An Australian imam explains why he used to vote left when he was a fundamentalist: «We know they're idiots.»
Mohammad Tawhidi is an Australian preacher who was trained in radical Islam in Iran. He is now a controversial figure due to his criticisms of political Islam and the left.
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The Australian imam Mohammad Tawhidi, popularly known as Imam of Peace, makes headlines again after to take part in an interview with the American conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza. In an earlier excerpt from this conversation, Tawhidi explains why, during his years as a fundamentalist, he supported the political left.
«I voted for the left because they're idiots.»
In the advanced excerpt of the interview, Mohammad Tawhidi provocatively explains why, during his years as a fundamentalist, he voted for left-wing parties.“When he was an extremist Islamist fundamentalist, he only voted for the left. because they're idiots”he says. And he immediately clarifies the reason: according to him, fundamentalists prefer progressive politicians because they focus on issues such as abortion, climate change or LGBT rights.“We know they have no values or principles. They want to spend their time talking about the weather, abortion or pride parades. We Muslims would never abort or kill a Muslim in the womb, but it's useful to keep them occupied with that.”, maintains Tawhidi.
Who is Mohammad Tawhidi?
Mohammad Tawhidi, also known as “Imam of Peace”, is a Shia Islamic activist born around 1982–83 in Qom, Iran. When he was a child, his family moved to Australia to escape conflict and persecution.
In 2009 he returned to Iran to study Islam at the Al-Mustafa University in Qom, but he abandoned his studies in 2012 due to ideological disagreements. Since then, Tawhidi has self-proclaimed himself an imam and a champion of reforms within Islam. He promotes a critical and contextual interpretation of religious texts. He advocates that some current practices are in contradiction with human rights and modern values.
Since his return to Australia in 2015, Mohammad Tawhidi has been living in Adelaide. He has achieved a notable media presence as a commentator on Islam and international politics. However, within the Australian Muslim community, many of his peers look down on him and do not recognise him as a legitimate imam. Australian National Imams Council (ANIC), the body that brings together the majority of the country's imams, has publicly noted that Tawhidi is not accredited or authorised by any official institution.
Several Muslim organisations have accused him of exploiting the title of imam to gain visibility and of adopting positions aligned with conservative and Islamophobic Western sectors, which has contributed to his image as a controversial figure.
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