2007年VOA标准英语-Young Australian Muslims Want Homegrown Imams

By Phil Mercer
Sydney
26 July 2007

Australia's Muslims want to move away from the practice of importing imams. Most senior clerics here were born in the Middle East - some do not speak English and are seen as out of touch with modern Australia. Many mosques² have employed them believing they have greater knowledge and more authority than locals. But observers believe a new generation of homegrown clerics, able to surf and play rugby, can connect better with young Muslims and help limit the appeal of extremism. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

Moderate imams are on the front-line in efforts to stop Muslims in Australia from being seduced³ by extremism.

Many involved in this effort say the influence of more Australian-born Islamic leaders could be helpful. Kurander Seyit, who publishes an Islamic newspaper in Sydney, says the practice of importing clerics from abroad is out-dated.

"Unfortunately we are still reverting⁴ to getting people who are probably in their late, you know, middle-aged⁵ imams who have hardened ideas about life and very hard to change them when they come to Australia. It's, you know, a total culture clash and so that's the problem," he said. "We've got people from overseas not understanding the mentality⁷ of Australia so it's really important we do get these people who are homegrown."

Ideas to increase the number of Australian-born clerics include setting up a seminary or encouraging mosques to set up in-house training courses.

Thirty-three-year-old Haisam Farache is one of a rare breed. Born in Australia, he is the imam at one of Sydney's biggest mosques.

While he appreciates the wisdom of the foreign clerics, he believes that many lack a true understanding of Australian values and culture.

"They memorize the whole Koran and they learn all the body of jurisprudence and all the different traditions and the different teachings of Islam so they come with a wealth of knowledge and a wealth of experience," he said. "There is also a period of trying to understand what's going on in the community and when they come here generally, the imams and the scholars they come into their own communities and there's a sense that they haven't actually hit the mainstream⁸ of Australian society."

Farache lists surfing and rugby as his hobbies, which newspaper publisher Seyit says enhances his ability to connect with young Muslims.

"That's worth its weight in gold - to find someone who can relate to someone else about sport or understand the politics of this country, be able to talk about what young kids want to talk about; music and fashions and cars," said Seyit. "That's really important. Our old imams can't do that."

There are about 350,000 Muslims in Australia. It is a diverse community with many immigrant members from as far away as Africa, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Middle East.

Traditionally imams have been imported. But many do not speak fluent English.

cape9, joins members of Sydney's Lebanese community in a march through Sydney's central business district in this July 2006 file photo" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070728/1054110.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Sheik Taj el Din6 al-Hilali, in brown cape, joins members of Sydney's Lebanese community in a march through Sydney's central business district in this July 2006 file photo

This caused big problems for the former mufti of Australia, Sheikh Taj el Din al Hilali. He sparked outrage¹⁰ when in a sermon he likened immodestly dressed women to "uncovered meat" who invited sexual assault. The sheikh was roundly condemned¹¹ but claimed his remarks made in Arabic had been misinterpreted and taken out of context.

The new leader of Australia's Muslims - Lebanese-born Sheikh Fehmi Naji El-Imam - says his predecessor¹² was treated unfairly.

"I don't know if the Mufti Hilali was addressing the Australian girls or women in particular, because when he talked about this he was talking to the Muslim community inside the mosque¹, in a sermon," he said. "So maybe he wants to advise the Muslim community not to do the same thing, spoil themselves to the sun, maybe because possible skin cancer in the future and things like that, who knows? He was misunderstood all the time."

Abdul Waleed is an American cleric employed by Sydney's Turkish community. He is a convert to Islam and believes that foreign-born religious leaders with a good grasp of English do have a positive part to play here.

He says he has few problems connecting with his congregation.

"I studied overseas in Turkey and in Saudi Arabia and I studied traditionally. The books I've read all these people read themselves, the texts on theology I've read they've read themselves. But of course my background is different culturally and I am different that way and therefore I bring that into my reading also," he said. "For example, as you saw today as I spoke¹³, you know, I didn't quote anything that they've probably not heard before - those verses of the Koran or those narrations¹⁴ - but how I put them together and the message I wanted to give they've probably not heard it that way though."

There are signs that the message from Islamic teachers - whether homegrown or from overseas - is a calming influence on many young Australian Muslims.

Haisam Farache believes that during these troubled times - marked by recent bomb plots in Britain and continued unrest in the Middle East - many are seeking enlightenment.

"In fact, the spirit is the most important thing and so people - they're starting to realize that. And once they start to realize that they go on that search and I went on that search looking for what made me content and what made me relaxed and what made me at peace," said Farache. "And I think people are searching for that and all the turmoil¹⁵ that's going on in the world is only pushing people more towards that."

Australia's Muslims say their brand of Islam is inherently more relaxed and moderate than the traditions found in the Middle East or Europe. They point to the country's easy-going lifestyle and believe it rubs off on their religious practices. For some it is a reason to persuade the mosques to nurture¹⁶ homegrown talent rather than import Imams from abroad.

1 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

2 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

3 seduced   

诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷

参考例句：

• The promise of huge profits seduced him into parting with his money. 高额利润的许诺诱使他把钱出了手。
• His doctrines have seduced many into error. 他的学说把许多人诱入歧途。

4 reverting   

恢复( revert的现在分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还

参考例句：

• The boss came back from holiday all relaxed and smiling, but now he's reverting to type. 老板刚度假回来时十分随和，满面笑容，现在又恢复原样了。
• The conversation kept reverting to the subject of money. 谈话的内容总是离不开钱的事。

5 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

6 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

7 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

8 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

9 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

10 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

11 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

12 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 narrations   

叙述事情的经过，故事( narration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There is very little disk space available for storing narrations. Do you want to continue? 只有很少的磁盘空间供保存旁白。您仍想继续吗？
• There is very little space available for storing narrations. Do you want to continue? 只有很少的空隙供保存旁白。您仍想继续吗？

15 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

16 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。