Canberra Muslim community labels Islamic flag ban unfair, calls for review

The federal government has introduced into Parliament new legislation banning the public display of "prohibited symbols". The legislation says there are three kinds of prohibited symbols: two Nazi symbols, and the flag of the Islamic State terrorist group.

Under the legislation the swastika will be allowed for religious Hindu and Buddhist purposes but the Islamic State flag, which includes words of faith to Muslims, would not be covered by similar exemptions.

Canberra Islamic Centre president Ilyas Rahaman said the words inscribed on the Islamic flag were sacred and written by Muslims on a daily basis.

"To ban those words is to prohibit the free exercise of Islamic religion in Australia, which is contrary to section 116 of the Australian constitution," Mr Rahaman said.

The flag in question bears the declaration "There is no God but Allah" and "Muhammad is the messenger of Allah". These words form the shahada (Arabic), meaning the profession of faith, are one of the five pillars of Islam.

Mr Rahaman said the words on the Islamic flag predated the terrorist group IS and had been used by early Muslims.

The Canberra Islamic Centre said it deplored the Islamic State and what it stood for but it disagreed with point five of the legislation which said the Islamic State flag "is widely recognised as representing and conveying ideologies of hatred, violence, and racism that are incompatible with Australia's multicultural and democratic society".

Similar to the swastika being misappropriated for use by the Nazi regime, Mr Rahaman said the Islamic State flag was hijacked by the terrorist organisation.

"Islamic State did not design the flag; the flag has existed since the time of the Prophet Muhammad," he said.

He was disappointed consultations were not held with the Islamic community, which would have explained the misappropriation of the flag by the Islamic State.

"It's disappointing. The bill was widely discussed to stop the trade of Nazi items; not once was their mention from the government that they were intending to ban the Islamic flag," Mr Rahaman said.

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ANU Professor Greg Fealy, who specialises in Islam and Southeast Asian Jihadist groups, said the tightly worded legislation regarding the ban of the IS flag would cause obstructions in research.

He noted the original 2005 anti-terrorism law which prohibited direct contact with convicted terrorists which he said caused many difficulties for researchers and journalists who sought information directly from such people.

"I think the aim of that law had been to target those consorting with terrorists, but in the end, legitimate research was obstructed," Prof Fealy said.

Historically there have been many flags that have used the monochrome black-on-white format, but Mr Fealy said the IS flag, with its white circle, was more distinctive and far less widely used.

"The design of the flag was inspired by historical accounts that the Prophet Muhammad addressed his community with black flags behind him. This is the reason many jihadist movements have adopted variations of the black flag," he said.

Prof Fealy said the use of the IS flag in Australia by members of the public has been rare, unlike the provocative use of the swastika by neo-Nazi groups.

"I think we should question whether the attempt to ban the ISIS flag with its attendant risk of ensnaring entirely peaceful Muslims who are innocently using a flag containing the shahada is worth the desired outcome of stopping the occasional use of a terrorist symbol. I have my doubts about this," he said

Islamic Studies lecturer at Charles Sturt University, Zuleyha Keskin, said banning the IS flag would create problems and confusion,

"It is like banning something good because someone evil has used that good. It is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater," Prof Keskin said.

She said confusion would come about if the proposed ban comes into effect because many Muslim Australians display the words on the IS flag in their homes, as stickers on their cars, in mosques, or as artwork in various forms.

"A law enforcer or politician is unlikely to know the nuanced differences between an IS flag and the use of the creed by a member of the Muslim community in their personal lives. This may result in unnecessary suspicion at the minimum or an arrest at its worst," Prof Keskin said.

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has commenced a review of the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill and is accepting submissions from the community.

The Canberra Islamic Centre will make a submission calling for the removal of the Islamic State flag from the legislation.

Committee chairman Peter Khalil said: "The committee will consider all submissions made to the inquiry and report its findings and recommendations to the government."

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