‘It’s shocking’: Perth Ahmadiyya Muslim community concerned about Islamophobia after radicalised teen stabbing

The Ahmadiyya Muslim community of Perth has condemned the actions of a 16-year-old boy who is thought to have converted to Islam and become radicalised before he stabbed a member of the public in Willeton on Saturday night and was later shot dead by police.

Imam of one of Perth’s largest mosques, the Nasir Mosque, Imam Syed Wadood Janud, told media on Sunday the incident was particularly upsetting as they had lost a member of their mosque in the Bondi stabbing incident three weeks ago.

Imam Syed Wadood Janud.

“It is not only concerning, it’s shocking, and I think members of the community are still coming to terms with it,” he said.

“We condemn any act of violence which is committed in our name, in the name of our religion. Our religion literally means peace.”

Janud said the Muslim community were concerned about backlash from the incident.

“We’re extremely concerned about Islamophobia,” he said.

“Sometimes the backlash can be very harsh, and that’s why we want to reach out to the wider community. Our mosques and doors are always open. Reach out to talk to us communicate and communicate your concerns, and we were more than happy to hear any concerns that the community would have.

“But it’s also important to understand that the individual was once again known to the police within three years, the individual it seems may have had some sort of mental psychological issues.”

Janud said the boy was not actively known to be involved in any local mosques.

“Radicalisation of all forms, whether that is anti semitic, whether that is Islamophobic, whether that is right wing, Neo Nazis. We see this on the rise, and as Australians, we all need to come together and tackle some of these issues that may be prevalent in our communities,” he said.

Janud said the security guard who died in the Bondi shopping centre stabbing on April 13 was a member of his mosque.

“We would like to appreciate the Western Australian police department, that they were able to tackle this whole incident within a matter of minutes and it did not transfer like it did in the East Coast,” he said.

“And at the same time, I’d also like to mention that we as a community and those in the community feel that this event hits our hearts because of what happened in the East Coast in the Bondi incident, where we lost a member of our mosque.

“We lost our dear brother for us who was a security guard at the shopping centre, in fact confronted the perpetrator and potentially he saved many lives.”

An initial version of this story said Imam Syed Wadood Janud spoke on behalf of the Muslim community of Perth. We would like to clarify that he spoke for the Ahmadiyya Muslim community of Perth.