Shady Alsuleiman (born 1978 in Sydney, Australia) is a Muslim imam and the president of the Australian National Imams Council and the United Muslims of Australia. He is from a Palestinian family who migrated to Australia in the late 1960s. He initially obtained an Ijazah (licence) with Sanad (complete chain back to Muhammad) in complete and sound memorization of the Quran at Darul Uloom Al-Husainiah in Sindh, Pakistan.[ citation needed ]
Alsuleiman has been recognized as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world. [1]
Alsuleiman is the founder of one of Australia's largest youth centres known as the UMA in Sydney, as well as Sydney Islamic College, which delivers Islamic studies to adults. He also held the position of the secretary of the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) from 2006 to 2015. [2] [3] He was re-elected as the president in 2019.
Alsuleiman has been described as "controversial" by Fairfax newspaper WAtoday . [4] However, he has also been described as "moderate" by the Sydney Morning Herald , another Fairfax newspaper. [5] He has been verbally attacked by British extremist Abu Haleema for some of his fatwas. [5]
Alsuleiman established the organisation, United Muslims of Australia [6] and in 2016 was elected as the president of Australian National Imams Council (ANIC). [7]
In April 2018, Alsuleiman was banned from entering the Kingdom of Denmark to stop him from spreading his views there. He was the 14th addition to a list of foreign religious preachers which are barred from entering by the Ministry of Immigration and Integration. [8] [9] [10]
In 2013, Alsuleiman spoke of what he called the "evil of homosexuality", making broad statements regarding HIV and AIDS disease.” [4] [11]
Alsuleiman filed defamation charges against Newscorp in 2017 regarding claims he preached homophobia and hatred towards women and minorities. [12] [13] In 2018 it was announced that Alsuleiman had won the case; Newscorp were ordered to pay costs and remove the articles which made the defamatory claims. [14]
Alsuleiman has signed a Muslim community letter condemning “all forms of intimidation and abuse targeting women”. [15] He has been featured in online videos both supporting Sharia Law and respecting woman. [4] [16]
In February 2009, a Fairfax journalist was ejected from the Lakemba Mosque during an event, during which, Fairfax later reported that Anwar al-Awlaki spoke via phone link. The director of the mosque told Fairfax journalists that Alsuleiman was in charge of organising evening youth events at the time of the sermon. [17] [18] [19]
In 2014 Alsuleiman spoke at Park View Academy, a Birmingham UK secondary school claimed to be at the centre of Operation Trojan Horse. Alsuleiman told the pupils, "Give victory to Muslims in Afghanistan… Give victory to all the Mujahideen all over the world. Oh Allah, prepare us for the jihad". [20] [21] A subsequent Department for Education, Education Funding Agency (EFA) report said that there was a breach of standards at the school which had allowed, "Sheikh Shady Al-Suleiman, known to extol extremist views (e.g. stoning of adulterers), to address the students". [22] A newspaper report said Asuleiman had only talked about "time management". [23]
In June 2016, Alsuleiman participated in an Iftar dinner at Kirribilli House hosted by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister said he would not have invited Alsuleiman had he known of his position regarding homosexuals. Alsuleiman said he did not hold radical anti-gay views. [24] Australia's Grand Mufti, Ibrahim Abu Mohamed has repudiated Malcolm Turnbull's position on this issue, saying Islam has a, "longstanding" position on homosexuality" which "no person can ever change". He said that any attempt to call out its teachings could lead to radicalisation. [25]
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Joseph Benedict Hockey is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for North Sydney from 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer of Australia in the Abbott government from 18 September 2013 until September 2015 when he resigned from Cabinet, having refused an alternative offer from the incoming Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull. He previously served as the Minister for Human Services and Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations in the Howard government. He also served as Ambassador of Australia to the United States from January 2016 until January 2020.
Taj El-Din Hamid Hilaly was an Egyptian Australian imam of Lakemba Mosque in Sydney and a Sunni Muslim leader in Australia. The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils appointed him Mufti of Australia in 1988. He referred to himself as the Grand Mufti of Australia and New Zealand, although this title was not unanimously endorsed, and was also described by some Muslims as honorary, rather than substantial. After a series of controversial statements on social issues, Hilaly retired from this position in June 2007 and was succeeded by Fehmi Naji.
