Another example of how diversity is working in Australia, to produce … sheer magic, splendour … I need to dry the tears of joy from my eyes …
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-18/islamic-leader-accused-of-land-clearing-claims-exempt-from-law/10133930
“A religious leader accused of illegal land clearing on a rural property used for religious prayer has claimed a Western Sydney council is infringing on his group’s religious freedoms by pursuing him over the allegations. Hawkesbury City Council has launched civil action against Dr Mustapha Kara-Ali and Diaa Kara-Ali in the Land and Environment Court, alleging they carried out illegal land clearing, earthworks and built gates, fences and driveways without seeking any of the relevant development approvals at a property in Colo, in Sydney’s north west. Mustapha Kara-Ali, a former member of then Prime Minister John Howard’s Muslim Community Reference Group and past postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, is the Imam of religious guild Diwan Al Dawla. A letter he wrote to a council staff member, filed in the court documents, says the members of the guild live “separated from secular lifestyles to pursue a religious mode of worship and an ascetic lifestyle under an oath of self-sacrifice and dedication to the purposes of Diwan Al Dawla”.