Australia’s peak body for imams, the Australian National Imams’ Council (ANIC), said it was “deeply concerned” after reports that a Melbourne preacher urged followers to take up arms against enemies and to view Jews and Christians as adversaries. The comments were revealed by Nine newspapers following a July sermon delivered by a preacher who goes by the name Abu Ahmad at the Al Bayyinah Islamic Centre.
During the sermon, Abu Ahmad read from a book chapter and said Muslims should not take Jews and Christians as friends. He called for declaring enmity and taking arms against enemies, listing atheists, Jews, Christians, modernists, Zionists and communists among those to oppose. The preacher’s remarks included a quotation that suggested the “urgency of this issue” should be clear to every Muslim.
In an Instagram post the following week, Abu Ahmad clarified that the statements were taken from a passage he was reading during a lesson on al‑Wala wal‑Bara. He said the passage was not a personal call for Muslims to attack non‑Muslims and posted a video explaining that the passage does not permit harming, oppressing or being unjust toward peaceful non‑Muslims. He warned that quoting the book without the explanation could give a very different impression.
ANIC strongly condemned any call to violence, said it would not make findings until it could review the material, and reiterated that it categorically rejects incitement to hate or harm. The council urged all religious leaders to act responsibly and stressed that the conduct of one individual should not be used to condemn an entire faith or community. It also noted that the Albanese government had abandoned anti‑vilification laws after failing to secure bipartisan support, and MP Allegra Spender said the comments highlighted the need for stronger hate‑speech legislation.
