Sydney youth leader

It's OK to kill kids in battle: Sheik

• Richard Kerbaj
• May 09, 2007

THE deputy spiritual leader of Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali has told his students that it is "obligatory" for all Muslims to engage in jihad if an Islamic country is under attack, even if it means killing the enemy's children.

Sheik Shady Suleiman, a youth leader at Lakemba Mosque in Sydney's southeast, told his students in a one-hour Arabic and English lecture that it would be "self defence" to kill children who were attacking them in battle.

Muslim leaders yesterday attacked the 29-year-old cleric, who has a substantial following in Sydney, and accused him of delivering a message contrary to that of Prophet Mohammed who said children should not be killed in war. Prominent Sydney-based imam Khalil Shami said Sheik Shady's message was "dangerous" because it was open to being misconstrued by young Muslims.

"It is very dangerous," he said. "Because ... he puts in their minds that they have to do this, and he prepares them for something wrong for sure." The nation's leading spiritual Muslim woman Aziza Abdel-Halim said Sheik Shady's message diverged from Islamic teachings that prohibit the killing of children.

Read the rest from the Australian:

It's OK to kill kids in battle: Sheik