Fehmi Naji El-Imam
AM ( ar, فهمي ناجي الإمام) (1928- 24 September 2016) was the
Grand Mufti of Australia from June 2007 to September 2011. Born in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
, he arrived in Australia in 1951. He was elected to succeed
Taj El-Din Hilaly on 10 June 2007,
but by January 2011 Hilaly declared that Naji was no longer active, and that de facto he was functioning as mufti. Naji was succeeded on 18 September 2011 by
Ibrahim Abu Mohamed.
[
Naji questioned Osama bin Laden's responsibility for the ]September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
.[Dunn, Mark; Yamine, Evelyn (12 June 2007]
Bin Laden backer blasted
''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' (Australia). Retrieved 29 January 2015 He was the Head Imam of Preston Mosque in Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...
and secretary of the Victorian Board of Imams.
Activities
Naji served as a board member on the Muslim Community Reference Group, an advisory board established by the Howard government from 2005 to 2006.["Building on social cohesion, harmony and security: An action plan by the Muslim Community Reference Group"]
Muslim Community Reference Group. (2006). Canberra. pdf
References
External links
The Sheikh of Melbourne
Transcript of ABC TV programme (2001)
1928 births
2016 deaths
Members of the Order of Australia
Recipients of the Centenary Medal
Lebanese emigrants to Australia
Australian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Australian imams
Grand Muftis of Australia
{{islam-bio-stub