Pauline Hanson sneers, “You say there are great Muslims out there? How can you tell me there are good Muslims?” It sounds like a question, but it’s actually a verdict: Muslims are presumed guilty, permanently suspect, forced to prove our innocence just to be treated as human.
When a society demands evidence that a whole community is “good,” something in its moral core has already rotted. The question itself is poisoned.
We should never have to prove that we are human, that we love our children, work hard, care for neighbours, contribute to the common good.
Anti‑Muslim hate is not a grassroots feeling; it is an industry. Far‑right vehicles like Advance Australia, backed by millions in “dark money” pump out “invasion” ads, culture‑war propaganda and anti‑Palestine smears that portray Muslims and migrants as a permanent threat.
Investigations have traced major funding to trusts like Henroth, linked to figures exposing a deeply conflicted ecosystem where those claiming to fight hatred bankroll campaigns that target Muslims.
Add to that the lobbying muscle of AIJAC, ZFA and ECAJ, with their privileged access to ministers, junkets to Israel for MPs and editors, and constant pressure to police Palestine solidarity.
But the problem is not only nasty rhetoric and toxic donations. Islamophobia is being written into law.
In January, the federal parliament rammed through the 144‑page “Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Act 2026” at high speed, introducing and passing it in a single day of late‑night sittings.
Debate was guillotined, detailed scrutiny was impossible, and key safeguard amendments—from civil liberties and Muslim organisations—were brushed aside by Labor and the Coalition acting together.
The law’s vague definitions, lowered thresholds and sweeping ministerial powers will fall hardest on Muslims, Palestine activists and critics of Israel. States are doing the same.
The Act excludes religion as a protected attribute in new hate‑motivated offences, even as Islamophobic incidents have surged since the Gaza genocide and vests the Attorney‑General with broad powers to “list” hate groups and no judicial review or test of procedural fairness.
A Labor government drafted and drove this law; Liberals demanded it go harder; both voted down changes that would have protected political speech on Palestine and provided equal protection for all faith communities.
We are already seeing how this will work in practice. Under the new regime, the Albanese government has begun the process to ban Hizb ut‑Tahrir, a non‑violent Islamist political organisation that has never met the legal threshold to be listed as a terrorist group.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has proudly framed this as “the first time” a group that falls short of terrorism can be banned on the grounds that its activities allegedly “increase the risk” of hate‑motivated or political violence. Thats alarming.
Once the state can outlaw a group on the basis of “risk,” without requiring direct incitement or involvement in violence, any Muslim organisation—Palestine committees, student associations, mosques—can be smeared as feeding “risk” rather than exercising conscience.
This creates a two‑tiered democracy: one in which some citizens can organise politically without fear, while others live under a permanent cloud of suspicion, forever one ministerial briefing away from criminalisation.
And again, the pattern is bipartisan. Labor writes the laws; the Liberal Party welcomes the listing of Hizb ut‑Tahrir as proof the powers are being “properly” used; both sell it to the public as necessary to protect Jews while doing nothing equivalent to address surging anti‑Muslim hate.
Today Hizb ut‑Tahrir is the test case; tomorrow it could be anyone who dares to chant “from the river to the sea” or call Gaza a genocide too loudly.
Against this backdrop, the demand to prove we are “good Muslims” is not just insulting—it is a trap.
It pushes us into respectability politics: “Look at our doctors and engineers, our charity work, our flood relief.” Of course, those stories matter.
Social‑cohesion data consistently shows Muslims have high rates of volunteering, civic participation and commitment to Australia’s democratic institutions.
During floods, bushfires and the pandemic, Muslim charities, medical professionals and community groups were on the frontlines, feeding, treating and supporting their neighbours.
Accepting that our rights depend on showcasing these contributions, means conceding the lie that our basic humanity is conditional.
We should continue to serve, because the Qur’an and the Sunnah call us to excellence in character, neighbourliness and public conduct, not because it might melt a bigot’s heart.
Australia is where our children’s future is rooted, and where our faith must flower in public ethics. Abdal Hakim Murad calls for “partnership in beautification”: working with others to infuse the host culture with mercy, justice and beauty, rather than retreating or endlessly apologising.
Populists offer easy scapegoats in these post normal times with the turmoil of AI upheaval, economic insecurity, climate crisis, and the ongoing horror of Gaza supported by a well funded Islamophobia industry stands ready mobilise fear.
The answer is not withdrawal or naïve hope that being “good” will protect us. There must be organised, principled resistance.
That means naming and shaming the funders of hate; supporting investigative journalism that expose donation pipelines; backing civil‑liberty challenges to over broad “hate” laws; and building alliances with unions, First Nations people, churches and civil society groups who know these tools will one day be turned on them too.
We must be gentle with our neighbours but unflinching with our politicians. Call MPs to account ask how they voted on the hate‑and‑extremism laws, and make it clear that trading Muslim rights for political safety has a cost.
Support organisations like AMAN, the Islamophobia Register APAN who are sounding the alarm, and refuse to normalise emergency powers passed in the dark.
Australia does not need another test of whether Muslims are “good.” It needs to show it will pass the test of whether its democracy can still treat Muslims as equal citizens.
The Prophet (s) turned hostility into trust through steadfast service, honesty and courage.
Hanson’s and the far right echo chamber will not collapse because we beg for acceptance, but because we stand firm in dignity, expose the machinery of hate, and build what I would call watan al‑ikhtiyar—a chosen homeland, rooted in justice and shared moral purpose.
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