November 6, 2023
A southwest Sydney religious centre has refused to condemn a preacher who delivered a radical sermon that called on Muslims to wage jihad, declared Australia hypocritical for labelling Hamas's massacre of innocent Israelis as terrorism and claimed Anthony Albanese had "dirtied" a mosque with "lies".
The comments, revealed by The Australian, are now the subject of a NSW Police investigation and have been slammed by political and Jewish leaders.
"Brother Ismail" gave a sermon at Al Madina Dawah Centre in southwest Sydney after the October 7 massacre in Israel, taking aim at the Prime Minister, the government, and Islamic leaders who had criticised jihadi groups, as well as calling jihad the "solution".
He also called Australia "hypocrites" for describing Hamas as terrorists but forgetting about its own "dark" colonial past.
"There is no other way to defend Muslims . they are looking forward to joining the mujahideen," said Brother Ismail, whose full name has not been disclosed.
An Al Madina Dawah Centre spokesman refused to condemn Ismail's comments, saying Palestine's Muslims "unequivocally" had "every right to defend themselves".
"Our centre, and the entire Muslim community, stand by anything that is authenticity quoted from the Koran and Sunnah," the spokesman said.
He said the government had "marginalised Australia's Muslim community by aiding Israel against innocent Palestinian people". "(There are) double standards that allows dual Australian and Israeli citizens to participate in the current conflict freely, without the Jewish community ever feeling being pushed to the corner," the spokesman said.
Mail said in his sermon that those Hamas terrorists who committed the October 7 attack on Israel were not terrorists, but "freedom fighters". "That hypocrite Albanese. came and dirtied one of the mosques. putting the mouth of hypocrisy and lies to Muslims, (saying) that we love and respect Muslims," he said.
"Allah exposed his lies when he (Mr Albanese) said Israel had the right to defend itself and labelled Hamas as terrorists." Ismail said the nation was collectively "hypocrites" for calling Hamas terrorists while, he said, forgetting its "dark" history.
"Did you really forget what your ancestors did to the country's Indigenous people," he said.
"How they killed them, how they chained them like dogs . did you forget that you celebrate every year a massacre you did to the Indigenous people. "You want to come and teach us about morals?" Ismail threatened that such moves could risk the safety of Australia's "security system".
"When you start labelling Muslims as terrorists, you are pushing us into a corner," he said. "You are creating a test for the national security system, we will not back down ." Ismail dared the government to deport him for his comments. "If the government or ASIO like it or not, if they want to deport me or not jihad is the solution for the Ummah (the Islamic community)." he said.
Ismail said that "they (Australians) don't care about us" and took aim at Islamic leaders who had criticised terrorist groups, like ISIS, in the past. "Those sheiks, when they spoke about what happened in Syria, they started labelling (fighters as) Kharijites (an extreme Islamic sect)," Ismail said.
"They (the sheiks) will come back . to describe another sect fighting in Palestine as Kharijites.
This is their role to scare Muslims, making them think that jihad is terrorism, as their enemy says." Ismail also described the alQa'ida and ISIS flags, and symbols used within them, as "the flag of Muslims".
"The flag of 'there is no god but Allah' represents the flag of Muslims and nothing else," he said.
"(The flag) that belongs and is a symbol for ISIS and al-Qa'ida this is the flag of the Muslims.
Raise up the flag . so you die as a martyr." The Australian has spoken to one source, on condition of anonymity, who said the prayer centre was known for allowing "extremist" views.
NSW Police confirmed to The Australian, after this publication revealed Ismail's comments, that it was "aware and had commenced an investigation".
The preacher's comments were slammed, however, by political and Jewish leaders.
"It is a direct call to violence and threat to our community," Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said, calling the sermon "horrifying".
"We have laws to protect against this sort of incitement and I trust these will be used to keep Australians safe." Opposition spokesman for home affairs, Senator James Paterson, called for an investigation into the "inflammatory" comments.
"This irresponsible rhetoric is utterly corrosive to social cohesion in Australia and must be condemned," he said.
"Any potential breach of the law or visa conditions must be investigated and acted upon. No Australian, much less an alleged religious leader, should express support for a listed terrorist organisation like Hamas." Speaking on Sunday morning, Premier Chris Minns was reluctant to comment on a sermon he hadn't seen, but reiterated "hate speech wouldn't be tolerated".
"There are strict laws in place for racial vilification, which are imposed and enforced by police," he said.
"If you're preaching hate speech or advocating violence you'll be arrested, that's what's going to happen we have no tolerance for it." Queensland-based Indigenous Friends of Israel objected to Ismail's sermon.
"We don't agree with the false moral equivalence of pointing to Australia's colonial past and comparing it with what is happening in the Israel-Hamas war," cofounders Barbara and Norman Miller told The Australian.
"There were wrongs in Australia's past and Australia has said sorry, and moved well beyond that going to great lengths to repair the past."
An ASIO spokesman said the organisation were unable to comment, although Director-General Mike Burgess has previously urged Australians "to consider the implications for social cohesion".
