MUSLIM leaders want to ask Cardinal George Pell to clarify remarks he made equating the rise of Islam with the rise of communism last century.
The remarks, made three weeks ago and torn from their context, have alarmed some Muslims, who want to meet Cardinal Pell, the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, when he returns from an interfaith dialogue in Indonesia.
Speaking in October at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in the US, Cardinal Pell said: "It is still very early in the piece, of course, but the small but growing conversion of native Westerners within Western societies to Islam carries the suggestion that Islam may provide in the 21st century the attraction that communism provided in the 20th, both for those who are alienated or embittered on the one hand, and for those who seek order or justice on the other."
A spokesperson for Cardinal Pell said "the Cardinal's door is always open to any Muslim leaders who wish to speak with him".
While seeing the Cardinal as a friend and defender of the right of Muslims to practise their faith, Amjad Mehboob, the CEO of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, says there is no Islamic evangelism to convert people to their faith. He disagrees with the claim that Islam is the fastest-growing religion in Australia.
The 2001 census shows there were 281,578 Muslims living in Australia, a rise of 1.5 per cent since 1996. Muslim leaders believe the figure now is more than 400,000.
Amjad argues that the 2001 census, which gave a Muslim identity for the first time, was not a true reflection of numbers in Australia as many Muslims remained reluctant to declare their religion and did not tick the appropriate box.
Speaking of mosque attendance on Fridays, the pre-eminent day of prayer for Muslims, Amjad said there had been a large increase in many places, with building expansion necessary to accommodate worshippers. Immigration has also increased numbers, and as Muslims are family-oriented, the Muslim birth-rate is another element in any assessment.
Muslim numbers can expect to be further boosted when the students reaching HSC standard in the schools leave and reach marriageable age. This is some years away but inevitable as Muslims tend to have larger families than the average Australian.
Buddhists claim to be the fastest-growing religion in Australia, and the Assemblies of God, and the Christian Pentecostalist movement is another candidate for the claim.