As a Muslim man living in Australia, I have overwhelmingly experienced people’s warmth, generosity, and at times, curiosity. At work, my colleagues often ask me questions about Islam, and I have no qualms in answering. For some, it’s the first time they have conversed with a Muslim since leaving high school or university.

However, my experience hasn’t been shared by all Muslims.

Artwork: Matt Davidson.Credit: Matt Davidson

Islamophobia, that word at once reviled, championed and misunderstood, has resulted in Australian Muslims being verbally and physically attacked and threatened, and Muslim institutions being vandalised. This spectre has found its home online, where Muslims have been subjected to abuse and hatred, simply because they are Muslim.

The Islamophobia Register Australia has been reporting on Islamophobic incidents since 2014, though it existed long before this. After the 2019 Christchurch terror attack, where 51 Muslims were massacred at two mosques in New Zealand, the register reported a four-fold increase in Islamophobic incidents in Australia.

At that time, if you asked Muslims how they felt, they would have said that they were scared, anxious about attending mosques and schools, and concerned about their visible markers, identifying them as Muslims.

In the year since Hamas’........

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