By Luke Voogt
Geelong’s imam has expressed his grief for his former home city Manchester following a suicide attack which killed 22 people, including children.
Shaykh Mohammad Ramzan lived in Manchester for 15 years and raised his daughter and two sons in the English city.
“We’ve been following the news very closely,” he said. “My children were very upset.”
At 10.30pm Monday (local time) a man detonated an improvised explosive device as crowds left an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena.
British police later identified the man as Salman Abed, a 22-year-old Briton of Libyan descent, and declared the bombing a terrorist attack.
Mr Ramzan condemned terrorists who committed crimes in the name of Islam.
“They are not Muslim and have nothing to do with Islam,” he said.
“They are trying to hijack the message of peace and love in Islam.”
Mr Ramzan mourned for his “brothers and sisters of humanity” in his former hometown.
He said they would have shared the same values of peace and harmony as the majority of Muslims.
It’s not the first the first time Mr Ramzan, who became an Australian citizen in October 2016, has spoken out against terrorism inspired by Muslim fundamentalism.
In 2014 he described Islamic State forces (ISIS) as terrorists.
“Islam has nothing to do with killing human beings, taking children,” he told the Indy.
Mr Ramzan has presented various sermons focusing on security concerns and stressing Islam’s fundamental tenets to preserve rather than take life.
