January 18, 2024
NSW Police have dropped inquiries into a cleric who prayed to Allah to "kill them one by one" in reference to "Zionist Jews", saying the comments did not breach state hate-speech protections.
On Tuesday, The Australian revealed that Sydney sheik Kamal Abu Mariam who has ties with former All Black Sonny Bill Williams and former league star Anthony Mundine gave a sermon at Roselands Mosque last year, in which he made the call during an Islamic prayer.
The Australian can also reveal, in that same sermon, the sheik described the virtues Allah would bestow on martyrs, and how those unable to fight in the Middle East could still "receive rewards".
"Oh Allah . beat the (usurping) Zionist Jews," the sheik said in Arabic, translated to English by The Australian.
"Oh Allah, we hope you count them and kill them one by one, and don't keep any (one) of them . shake the ground under their feet . make an example of them." The sheik's comments appeared to be referring to "Zionist Jews" in Israel, as opposed to those in Australia although a wellplaced legal source said that distinction "should be irrelevant".
On Wednesday, a NSW Police spokeswoman said the force could not pursue the matter further.
"As a part of the investigation, the content of the (sermon) video was reviewed and it was ascertained that it did not meet the threshold of any criminal offence," she said.
Section 93Z of the NSW criminal code, which outlaws incitements of violence on the basis of race or religion, was recently strengthened by the government, which removed the requirement for police to seek approval before laying charges.
Williams and Mundine have said they helped donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to help fund a new mosque "spearheaded" by the sheik and, in 2018, the former All Black called the religious leader his "spiritual guider" in a post to Twitter, now called X.
During the sermon, in English, Sheik Abu Mariam also cited the Hadith and referenced what Allah bestowed upon martyrs.
"He (a martyr) will be forgiven with the first drop of blood that comes (from) him," he said. "He will see his place in paradise . given a crown upon his head." The sheik warned the audience there were "consequences for those who laze around". "He who does not fight for the cause of Allah, nor speaks within himself about fighting the cause . he dies on a branch of hypocrisy," he said, acknowledging that those he was preaching to would struggle to fight to become a martyr.
"We might not be able to do the first (fight for Allah), due to the circumstances and where we live," he said.
The sheik said Muslims who boycotted Israeli-linked products would still receive "rewards".
Federal opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said if the state government failed to act "it was time the federal government did".
"There are anti-incitement provisions in the Commonwealth Criminal Code for this purpose," the senator said, citing section 80.2A, which outlaws urging violence against a group on the basis of religion or race. If they are not used now it makes a mockery of the law and will only lead to more hateful conduct with devastating consequences." Visiting Australian National University constitutional law professor Matt Qvortrup has previously told The Australian, when provided with Sheik Abu Mariam's comments, that the rhetoric would be prosecuted in the UK.
"I don't see how it wouldn't (breach British legislation)," he said.
"Naming a group and (saying Allah) should kill them that would have fallen foul of UK laws." Premier Chris Minns said he would change existing laws if they proved inoperable.
"We are not averse to changing the laws around hate speech if we don't believe that they are capturing the kind of inflammatory and racist rhetoric that's designed to pull people apart," he said.
