An Islamic leader has denounced the Australian flag, saying it does not represent him as a Muslim following a call from Prime Minister Tony Abbott to ‘put this country first’.
Wissam Haddad, head of the Al Risalah Islamic Centre in Sydney, has said he follows the black and white Shahada flag, the same as the one used by extremist group Islamic State, rather than the national flag.
His comments came after Mr Abbott called on Muslims in the country to stand up to extremists and ‘be on Team Australia’ as he attempts to bring in new laws aiimed at stopping Australian militants fighting overseas.
Asked about reports that shops in Sydney’s southwest were flying black and white Islamic State flags, the Prime Minister had said: ‘I don’t know what the legal position is, but frankly, the only flag that should be flying is the Australian national flag.’
However, following Mr Abbott’s comments, Mr Haddad, a friend of convicted terrorist Khaled Sharrouf, said he favoured the Shahada, and that his group is entitled to fly the symbol.
‘I’m not comfortable personally holding the flag because this flag does not represent me as a Muslim. My flag is the flag of Allah. That’s my flag,’ Mr Haddad said.
‘For me to have the Shahada flag, as it’s called, that’s a flag that I stand and live and die for and I don’t stand and live and die for the Australian flag.’
Mr Haddad provoked outrage when he defended Sharrouf, an Australian father-of-five from Punchbowl turned Islamic extremist, who shared a photograph online of his young son holding up a severed head.
Sharrouf, who is believed to be fighting for terror group IS, posted the picture of the boy, believed to be just seven years old, on Twitter, with the head of a Syrian soldier, along with a caption: ‘Thats my boy!’
It was accompanied by a photo of Sharrouf himself holding the same head, written with the words: ‘What a head’, and another of him and three young boys brandishing rifles.
Mr Abbott said the photos were ‘barbaric’, while U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said they were ‘disturbing’ and ‘grotesque’.
However, Mr Haddad, who does not appear in public and forbids his photograph from being taken.
‘I don’t see what the big concern is getting children to hold up severed heads.’
Supporters of his Al-Risalah group have also posted messages in support of beheading following Sharrouf’s photograph.
Yesterday, Mr Abbott warned moderate Muslims they should be on alert for local extremists, and should not be complacent against a possible ‘mass casualty event’.
The Prime Minister met with community leaders in Sydney at a conference, to which Mr Haddad was not invited, yesterday.
Islamic groups have expressed concerns over proposed new anti-terror powers, as they fear they will be unfairly targeted.
Mr Abbott says Australia faces a serious threat from radicals who travel overseas to fight with terror groups in Syria and Iraq and then become ‘militarised and brutalised’ by the experience.
He told the conference that the laws were not about protecting ‘one group of Australians from another group of Australians’, in an apparent reference to concerns from the Muslim community, and said it was in the ‘absolute interests’ of every community to ‘expose and to counter any potential for home-grown terrorism’.
Mr Abbott is concerned that the 150 Australians involved in conflicts in Syria and Iraq may bring their radicalised view of Islam back to Australia.
‘The last thing we should be is complacent about this,’ Mr Abbott said.
Earlier, in an interview with Macquarie Radio, he urged moderate Muslims to join the ‘Team Australia’ fight against locally-bred extremists.
‘We do have to be vigilant against it – and my position is that everyone has got to be on Team Australia,’ he said.
‘Everyone has got to put this country, its interest and its values and its people first.’
He was also asked about reports that shops in Sydney’s southwest were flying Islamic State flags despite the group being listed as a terrorist organisation.
‘I don’t know what the legal position is, but frankly, the only flag that should be flying is the Australian national flag,’ he said.
‘If people want to fly other flags – a corporate flag for instance – fine, but the Australian national flag should always be part of it.’
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