BARELY a day after being elevated to lead the nation’s Muslims, Fehmi Naji el-Imam was yesterday muzzled by his own minders, who refused to allow the new mufti to articulate his views on the war in Iraq.

The extraordinary intervention came during Sheik Fehmi’s inaugural press conference, in which the 79-year-old Melbourne cleric promised not to repeat the “haphazard” public comments of his predecessor.

But Sheik Fehmi’s team were so anxious to avoid new controversy that they stopped the frail cleric from giving his opinion on the Iraq war — arguably the biggest issue in the Muslim world today.

“We’ll leave those questions for another time,” his adviser said.

Sheik Fehmi — who has previously insisted Hezbollah militants are freedom fighters, not terrorists — also avoided giving direct answers to questions on extremists, jihad, and the colourful outbursts of his predecessor Taj Din al-Hilali.

In contrast, a defiant Sheik Hilali yesterday felt no compulsion to observe any vow of silence now that he has surrendered his title. “Don’t think for a moment that I will stop speaking out. Of course I will, now I will be a V8 and speak with even more power. I want politics to be based on truth rather than lies, on facts rather than perceptions,” he said yesterday.

“The three principles of being a mufti — mind, heart, speech — the three exist in me, but I do not have the title.”

While naturally more reserved than Sheik Hilali, Sheik Fehmi has courted controversy in the past, supporting — and later regretting – – the Australian residency application of Abdul Nacer Benbrika — the Algerian-born, self-styled cleric now in jail awaiting trial on terror charges.

Yesterday, the Preston-based imam’s answers were convoluted and delivered in poor English, providing few clues as to how he will handle the role as the new spiritual leader for the nation’s 300,000 Muslims.

Although Sheik Fehmi is widely considered a moderate, the Islamic community’s new spiritual leader did not provide any comfort for those hoping for a strong message against Islamic extremism.

When asked if he wanted moderate Muslims to take a stronger stance against extremists, he replied by criticising the media for misrepresenting the facts about Muslims.

And when asked what he would say to those Australian Muslims who were tempted to go overseas to wage jihad, he replied: “I don’t know what (the) circumstances outside (Australia) would be.”

However, Sheik Fehmi did say that the proper interpretation of Islam did not allow for extremism.

“Islam is one way. If you don’t follow Islam properly you are deviated from the path, simple as that.”

The press conference underlined just how different the cautious Sheik Fehmi will be as mufti, compared with the outspoken, accident- prone Sheik Hilali.

Sheik Hilali yesterday blamed the Howard Government, rather than his own tongue, for his demise.

“All the projects for the Muslim community, the state and federal grants, would have dried up if I stayed on,” he said. “By not staying on, I hope everything will return to

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normal. I understood the pressure on the Muslim community was mounting to the point where it was becoming too much. I resigned for the benefit of our community,” Sheik Hilali added.

“No doubt both federal and state governments are proud of their achievement that I am no longer mufti. But now I am freer than ever to speak up against corruption, racism, social injustice and Australia’s foreign policy.”

Sheik Fehmi yesterday said Sheik Hilali had sometimes gone too far in his comments but believed that he did not mean them to be as hurtful as they sounded.

“Maybe sometimes you may let your tongue go too far,” Sheik Fehmi said.

“But still, maybe he didn’t mean to harm others but the way he put it sometimes didn’t sound to others as pleasant as you want it.”

However, he made it clear that he would be more cautious, saying he would make comments based on consensus positions agreed to by the new Australian National Imams Council.

“We decide matters after consensus — we don’t come to the public haphazardly; it comes after deep consideration,” he said.

Sheik Fehmi enjoys much broader support in the Muslim community than Sheik Hilali, the spiritual leader of Sydney’s Lakemba Mosque. He is seen as a moderate and unifying figure rather than a divisive one. However, his appointment will disappoint those who believe the Muslim community needs a young articulate Australian-born mufti rather than an old-school cleric.

And his links to Mr Benbrika are a source of embarrassment. Sheik Fehmi supported his residency application in the 1990s, but Mr Benbrika later became radicalised and led a push to sack Sheik Fehmi from his Preston Mosque and replace him with a more hardline cleric.

Sheik Fehmi says he very much regrets the decision to support Mr Benbrika’s application.

Although Sheik Fehmi is respected and liked by the Howard Government, he does not always agree with Canberra. His position on Hezbollah is the clearest example.

Sheik Fehmi is not only respected for his religious knowledge but also for his pioneering role in Australia’s Islamic community. When he first arrived in Melbourne from Lebanon as a newly trained 23- year-old imam in 1951, there was no such thing as a Muslim community in Victoria.

He led a group that built Melbourne’s first mosque, in North Carlton, and then the city’s largest and most popular mosque in Preston, in the city’s north, where he is still the imam.

Sheik Hilali was initially reappointed mufti by the nation’s imams, but decided to relinquish the position to Sheik Fehmi after a series of controversies — revealed by The Australian — including comparing scantily dressed women to uncovered meat and making light of the notorious Sydney gang rapes.

Sheik Fehmi has been appointed mufti for a two-year term but his health remains a concern after he suffered a stroke last year. He maintained yesterday that he could do the job, but at times appeared frail and breathless.

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