It's Wiser To Listen To Explanations Than Focus On Misdeeds.

This morning I received an email from someone I don't know from Australia who sent a report of a misdeed by several young lads there. The contents of the report from the newspaper, The Australian, in my opinion could lead to a lot of unnecessary bad vibes here. The title itself, "Muslim Boys Urinated On Bible" sounds very unpleasant. You can get the details of that report HERE.

I'm sure that others must have also received this same email and it's only a matter of time before someone highlights it in our media, including the blogs and gives it the us vs them religious and racial twist. While the report itself is provocative, as is the headline, one should not rush headlong into a verbal assault on others before reading the reactions of the school authorities and the opinion of reasonable Australians of the Muslim faith. That is the precise reason for this post, as it highlights their explanation which we should consider in full.

Bible desecration a 'prank'

News Ltd and agencies

December 06, 2006 12:00am

A MELBOURNE Muslim leader says two students expelled for urinating and spitting on a Bible, before setting it alight, committed an "immature prank".

Two students were expelled from the East Preston Islamic College, and another boy was suspended, after the incident last week at a school camp near Bacchus Marsh, News Ltd has reported.

The school has apologised and also brought in a senior imam to counsel 650 Muslim students to respect Christianity and the Bible.

Islamic Council of Victoria spokesman Yasser Soliman blamed media reports about the desecration of the Koran.

"They've probably seen things on TV where soldiers in Iraq and in Guantanamo Bay have reportedly done things to the Koran, and they've seen other things that have influenced their way of thinking," Mr Soliman said on Southern Cross radio.

Mr Soliman, a former president of the council, also described the incident as shocking and stupid but should not be used as a reflection of the school or the wider Muslim community.

"It's very unfortunate and a shock to wake up to something like this," Mr Soliman said today.

"Obviously it's a stupid action of very mischievous boys who've done this, which should not be seen as reflective of the school's larger Islamic population."

Mr Soliman linked the incident to the war on terrorism, saying the offenders were probably receiving mixed messages from the media and seeing similar desecrations of the Koran.

Teachers at the school have reportedly petitioned the principal with grave concerns about an " hatred and radical attitudes towards non-Muslims" at the school, including non-Muslim teachers.

The school camp was attended by 33 teenage Muslim boys Years 7 to 10.

A school report obtained by News Ltd claims it happened late at night and involved three students and another two watching.

"The main perpetrator (a Year 7 student) urinated on the Holy Bible, tore some pages from the Holy Book and burnt them then finally spat on the Holy Book," the report says.

The second boy, from Year 9, "tore pages from the Holy Book and burnt them", while a third student, from Year 7, "tore pages from the Holy Bible and then he rolled it up like a cigarette and pretended to smoke it".

The boys come from a variety of ethnic Muslim backgrounds.

School principal Shaheem Doutie said both he and the school community were appalled by the desecration and that he had expelled the first two boys and suspended the third.

In a letter to all staff on Monday, he wrote:

"The school unconditionally apologises for this horrible act as conducted by some illiterate and ignorant students. We regard the desecration of the Bible in a very serious light and therefore we have taken serious action against the offenders. The Bible is an important book both for non-Muslims and Muslims and should be treated as a holy book by all religions."

The desecration triggered 22 teachers to present a petition expressing "anguish and dismay" at the incident. "This whole incident implies a deep hatred inculcated in the students towards the Christians/non-Muslim teachers," it says.

Speaking on Southern Cross radio today, Mr Doutie said he did not know what motivated the students' behaviour but doubted they were rebelling against a perceived persecution of Muslims. "I think these students were ignorant of what's happening in the world, the Muslim world," he said.

"I think it was more a case of rebelling against the teachers' authority and the authority of what was happening at the camp. "Unfortunately the students, the excuse was really they ... didn't know it was a Bible."

Mr Doutie also denied there was a hostile attitude towards non-Muslims, including teachers, at the school.

*Picture above: East Preston Islamic College. (Courtesy, Stuart McEvoy)