Six months later, when ISIS took control of Mosul in June 2014, I was temporarily based in Baghdad and literally less than 1 hour away from ISIS territory. The Iraqi government along with the rest of the Iraqi nation didn’t know how strong ISIS was, or if Mosul was the only area it intended to capture. The country was shaken and many ministers fled the country. Many citizens of the USA, UK, and other western countries fled Iraq through Baghdad Airport because they believed that if ISIS captured Baghdad they would all be held as political hostages.
I was also afraid. This event horrified me, but I decided not to flee the country. I immediately returned to the Holy City of Karbala, a sacred Shia Muslim stronghold that would be very difficult for ISIS to conquer. Now I was around 2 hours away from ISIS, and it is from here that my stance against Islamic extremism and fundamentalism became public. I made sure that the TV channel, including its social media platforms, primarily focused on preaching peace and tackling Islamic extremism. I began reporting from within Iraq regarding the security situation and the spread of the Islamic State. It didn’t look like it was going to end quickly, and ISIS began to spread rapidly throughout both Iraq and Syria.
I remained in Iraq, both studying and tackling the ideology of Islamic extremism through TV networks. Later in 2014, I was walking with my mother in the crowded holy city when there was an explosion nearby. I will never forget how the earth moved beneath my feet, and how I lost my mother for a few minutes among the stampede of thousands of frightened people running for their lives; because in many cases, if a bomb is detonated in one area, a second explosion will follow, which increased the pushing and shoving among civilians.
In January 2015, my Uncle Faris who was a colonel in the Iraqi Army went missing, and we later received a call from Baghdad informing us that ISIS had captured and burnt him alive. Despite all the government warnings not to travel on the roads leading to Baghdad at the time, I insisted that we received Faris’ body and made sure that he had an honorable burial. My uncle and I received his remains and held a funeral that my entire family attended to mourn his tragic death.
In December 2015, I felt that it was time for me to end my eight-year journey within the Islamic seminaries of Iran and Iraq by returning to Australia, which also meant that my work at Imam Hussein TV would be over. Although I knew that I would be preaching “Down Under,” I knew that it wasn’t going to be anything like the preaching of a typical Islamic cleric, and I had a strategic plan to make my message of peace and anti-extremism more effective.
After experiencing these events, losing a dear uncle and surviving ISIS terrorism, I was living in pain. This pushed me to enter the second stage of my de-radicalization phase, and I was about to not only liberate my mind from the fundamentalist ideologies taught to me, but to turn around and tackle them.
It all began the second I realised and felt deep down in my soul that I had been cheated and that my mind had been in the possession of barbarians who taught me corrupt and extreme ideologies, disguising it as knowledge that would benefit me in life and the hereafter.
Back to Australia (2015)
Throughout the last two centuries, moderate Muslims have been collectively tackling the extremist Wahhabi fundamentalist ideology in every way possible, but have failed to bring an end to the barbaric ideology. As a Muslim preacher, I could easily have claimed that the extremists do not represent the religion of Islam, and continued to preach peace like many Muslim clerics. I wasn’t prepared to do that as honesty is an important principle within my life. Therefore, I made it clear that ISIS, Al-Qaeda and the like declare that they represent Islam, and they do in fact represent mainstream Islamic teachings. In my opinion, the only successful way to tackle the growth of such an ideology is by identifying it. The books of Bukhari and Ibn Taymiyah, which are highly revered by the majority of Muslims, include chapters about jihad. They are not about “struggle jihad.” but the actual “jihad of war.”
I believed and still believe that the only way to tackle such a growing extremist ideology is through diplomatic relations, by raising awareness about the dangers of extremist Islamism and the jihadization (radicalization) of youth within major Islamic institutes, and pressuring relevant authorities to take reasonable action against private Islamic school curriculums, international excursions to Islamic governments, along with other matters such as radical preachers being invited into the West from the Middle East. This mission required that I become familiar with all methods, protocols, and etiquettes of diplomacy; most importantly, it required patience. Lots of it. Attitudes, perceptions, interests, priorities, agendas, and life and career experiences vary from one politician to another. One member of parliament would genuinely believe in the policies I proposed for his or her upcoming election campaign, while another from the very same political party would sit and ridicule my ideas throughout our entire meeting.
Engaging in these meetings, sometimes publicly, raises many eyebrows within the Muslim community. According to most Muslim scholars throughout the globe, Muslim scholars need to prove to the senior scholars of the state that they are worthy of preaching and leading a community. This matter didn’t apply to me as many of the Shia Muslim scholars in Australia support Hizbullah and the Iranian regime, two terrorist bodies which I have denounced.
My father on the other hand was well known among the Shia Muslim scholars in Australia and, whether he agreed with my opinions or not, this did not change the fact that I came from a lineage of Islamic scholars and leaders. It was important however for me to prove my level of education. Therefore, I established the Islamic Association of South Australia upon my arrival in Adelaide in 2016, along with an Islamic education program which operated from the University of South Australia. I chose Adelaide, South Australia, simply because it has a lower rate of Islamic extremists than Sydney and Melbourne. The latter cities have played an important role in producing soldiers who travel abroad to join ISIS.
I have developed healthy friendships with numerous politicians and government authorities within Adelaide and Sydney. I have also engaged in interfaith events, building bridges between moderate Muslims and other religious communities. Without mentioning the names of any political parties, numerous politicians welcomed and embraced me and my mission of peace, which encouraged me to continue on my journey. However, these political figures were prepared to support me in every way possible, but wanted everything to remain discreet. I refused because I believed that tackling Islamic extremism wasn’t a crime, and there was no reason to do it discreetly. Secondly, the citizens who voted for these politicians had every right to know about their official meetings with me. I maintained a healthy friendship with them, but I was never prepared to engage in any official work with any of them.
I had aspirations to launch another TV channel in Australia. However, I paused this project for another time within the near future, and sought to bring attention to my mission of peace in Australia by sharing my opinions on national media channels and agencies. I caught national attention when Channel 7’s Today Tonight program interviewed me regarding matters concerning Islam and Islamic extremism. Indeed, Australia had never seen a Muslim imam as outspoken as myself – something I am proud of, because deep inside I know that my loyalty belongs to Australia and this was a simple way of giving back to such a great country. I was humbled when many Australians rushed to my social media profiles to describe me as “a breath of fresh air.” As my interview requests became more frequent, I found myself appearing on a wider variety of TV channels such as Fox and Sky News. In my opinion, what attracts the media to me the most is the fact that time keeps proving all of my warnings to be true.
In February 2017, I appeared on Today Tonight on Channel 7 and warned the Australian nation and government that Islamic extremists were hoping to set up a caliphate in Australia. My claims were ridiculed by the mainstream media along with the majority of the Muslim community. However, less than a week later, Muslim extremist and electrician Haisem Zahab, aged 42, was arrested in Sydney, Australia, after researching and attempting to design a laser warning device along with missiles for ISIS. Today, extremists in Lakemba, Sydney, publicly say, and on camera, that they want to establish Sharia Law in Australia and everywhere on Earth.