Keysar Trad

Keysar Trad is the founder of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia and is the president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils.

Trad was born in Lebanon and came to Australia at the age of thirteen under the Australian government's family reunion program. He met and married his wife, Hanifeh, when he was in his early twenties. They live in south-west Sydney and have nine children.

After a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1987, Trad decided to become a much stricter Muslim, rather than to follow the more liberal form of Islam that he observed around him in Lebanon and Australia. Trad began to take an active role at the Lakemba Mosque in Sydney shortly thereafter.

Trad is well known for his former role as an interpreter and spokesperson for Sheik Taj El-Din Hilaly.

He is also an author, having released several books.

After leaving the Lebanese Muslim Association, Trad founded his own organisation, the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia Inc (IFAA).

Following the actions of an Australian suicide bomber, who had killed at least five people and injured up to 90, Trad said, "I have always been opposed to suicide bombing. I’m opposed to any form of senseless taking of human life".

Trad has entertained the possibility of becoming a candidate for both the Labor Party and for the Liberal Party. Because of his background Senator Bernardi has raised concerns saying, "Mr Keysar Trad is wholly unsuitable to be a member of parliament".

In July 2016 Trad was elected President of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils following the standing down of the previous President.

Around the time of the 2005 Cronulla riots, Sydney commercial radio station 2GB broadcast comments by Alan Jones and Jason Morrison on Lebanese Muslims in Sydney. In the aftermath of the Cronulla riots, a rally was held in Hyde Park on 18 December 2005 in the centre of Sydney, attended by some 5,000 people. Keysar Trad attended the rally and spoke about "the suffering of Muslims in Australia" as a result of "predominantly one radio station" which the crowd identified as 2GB. The next day, 2GB ran an 11-minute broadcast with Jason Morrison that included a recording of the rally, as well as a talk back section.

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