Australia is sorry

Emotions, tears and cheers marked one of the most historic moments in the history of this country.Today, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, said sorry to the indigenous people of Australia. He said “"For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.”

I say thank you Mr Rudd for your stance of justice and courage. Today, I feel proud to be an Australian. I feel proud to be part of this nation.

Kevin Rudd has shown an exemplary model of leadership. He demonstrated courage to change the direction of the nation. His speech was so strong, refreshing and honest. Today the parliament met "To remove a great stain from the nation's soul and in the true spirit of reconciliation to open a new chapter in the history of this great land Australia.''

Today, all living ex-prime ministers of Australia attended this historic moment in the parliament, except for one - John Howard. John Howard did not want to apologize to the indigenous people. John Howard was responsible for targeting and scapegoating of the Muslim community. John Howard was responsible for causing a rift within our communities and for leaving the country with a feeling of lost hope. John Howard did not attend the apology speech today. Shame!!

I hope that Australia takes this day of reconciliation as an opportunity for reconciliation with all communities in this country.

Dr Amir Ali's statement about Prophet Mohammad

 
On October 4th, 2006, The Australian published an article titled "Prophet not perfect, says Islamic scholar". In my view, the article is a venomous attack on the Prophet (pbuh) and an intentional mis quotation by the journalist.

I have to say that the minute I read the article, I had a strong suspicion that Dr Amir Ali was misquoted for the following reasons:

1) The author described Dr Ali as an Islamic Scholar which he certainly is not, nor did he claim so.

2) This answer to this question appeared to me as an answer to a different question. "Asked if the prophet had character flaws, he said: "Of course - you must look at him as a human being also.""

3) The journalist "Richard Kerbaj" is known for his anti-Islamic view.

Later, Dr Ali has issued a statement dated 6th October titled "MISREPRESENTED BY JOURNALISTS", where he argued that his statement was taken out of context.

While I fully understand what Dr Ali has experienced, I think that a person in his position should be more savvy as how to handle hostile journalists like Richard Kerbaj. He should have recorded his interview. I think he is negligent (at least).

The prophet has made very few minor mistakes in his life (without which he would have been more an angel than a human). These few tiny mistakes where corrected by the Quran to set the standard. An example of that was when he did not give sufficient attention to answer the enquiry of a blind man.

Oh my beloved prophet Mohammad...may the peace and blessings of Allah be on you.