Islamic leaders say rightwing extremists are behind an offensive act of intimidation at a Brisbane mosque, where a teenager was called a terrorist and Islam a cult.
A group of men went to the Kuraby mosque in southern Brisbane on Wednesday, and abused and threatened worshippers after asking to be let inside to film what was going on, the Islamic Council of Queensland said.
“They started saying Islam is a cult and they started going through the books,” council spokesman Ali Kadri said, calling the men “uncivilised animals”.
He said the men threatened a 65-year-old man and told a 15-year-old boy, “you don’t belong in this country, you bloody terrorist, and we should burn this place down to the ground”.
Another mosque in Brisbane – in Darra, a few suburbs away from Kuraby – was also targeted on Wednesday, but the group didn’t get past the closed front gate.
The incident follows the arrest of 21-year-old Za’id Abdus Samad on terrorism charges during a raid on a Kuraby home on Saturday, but the council said Samad didn’t attend the Kuraby centre and it does not believe the events are linked.
Religious leaders will meet on Thursday night to discuss what Kadri says is the routine abuse Queensland Muslims suffer because of their faith.
“Our community is terrorised by these people,” he added.
Kadri said what happened at Kuraby wasn’t unusual and there appeared to be a group of people going into mosques with the intention of baiting worshippers and then capturing any angry responses on camera.
“If you ever want to talk about Islam, do it in a civilised manner,” he said. “Don’t be an uncivilised animal and go in and abuse children and old men and threaten children and old men.”
Worshippers turned their camera phones on the men who went into the mosque, capturing a portly man in a suit and tie badgering the teenage boy, referring to Islam as a cult and asking him if the marriage between the prophet Muhammad and his wife Ayesha amounted to paedophilia.
Police were called to the mosque and have taken at least one statement. Kadri said police had what they needed to pursue the matter.
He said authorities must take the intimidation campaign seriously and that existing laws don’t offer enough protection for victims of religious hatred.
The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has urged people to exercise tolerance and respect.
“When people go to worship – and whether that is a church or any place of worship – people should be respectful of people’s faith and religions in this state,” she told reporters.
Palaszczuk said what happened at the Kuraby mosque was concerning, but she believed existing laws did afford the right level of protection in such instances.
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