A Muslim preacher from western Sydneysays polygamy should be legalised because single-partner relationships don’t exist.
Hardline Sunni Islam teacher Mustafa Arja urged Muslims to promote the values of polygamy when talking to non-Muslims, as part of a process known as dawah.
‘They might criticise polygamy. You just tell them, “Look, do you really think there’s monogamy here in Australia?”,’ he said on Friday night.
The teacher from the hardline Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association, which has a Sharia-law supporting Salafist ideology imported from Saudi Arabia, said the legal standing of monogamous relationships in Australia had failed to promote fidelity.
‘This is something which, in reality, is just on books but is monogamy really happening here?,’ he said.
His promotion of polygamy came just a day after the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favour of same-sex marriage.
Mr Arja’s sermon, delivered at Auburn in western Sydney, also gave advice on how to answer Christians.
‘Sometimes when giving dawah to Christians, he will tell you, “I know Jesus is God”,’ he said.
‘You say to them, “Why do you think Jesus is God?”. He will tell you whenever I pray to Jesus, my prayers are answered.
‘He’s attached to something you can’t reason out. He’s emotional.’
Mr Arja also explained how to convert non-Muslims to Islam in Australia.
‘He might not become Muslim but now he has a soft spot for Islam,’ he said.
‘If you can do that, this is something great. At least you’ve neutralised any negative feelings and then later on, if he’s guided you’ve planted the seed.
‘Maybe later on he will become Muslim.’
The ASWJ preachers are notorious for promoting Sharia law and have previously urged Muslim men to ban their wives from mixing with other men.
They have also told women it is sinful for them to pluck their eyebrows or show their ears in public, and have urged Muslims to avoid non-Muslim events like Christmas festivities.