between hardline Muslims and the Australian community, and also a growing rift between fundamentalist and moderate Muslims," he said. 

Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

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