By Youssef Sourgo
By Youssef Sourgo
Morocco World News
Casablanca, July 4, 2013
Ed Husic, the first Australian Muslim to be appointed as a front bencher in Australian parliament, received harsh criticism after he took his oath of office on the Qur’an during his appointment as a parliamentary secretary.
While the bible had been the sole holy book on which newly appointed Australian MPs took their oath of office, Ed Husic, an adherent to the Muslim faith, insisted on taking his oath on the Qur’an.
“I couldn’t take my oath on a Bible and I didn’t want to affirm. I am who I am and I just made a straightforward decision,” stated Husic, as quoted by many news sources.
While a number Australians celebrated Husic’s act for its multicultural dimension, a wave of social media users, flooded his a Facebook page where he appears taking the oath with intolerant comments.
Strikingly enough for Husic, these comments went even to question his national belonging, thus establishing an extraneous link between his religious persuasion and his national duty.
“This is disgusting. How dare you disregard Australia’s constitution like that? Absolutely sickening. Do we begin the push for sharia law now? Not at all happy. Definitely will not be voting for you,” read one of the comments on the Facebook page.
“Good bye Australia as we know it, this is the beginning of the end,” commented Ryan Deaves.
“I think its bloody disgusting we are Australia not some Islamic country, they should ALL be made to swear on a Bible,” read another comment.
However, a lighthearted Husic turned deaf ears to the discriminatory statements to delightfully embrace the other statements of encouragement, motivation and congratulations.
“What a great day for Australian politics. Good on him for standing up for his religion, obviously means more than Julia Gillard, the atheist putting her hand on the Bible. This is certainly a win for all moderate Muslims in Australia,” read one comment in support of Husic’s move.
“There are people definitely that are extreme within my faith and there are people that are extreme outside it, and they will always try to seek ways in which to divide people. The important thing is that mainstream Australia wants everyone to work together,” Husaic was quoted by The Guardian as saying.
