Not in my name

Politicians who call on "the Muslim community" to get rid of Hilali need to be more specific in targeting their demands. Far from there being a united Australian Muslim community, there are many communities, most of which had nothing to do with appointing Hilali in the first place and which have put as much distance between themselves and him as it is possible to do.

They do not have the power to dismiss him from a position they did not create. They can only sideline him, and the creation of a new national council of imams seems likely to achieve this.

Someone, however, needs to officially relieve Hilali of the title of mufti and that someone surely should be the new board of the AFIC, headed by Patel. The AFIC has succeeded in making itself almost irrelevant following a series of internal power struggles that led to the organisation being placed under administration last year.

With Muslim organisational politics in Australia in a state of flux, it seems likely that the AFIC will be superseded before long. It can therefore perform one last service for Australian Muslims by undoing its greatest mistake.

Hilali will remain, of course. He will find some other title, perhaps refuse to recognise his sacking as legitimate, and he will continue to make outrageous statements. But the damage caused by such statements will be much reduced.

Most Australian Muslims play no direct role in organisational politics and wield no direct power in any of this. All we can do is look on and to make our views known where we can.

So, as an Australian and as a Muslim, let me make this unambiguous statement: I did not ask Harris to record a cover of Stairway to Heaven and Hilali is no mufti of mine.