WHEN Muhammad Imtiaz woke to the news of tragedy during France’s Bastille Day celebrations, his wife begged him not to hold his clearing misconceptions about Islam stall on Banna Avenue that weekend.
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However, he said he refused to let terrorism win, continuing to pass on his message of peace. “This is my lifelong commitment, as long as I am alive I will do this to bring people closer so they can communicate with one another,” Mr Imtiaz said.
Having spent the past three years doing this Mr Imtiaz said he wanted to thank the people of Griffith for their willingness to listen as he leaves for a new job in Canberra. “I would say more than 90 per cent of people were very understanding and super positive,” he said.
“My message is that we should not pre-frame one another, we all have certain perceptions but it is important to listen. Muslims are a reality, they are not going anywhere so we need to change our approach, hatred and violence are not the solution. People have said to me ‘what you’re doing is really needed, someone has to be doing this’.”
Mr Imtiaz said that he had been overwhelmed by the kindness from the city. “I told one lady it was my second last week and she immediately went and bought me some socks and other things, she said ‘you’re going to Canberra it’s too cold you need this stuff’ and I would say that even if I was doing this in a Muslim country I would not see this kind of courtesy,” he said.
While he loved being able to share his religion with people Mr Imtiaz said the years had been marred by global events painting Islam as a religion of terror. “That was the question most of the time I had to face ‘does your religion teach to kill people?’” he said. “I would say, ‘don’t believe me, here is a copy of the Koran, if you really want to know please have a read. God clearly says if you kill one human being you have killed the whole humanity, this is in the Koran.” In his parting words Mr Mr Imtiaz urged the people of Griffith to continue to be educated individuals. “These days information is just at your fingertips, people should think and use their mind,” he said. “99 per cent of people killed by ISIS are Muslims, how ironic is this? People think that we are killers, they don’t understand that we are also the victims. If this is Islam, then why are they killing Muslims? People need to understand this is not Muslims raging against the west, these are the enemies of humanity.”
