Irfan Yusuf - Commentator and Author

Commentator and Author

Yusuf's work has been published in 6 major newspapers and he has appeared on a number of television and radio programmes.

In an online article in September 2005, Yusuf criticised his former factional colleague Bronwyn Bishop, a prominent Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives. Bishop had led a campaign to ban the muslim headscarf in state schools on grounds that it was inconsistent with school uniforms and it was therefore an "iconic emblem of defiance". Yusuf said the campaign was more about discouraging rebelliousness and minimising cultural diversity, and facetiously suggested that dresses were far more of a national security issue: "How do we know that these women aren't hiding bombs under their dress?". He has previously criticised what he says are Bishop's efforts to "marginalise a key faith-sector of mainstream Australia" as being "most helpful to Osama bin Ladin". Bishop denied Yusuf's claim, saying it was "stupid" and offensive." In a speech to the Australian Parliament, Bishop further responded to Yusuf's criticism, declaring that Yusuf was "known for his offensive behaviour towards women".

Since then, Yusuf has publicly campaigned against violence against women, particularly in the Muslim community.

In 2007, Yusuf received the Iremonger award by publishers Allen and Unwin, for his submission "Once were Radicals" that was published during 2009 as an autobiographical work Once Were Radicals: My years as a teenage Islamo-fascist. In 2008, he was "highly commended" by the Jesuit publication Eureka Street, for an essay on combating violence against women in Muslim-majority states.

He was a guest speaker at the Sydney Writers Festival in 2009, and a description of the event said Irfan "points the finger at mainstream extremism and hypocrisy and is a passionate (and funny) voice of moderation."