A SYDNEY man killed fighting as a
rebel in Syria was preaching Islam to passers-by on the streets of
Parramatta before he flew out to the Middle East.
Ahmad Moussalli, whose Facebook page and friends said he died in
the conflict earlier this month, had been involved in the Sydney
“street dawah” movement, where young Muslims preach their religion and
try to get people to convert to Islam.
The Facebook profile boasts he converted more than 30 people prior to his departure to Egypt in late 2012 to “study Arabic”.
Last July, Mr Moussalli posted a video on YouTube urging others to head to the Middle East, saying his time there had been a “very, very good experience”.
He also used Facebook repeatedly to urge supporters to donate money
towards his trip, but it is unknown whether those funds helped him
travel to Syria to become one of anywhere between 25 and 200 Australians
there engaged in conflict.
Some of Mr Moussalli’s posts featured religious quotes, including
one alongside a photo of a grave which said in part: “The softness ...
of the heart and its purity only comes about by remembering death, the
grave, reward and punishment, and the horrors of the hereafter.”
Uthman Badar, Sydney-based spokesman for hardline Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir, said Mr Moussalli was “a dedicated Muslim who took his Islam very seriously”. “It is these attributes of diligence and wanting to excel that pushed him to travel to Egypt to seek knowledge and then, in an act of selfless sacrifice, to Syria to assist its beleaguered people,” he said.
“The community is sad at his departing but also proud of the courageous manner in which he has departed. We pray that he is accepted as a martyr with God.”
Mr Badar said Mr Moussalli was not a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir — labelled extremist by some critics — but his organisation supported any Muslim “going to assist the oppressed anywhere in the world”.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said the
department was aware of unconfirmed reports of Australian deaths in
Syria. But there was no Australian embassy in Syria and the government’s
capacity to deliver assistance there was “extremely limited”.
Mr Moussalli’s death follows that of western Sydney 22-year-old Caner Temel in Syria last month.
Temel was allegedly been recruited by al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra group prior to his death.
Sydney couple Yusuf and Amira Ali, allegedly involved in the same group, were killed last month near Aleppo.
The Facebook profile boasts he converted more than 30 people prior to his departure to Egypt in late 2012 to “study Arabic”.
Last July, Mr Moussalli posted a video on YouTube urging others to head to the Middle East, saying his time there had been a “very, very good experience”.
Ahmad Moussalli in Parramatta / Picture: Facebook
Source: Supplied
Uthman Badar, Sydney-based spokesman for hardline Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir, said Mr Moussalli was “a dedicated Muslim who took his Islam very seriously”. “It is these attributes of diligence and wanting to excel that pushed him to travel to Egypt to seek knowledge and then, in an act of selfless sacrifice, to Syria to assist its beleaguered people,” he said.
“The community is sad at his departing but also proud of the courageous manner in which he has departed. We pray that he is accepted as a martyr with God.”
Mr Badar said Mr Moussalli was not a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir — labelled extremist by some critics — but his organisation supported any Muslim “going to assist the oppressed anywhere in the world”.
A Syrian man carries his offspring following an airstrike. Photo: AFP
Source: AFP
The devastated district of Homs. Photo: AFP
Source: AFP
Mr Moussalli’s death follows that of western Sydney 22-year-old Caner Temel in Syria last month.
Temel was allegedly been recruited by al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra group prior to his death.
Sydney couple Yusuf and Amira Ali, allegedly involved in the same group, were killed last month near Aleppo.
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