Ahmed Zreika, the President of the Islamic Society in South Australia, believes cross-cultural understanding is the first step towards a peaceful and cohesive society.
Mr Zreika was the man behind Adelaide's Open Mosque initiative in 2012, which saw two of the city's most prominent mosques open its doors to the public.
He's now calling on Muslims and non-Muslims to "bridge the gap" of understanding amid heightened Islamophobia and far-right commentary.
“Most of those who fear Muslims, change their thoughts once they get the chance to meet them,” he told SBS Arabic24.
“I encourage Muslims in all states to take the initiative and try to eliminate barriers and build new bridges. We [Islamic Society of South Australia] have organised several events and friends of the Muslim community are increasing.”
Mr Zreika says the dream of every Muslim Australian is to live like any other Australian but admits that global terrorism has had a "direct negative impact".
"They [Muslims] often find themselves compelled to defend their beliefs and tell the community ‘hey, we’re not like this’” he said.
“I believe it’s a joint responsibility. Both Muslims and non-Muslims should break through the ‘fear’ by getting together and establishing meaningful discussions. The best way to break barriers is to meet non-Muslims, even the most extreme figures of the far-right because their hostile attitudes towards Islam is based on nothing but ignorance.”
Speaking in reference to calls by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in 2018 for Muslim leaders to do more to combat radicalism, Mr Zreika highlights that most of those who are active in the community are volunteers.
“We have a limited number of community members who can juggle the balance of work, family commitments and finding the time to engage in activities that serve the purpose of taking on social initiatives.
"Nonetheless, there are many successful initiatives aimed at bridging the gap with the community and maintain an original Australian-Islamic identity for the generations to come.
“The Islamic community has significantly changed. In comparison to where we stood 10 years ago, we’re in much better shape now.”
Mr Zreika's comments come after Liberal MP Jeremy Hearn was dumped by his party for attacking Muslims as people of "bad character".
Mr Hearn, who later apologised for his comments, suggested that Muslims supported "killing or enslaving" non-muslims and wanted to introduce Sharia law to Australia.
Mr Zreika says: “Accusing Muslims of pushing to apply Sharia law in Australia does not make sense and underestimates the intelligence of voters. We have a democratic system in Australia, and the 2.6 per cent of Muslims are certainly unable to do so. This accusation is just false.”
