And who will stop them? Its their culture. Their feelings would be hurt. They would feel oppressed. We can’t have that.
Muslim leader Keysar Trad wants Australian men to be allowed multiple wives – but says gay marriage is wrong because people of the same gender ‘should only be friends’
- Muslim leader Keysar Trad wants polygamous marriages legalised in Australia
- Islamic Friendship Association of Australia founder hopes the public does too
- However, he is upset Muslims are unable to lobby for anything and keep quiet
- He took a stand against gay marriage, saying he believes homosexuality is wrong
By STEPHEN JOHNSON FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
A Muslim leader wants Australian men to be allowed multiple wives and hopes the public will one day support his dream of Islamic marriage equality.
Keysar Trad says polygamy is actually a privilege reserved for women, even though only men are allowed multiple spouses under Islamic law.
‘If public opinion was pushing for a change, that was consistent with my religion, I would not object to it,’ he told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.
‘In my humble opinion, the advantage is not so much to the man.
Muslim leader Keysar Trad is hoping the Australian public one day supports polygamy
The Islamic Friendship Association of Australia founder says polygamy is a female privilege (file picture)
‘It’s always the prerogative of the woman. Any marriage in Islam requires consent and the most crucial consent is the consent of the woman.’
However Mr Trad, the Sydney-based founder of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, is taking a stand against gay marriage as the Turnbull Government proceeds with a postal vote on the issue.
‘My personal view is that people of the same gender can be friends but they should not be encouraged to engage in sexual activity,’ he said.
‘Call it something else, a union. Call it whatever you want to call it.’
Mr Trad, who is also the former president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, wryly pointed out the ‘yes’ vote for gay marriage would fail if a Muslim publicly supported it.
‘If you want an idea to fail, get a Muslim to campaign for it,’ he said.
While gay marriage campaigners have been able to change public opinion, Mr Trad is disappointed Muslims don’t have the same platform to advocate for polygamy.
‘Muslims, we have learnt to stop lobbying for anything,’ he said.
‘It is near impossible for Muslims to get a fair go anywhere so whatever our issues are, my experience has forced me to keep those issues to myself.’
Mr Trad in February said husbands could lightly beat their wives ‘as a last resort’ before explaining his comments were clumsy (Women of Hizb ut-Tahrir pictured)
Mr Trad is hoping another generation of Muslims will campaign for change but is urging people of the Islamic faith to obey Australia’s existing laws on marriage.
His observations on the definition of marriage come as the Turnbull Government sends out ballot papers to Australian households, from September 12, as part of a $122 million exercise.
Voters will have until November 7 to return them.
In February, Mr Trad controversially said the Koran allowed husbands to lightly beat their wives ‘as a last resort’ before clarifying he was giving a clumsy interpretation of the religious text.
Two months later, Women of Hizb ut-Tahrir released a video saying husband could hit their wives with a small stick.
Where Islamic polygamy is allowed, women are not allowed multiple husbands.
Under Sharia law, an Islam legal system, a man can divorce a woman by saying ‘I divorce you’ three times but a woman does not have this same privilege.
Embrace homosex – or else!
In the latest instalment of enforcing sexual deviancy, now church groups must show they embrace the queer cause, or they’ll be cut off from council-controlled community grants .
If you still believe the unrelenting push for SSM is just about love and roses, think again. Carefully.
The real target of the aggressive SSM activism is the basic building block of Western society: The natural family consisting of one mother, one father and children. The left prefers state control over all aspects of life. Natural procreation and families that look after their own, without involvement of the state, are not in the interest of cultural Marxism.
Support our campaign for a referendum on the meaning of marriage. More here: https://www.australianlibertyalliance.org.au/…/call-to-prot…
This has nothing to do with religion. Just common sense.
Homo terror against Christian groups is just the beginning:
- The Australia/REBECCA URBAN
Journalist Melbourne@RurbsOz
An Adelaide council investigated church groups for anti-LGBTI sentiments, including whether they opposed the flying of the rainbow flag, amid a push to overhaul a popular community grants program to ensure only “gay and lesbian-friendly organisations” could access funding.
In a move criticised as discriminatory and totalitarian, the City of Marion was asked to review criteria for youth development grants, which could see applicants quizzed on attitudes to gender and sexual diversity.
It follows questions from independent councillor Bruce Hull about whether church group-aligned applicants “had an aversion to the gay and lesbian community”.
“I’d like to know whether the staff ascertained from the organisations whether they are gay friendly organisations?” Mr Hull asked at council last week.
City of Marion community and cultural services manager Liz Byrne confirmed an investigation, specifically to find out whether any church group had lodged complaints over the council’s decision to fly the rainbow flag outside its chambers.
In 2015 the City of Marion became the first council in Australia to permanently fly the flag — a public sign of support for the LGBTI community. The decision split the community.
“It wasn’t obvious that any of the church groups had put in complaints,” Ms Byrne told the July 25 council meeting. “We obviously don’t know if any of the attendees of the churches put in complaints as individuals. We couldn’t determine that.”
Of the 11 successful applicants for the youth grants, two were aligned with religious groups. In total $110,000 was up for grabs.
While Mr Hull has requested that LGBTI inclusiveness be factored in to the eligibility criteria for future funding rounds, such a move is likely to spark fierce debate within the council and opposition from Christian groups.
Fellow councillor Jerome Appleby, who has tried unsuccessfully to have the flag taken down, said it was “staggering” the council would even consider “punishing” certain groups over their views. “Since when is it business of council to be policing … political opinions,” Mr Appleby said. “People in the community should be able to have dissenting views; dissenters shouldn’t be punished.’’
Centre for Independent studies research fellow Peter Kurti said the City of Marion’s move was a significant concern as it threatened to sideline groups just because they did not align with a particular ideology.
“The council made a decision to fly the rainbow flag and in making that decision … it seems everyone now has to agree with not just the flying of the flag but with anything else that extends from that,” Reverend Kurti said.
“It smacks of totalitarianism — and children and young people are being used as the weapons.”
Family Voice Australia director Ashley Saunders said any attempt to withdraw local government funding from church groups would be “extraordinarily detrimental and contrary to the best interests of communities”.
Mr Hull said he expected a backlash but defended his stance, telling The Australianthat the rainbow flag decision had stirred up some “abhorrent sentiments” in the community.
He said he had received many complaints, including one from a deputy principal who was “silly enough to send from the church school email account”.
Pastor Toh Ng, whose Marion Vineyard Christian Fellowship was successful in receiving a $3000 grant for a youth leadership program, said he had no concerns over the proposed changes.
This is one of the deep dark side effects of the same sex marriage issue that everybody is missing. You let one cat out of the bag and you are then subjected to a tidal wave of precedents that will be argued by every two bit minority out there that seems to think they or their perverted lifestyle are more important than everybody else.