A federal government frontbencher has warned against “simplistic” calls for a reformation within Islam, arguing “megaphone politics” could jeopardise Australia’s relations with regional neighbours such as Indonesia.
In a rebuke to former prime minister Tony Abbott, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells said calls for reform within Islam required “a reality check and some basic facts being instilled into the debate”.
The assistant minister for multicultural affairs also chided MPs who had indulged in a “public flogging” of Australia’s grand mufti, Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, for “their own political ends”.
Malcolm Turnbull has been seeking to spread a message of mutual respect as a defence against terrorists dividing the nation. The intervention by Fierravanti-Wells carries added weight because the New South Wales Liberal senator comes from the conservative wing of the party.
Abbott, who has been playing an increasingly assertive role in national security debates, called last week for a reformation within Islam and argued that not all cultures were equal. The former prime minister said Islam needed “a reformation, an enlightenment, a well-developed concept of the separation of church and state”.
Fierravanti-Wells said such calls were simplistic because Islam did not have a hierarchy of clergy, there was no overarching authority to establish or forbid religious practices or interpretation of the Qur’an, and a person with sufficient religious knowledge could act as an imam.
“Simplistic calls for ‘revolution’, ‘change’ or ‘reform’ fail to take into account these complexities, especially the lack of hierarchy and authority,” she wrote in a column in the Australian newspaper on Wednesday.
“A more realistic and achievable approach lies in ensuring imans preach a more modern and moderate interpretation of the Koran,” she wrote.
Fierravanti-Wells said moderate Muslims needed support “to ensure their positive migration legacy is not tainted by the actions of those bent on mayhem and destruction of our values”.
“Megaphone politics not only distracts from this but has implications for our relationships with our neighbours,” she said.
Fierravanti-Wells had a clear message for some of her colleagues and media organisations who had accused the grand mufti of failing to adequately condemn the Paris terrorist attacks.
“While some may feel a public flogging of the grand mufti, Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, may have served their own political ends, he does not represent or speak for all Muslims in Australia,” she said.
“He is elected by the Australian National Imams Council, which brings together about 200 largely Sunni imams. The election of Shady Alsuleiman, our first Australian-born imam, as ANIC’s president is an important resetting point.”
Fierravanti-Wells had herself called for a stronger statement from the grand mufti.
But some government frontbenchers went further, with Josh Frydenberg saying the grand mufti had sought to cover up his “graphic failure” of leadership and Peter Dutton saying the Islamic leadership needed to “step up and to condemn these attacks without qualification”.
The independent senator Jacqui Lambi suggested the grand mufti of Australia should be monitored using an electronic tracking device.
In the column, Fierravanti-Wells said there was no official training institute for imams in Australia and no system to regulate the teachings and conduct of imams. She said she had learned from her discussions with Muslim communities around Australia that there was support to address these issues.
She said the interpretation of the Qur’an “should reflect the approach of the overwhelming majority of Australians of Muslim faith who want to get on building a good life for themselves and their children”.
Fierravanti-Wells, who represented Julie Bishop at the eighth Bali Democracy Forum last week, pointed to the experience of Indonesia “where not only does moderate Islam prevail but the coexistence of the diversity of faiths and tolerance is a good example for others to follow”.
