Australia's designated Grand Mufti Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed denied allegations that an election for a new Grand Mufti had taken place during the past few hours, and asserted that he remains the nation’s highest-ranking leader.
His announcement comes after a video showing a group of men announcing the appointment of the "new" Mufti circulated on social media platforms.
The video shows Egyptian-born Islamic scholar Taj El-Din Hilaly, who was Australia's Grand Mufti from the 1980s until 2007, with a small group of men. During the gathering, the men declared Hilaly as Australia's Grand Mufti.
In a call with SBS Arabic24 designated Grand Mufti Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed characterised the video as an individual act and said: “the people who released the video and who were in it are not part of the Islamic council”.
"ANIC [Australian National Imams Council] is the only official body responsible to elect the Grand Mufti of Australia, and it decides the elections as per the set regulations”.
