Sheikh meets rabbis

SHEIKH Youssef Hassan, who made headlines last week after a video emerged of him giving a talk in which he stated that “the Jewish heart is very hard” and that “they have got only envy and hatred”, met with two rabbis this week to explain that he was not attacking Jewish people, but simply telling his audience a story about a specific group of Jews referred to in Islamic teachings.

Speaking to The AJN on Tuesday, Sheikh Hassan said that during a weekly lecture about the heart, he had referred to a tale of Jews rebelling against Moses.

He said he told his congregation that God had hardened their hearts because they didn’t believe Moses, and he extrapolated the story to explain that people should listen to the Prophet Muhammad or their hearts will also be hardened.

“Each week, I give a talk about the different diseases that affect the heart, including arrogance, hatred and everything else,” Sheikh Hassan said.

“The story that is about 3000 years old explained that the disease hurt people’s heart because they went against God’s will.”

The sheikh said he never intended to offend Jewish people or spread hate.

“If I was saying those things to make people hate each other, I would have been happy because it was reported, but I was very upset because I am not that type of person,” he said.

“I am open-minded and I want to work with the rabbis to do more interfaith work, because I don’t care what you believe in, we are all citizens of Australia.

“Everybody makes mistakes and this was a misunderstanding.”

Rabbinic Council of NSW president Rabbi Eli Cohen said the meeting with the sheikh was very positive.

“While the video was unfortunate, I see it as an opportunity to create a new relationship with someone who seems genuinely interested in working closer with our community for a better and brighter future for the next generation of faith communities in Australia,” Rabbi Cohen said.

Together For Humanity national director Rabbi Zalman Kastel said he was alarmed by the comments, but the subsequent meeting was productive.

“We had a positive and warm meeting in which we discussed his sermon, and the risks of teaching and preaching being understood in ways that are divisive,” Rabbi Kastel said.

“We are optimistic about follow-up activity with the sheikh toward improving understanding of Jews within his community.”

JOSHUA LEVI