By NOEL MURPHY
GEELONG’S Muslim leader has criticised terrorist acts in the name of Islam and called for a united local community against violence.
Imam Mohammad Ramzan said Islamic State forces (ISIS) had nothing to do with Islam or Australia’s Muslim community.
“It has nothing to do with Islam and every Muslim and other fellow human being should know this,” he told the Independent.
“Our main concern is our own society, where we live – the problems of our neighbourhood, social issues, education issues. There are so many things to do and that’s where our basic attention should be.
Imam Ramzan called ISIS “terrorists”.
“And we can see terrorism is a phenomenon above humanity, out of humanity, not just religious norms. Islam has nothing to do with killing human beings, taking children.
“It’s very unfortunate, the ratio of young Australians going to fight with ISIS.
“It has many effects, many consequences and puts lives in danger. These people can be dangerous for us in Australia as well.
“This is very dangerous and the backlash to this could be dangerous.”
Imam Ramzan’s comments followed anti-terror raids in Sydney and Brisbane yesterday based on intelligence reports that Islamic State supporters planned a public execution in Australia.
He was also keen to counter anxiety about Islam following Australia’s heightened travel security alert, Australian Muslims travelling to fight in overseas conflicts and reports of Muslim mothers alerting authorities with fears their sons might try to leave the country to fight with ISIS.
Imam Ramzan presented a sermon late last week focussing on security concerns and stressing Islam’s fundamental tenets to preserve rather than take life.
He recently addressed 250 students at Newtown’s St Joseph’s College to explain the teachings of Islam.
A community barbecue on 12 October would seek to convey the “good message” of Islam, he said.
“If someone is wronged by someone then the responsibility does not go from those two individuals to a third person.
“If the father has done something wrong, the son will not be punished. If the sister does something wrong, the brother will not be punished. These are the teachings of Islam.
“If America or someone does something wrong, what has Australia got to do with that? “We are very clear on that.
“We can make Geelong an ideal city in the sense of getting the message across to so many people and seeing that education is being done.”