Islam in Australia is a minority religious affiliation. According to the 2021 Census in Australia, the combined number of people who self-identified as Muslims in Australia, from all forms of Islam, constituted 813,392 people, or 3.2% of the total Australian population. That total Muslim population makes Islam, in all its denominations and sects, the second largest religious grouping in Australia, after all denominations of Christianity.
Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdul Aziz al-Sudais, better known as Al-Sudais, is one of the nine imams of the Grand Mosque, Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, Saudi Arabia; the president of the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques; a renowned Qāriʾ ; he was the Dubai International Holy Qur'an Award's "Islamic Personality Of the Year" in 2005.
The Lakemba Mosque, also known as the Masjid Ali Bin Abi Talib and officially the Imam Ali bin Abi Taleb Mosque, is Australia's largest mosque. It is located at 71-75 Wangee Road, Lakemba. Owned and managed by the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA), Lakemba Mosque and the LMA offices are situated contiguously at the same address.
Suhaib Webb is an American Muslim imam who converted from Christianity to Islam in 1992. He has previously been the imam of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC).
Khalid Yasin is an American Islamic preacher, a former Christian, who lives in Manchester, England and lectures in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. Yasin frequently travels overseas to spread his faith and has called himself a "media-bedouin," remarking that the Bedouins are willing to settle wherever there is "water and shelter".
Feiz Mohammad is an Australian Muslim preacher.
The Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA) is an Australian non-profit welfare Sunni Muslim organisation based in Lakemba, a south-western suburb of Sydney. It is also variously cited as the Lebanese "Moslem", "Moslems" or "Muslims" Association.
Dr Sheikh Mansour Leghaei is the founder and a director of the Imam Husain Islamic Centre and the School of Islamic Theology in Earlwood, Australia, serving as the imam from 1997 to 2010. He previously served in Nigeria, where in 1992 he opened an Education Centre called Ahul Bayt.
The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) was formed in 2006 during a meeting of more than 80 Sunni imams which had gathered to discuss the crisis created by comments made by Taj El-Din Hilaly. In 2011, they requested that the Darulfatwa-supported Muslim Community Radio Incorporated not have its licence renewed due to ties with Al-Ahbash and because of its promotion of "sectarian fringe views".
On 15 September 2012, a protest against the anti-Islamic film Innocence of Muslims was held in Sydney, New South Wales. While the protest started peacefully, violent confrontations between police and protesters began when protesters reached the United States Consulate General. In resulting clashes, six police officers and 19 protesters were injured. The violence was condemned by Australian political leaders, including Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Police arrested nine protesters in connection with the violence.
Ibrahim Abu Mohamed is an Egyptian-born and educated Sunni Islamic scholar and Grand Mufti of Australia from September 2011 to March 2018. He became Grand Mufti again after Afifi's death.
The Grand Mufti of Australia is a Sunni Muslim cleric, or Grand Mufti, chosen to represent and answer questions from the growing Muslim population. Nominated by the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC), the current Grand Mufti of Australia since 2018 is Ibrahim Abu Mohammed. Mohammed previously held the position from 2011–2018, and became Grand Mufti again after his successor, Abdel Aziem Al-Afifi died in office after a four-month tenure.
The Islamic Research and Educational Academy is an independent Islamic dawah organisation based in Hoppers Crossing, Victoria. It is Sunni-based and says, "We use religion to unite, where others may seek to use it to divide". It is led by Waseem Razvi.
The Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association of Australia (ASWJA) was founded by Melbourne sheikh Mohammed Omran. Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah is a generic term referring to Sunni Islam. Those who adopt it as organisational name do so as adherents of the Salafi movement in Australia, US, UK, and Canada.
Shakil Chapra, better known by his kunya Abu Haleema, is a British Muslim radical activist and extremist preacher. In 2014, he had his passport seized by the British authorities to prevent him leaving the country. In 2015, he was arrested and released on bail. According to the London Evening Standard, he is an associate of Anjem Choudary.
Shakeel Begg is a prominent British Muslim, notable for losing a court case in which he challenged the BBC's description of him as an extremist. He has been imam of the Lewisham Islamic Centre in London since 1998. He has played a role in the British Muslim community, has been invited to speak at mosques and Islamic events, and has been a spokesman for the Muslim community at events and in press releases.
Mohammad Tawhidi is an Australian Shia Muslim influencer and self-proclaimed "Imam". He currently serves as the Vice President of The Global Imams Council, a little known organisation based in Iraq.