Article: Australian Muslims told to shun democracy

The newspaper "The Australian" today published on its website an article by its senior writer Sally Neighbour (an investigative journalist and book author specializing in Islamic extremism and terrorism), titled "Muslims told to shun democracy", which reports on a conference taking place in Sydney yesterday on the topic of "The Struggle for Islam in the West".

The full text of the article can be read free of charge here:

www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/muslims-told-to-shun-democracy/story-e6frg6nf-1225887770169

Excerpts: "Leaders of the global Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir have called on Australian Muslims to join the struggle for a transnational Islamic state. British Hizb ut-Tahrir leader Burhan Hanif told participants [...] that democracy is 'haram' (forbidden) for Muslims, whose political engagement should be be based purely on Islamic law. 'We must adhere to Islam and Islam alone,' Mr Hanif told about 500 participants attending the convention [...]. 'We should not be conned or succumb to the disingenuous and flawed narrative that the only way to engage politically is through the secular democratic process. [...]' He said democracy was incompatible with Islam because the Koran insisted Allah was the sole lawmaker, and Muslim political involvement could not be based on 'secular and erroneous concepts such as democracy and freedom'. His view was echoed by an Australian HT official, Wassim Dourehi, who told the conference Muslims should not support 'any kafir (non-believer) political party', because humans have no right to make laws.

"Mr Dourehi also urged Muslims to spurn the concept of moderate Islam promoted by governments in the West, including in 'this godforsaken country' of Australia. 'We need to reject this [...] perversion that seeks to wipe away the political aspects of Islam [...] and challenge the proponents of this aberration of Islam.' [...] HT is outlawed in much of the Middle East but operates legally in more than 40 countries, campaigning for the establishment of a caliphate (Islamic state) modelled on the empire founded by the Prophet Mohammed in the 7th century. [...] Another British HT member, Salim Atchia, told the conference the West was attempting to 'beat the Muslims into submission' through intimidation and demonisation and by falsely portraying the aspiration for an Islamic state as dangerous and backward. Mr Dourehi said Muslims in the West must be at the vanguard of the push for a caliphate, which would govern all Muslim majority countries and lands that were previously under Islamic rule, such as Spain and The Philippines." (bold removed)

I can't figure out whether the article also appeared in print.