When she's an Aussie swimwear model who managed to convince a court she was a Muslim.

Needless to say there is a degree of disagreement over this....

Australian model jailed for drug use by Indonesian court arrives home
An Australian model given a three-month sentence for drug possession by an Indonesian court arrived back in Sydney to a storm of controversy over her claims to be a Muslim and plans to sell her story.

Michelle Leslie, 24, was convicted by a court on the resort island of Bali of carrying two ecstasy tablets. But she was released because she already had spent that length of time in custody awaiting trial.

Ms Leslie’s release sparked a storm of criticism from Muslims in Australia because she claimed in her court case to be a practicing Muslim, often wearing a veil to cover her head on the way to court and once donning an all-covering burqa, but then appearing in tight jeans and a skimpy black shirt after her release.

In comments published in Sydney’s tabloid Daily Telegraph, Leslie insisted she was a practicing Muslim and denied she had faked adhering to the faith to get sympathetic treatment in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

“It’s incorrect to say I am a fake Muslim and that is very upsetting to me,” she told the newspaper before boarding a Sydney-bound plane in Singapore.

“I found that this is the religion for me, she added. “I’m a Muslim and I practice these beliefs in the best way that I can. I was a Muslim long before any of this happened. You can be a Muslim regardless of your clothes.” Hmmmm… not totally convinced of that one….

Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Ameer Ali said it appeared as if Leslie was using the faith to impress Indonesian judges and added that her career as a model, often posing in skimpy swimwear and lingerie did not fit with Islam’s teachings of moderation. Personally I think he has a point.

But Ms Leslie found support from at least one moderate Muslim group:

Seyit Kuranda of the Forum on Australia’s Islamic Relations said that people should accept Ms Leslie’s word that she is a Muslim.

“There’s only one thing you need to do to become a Muslim, and that’s to ... bear witness that there is only one God and that Muhammad is his messenger. If she says that then to all intents and purposes she’s a Muslim,” he said.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought there were 5 things you had to do to be considered a Muslim:

Pray 5 times a day
Observe the fast of Ramadam
Make one pilgrimage in your life to Mecca
Give a percentage of your income to the church
Not be a swimwear model

OK I sort of made up the last one, but according to Koran there are basically six criteria for observing hijaab (Islamic dress):

1 Extent:

The first criterion is the extent of the body that should be covered. This is different for men and women. The extent of covering obligatory on the male is to cover the body at least from the navel to the knees. For women, the extent of covering obligatory is to cover the complete body except the face and the hands up to the wrist. If they wish to, they can cover even these parts of the body. Some scholars of Islam insist that the face and the hands are part of the obligatory extent of ‘hijaab’.

All the remaining five criteria are the same for men and women.

2 The clothes worn should be loose and should not reveal the figure.

3 The clothes worn should not be transparent such that one can see through them.

4 The clothes worn should not be so glamorous as to attract the opposite sex.

5 The clothes worn should not resemble that of the opposite sex.

6 The clothes worn should not resemble that of the unbelievers i.e. they should not wear clothes that are specifically identities or symbols of the unbelievers’ religions.

Call me picky, but I don’t see swimwear, or tight jeans and skimpy tops as an option here.

Moderate Mr. Kuranda said he understood why she may have appeared more pious in court in Indonesia, likening it to a suspect donning formal clothes to appear in an Australian court.

“I think that obviously the situation in Indonesia was a fairly desperate situation, she could have been facing a number of years in an Indonesian jail,” he said.

“When you get to court you put on a tie and a suit and try to look a bit more decent,” he added. “It’s a facade we all put on and I think she played that same facade and tried to show she was a good Muslim [who] went off the tracks.”

“She’s trying to create that image,” Mr Kuranda said. “I don’t condone that or think it’s an honorable thing to do but I think it worked in her favour and she did get out of jail so I can see her motive.”

Am I the only one who is incredulous at these double standards? The only thing that surprises me more is that the court actually fell for it.

Arriving back in Sydney to be greeted by a scrum of media waiting at the city’s airport, Ms Leslie made only a brief statement, saying she was happy to be home.

“The events of the last few months have just really turned my life upside,” she told reporters.

Ms Leslie is considering media offers to pay for her story, causing anger among some reporters. She must, however, first find out if Australian laws barring people from profiting from crime will allow her to accept money in exchange for an exclusive interview.

If she can convince an Islamic court that she is a Muslim then this should be a doddle.