In an interview on Arabic radio two weeks ago, rape-supporting Australian mufti Sheikh Taj Din al-Hilali made his connections to the Muslim Brotherhood very clear, praising Sayyid Qutb (lgf: search) and calling for jihad against Australian troops overseas: Sheik Hilali praises Iraq jihadists.

TAJ Din al-Hilali has praised militant jihadists in Iraq and Afghanistan, calling them men of the highest order for fighting against coalition forces - which include Australian soldiers - to “liberate” their homelands.

In an interview on Arabic radio two weeks ago, the imam based at Sydney’s Lakemba mosque said he was opposed to terror attacks in Madrid, London and New York but strongly endorsed fighters in the Palestinian territories, Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the interview, Sheik Hilali pays tribute to Sayyid Qutb, the ideologue of the Muslim Brotherhood and intellectual mentor of Osama bin Laden and al-Qa’ida.

“Jihad of the liberator of Palestine, that’s the greatest and cleanest and highest ... jihad which lifts our heads in pride in south Lebanon,” Sheik Hilali says in the October 17 interview.

He tells broadcaster Abrahim Zoabi that he endorses jihad for liberation. “We are talking about ... jihad of liberating our land, jihad of Muslim Afghanis in their land - that’s jihad.

“Jihad of Iraqi Muslims is jihad, but not when Sunnis and Shias are killing each other - that’s not jihad.”

The revelation comes as a neighbouring cleric from Sydney’s Bankstown accused Sheik Hilali of supporting military Islamic jihad against the West and called on imams from around the country to band together to force the mufti to step down.

Sheik Ibrahim El-Shafie said yesterday Sheik Hilali was a follower of the Egyptian Islamic scholar Qutb, one of the founding fathers of modern jihad, whose teachings are used by al-Qa’ida and Jemaah Islamiah.

In the radio interview, Sheik Hilali says Qutb interpreted the Koran in the “finest manner”. “Sayyid Qutb is an intellectual man ... who gave up his soul in 66 for Islam.”