A US convert preacher who says he is sickened by Muslims who show affection for “disbelievers” has been invited to make the keynote speech at a Sydney conference on Sunday.
The invitation from United Muslims of Australia, led by Australian Imams Council president Sheik Shady Alsuleiman, went to Yusha Evans, who views moderate Muslims as a threat to Islam and has links with radical Australian preachers Junaid Thorne and Musa Cerantonio.
Other speakers at the “Quest for Success” conference to be held at Sydney Olympic Park include the Grand Mufti of Australia Ibrahim Abu Mohammad and Sheik Alsuleiman.
Also on the list are African-American preacher Siraj Wahhaj, who was identified by the FBI as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing but never charged, and self-styled Muslim “spiritual healer” Abu Hamza, who once told followers men could force their wives to have sex and could beat them if they were “disobedient”.
Mr Evans was advertised as a speaker at Melbourne’s Australian Islamic Peace Conference in March, but did not attend, telling The Australian he had stayed home to care for his ill father.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton subsequently told 2GB radio that Mr Evans would have found it “very hard” to get a visa had he attempted to travel.
Mr Dutton’s office yesterday referred questions on whether Mr Evans and Imam Wahhaj would be granted visas to an Immigration Deparment spokesman, who declined to comment citing privacy reasons.
“The Australian government takes very seriously its responsibility to protect the community from the risk of harm posed by non-citizens who engage in behaviour of concern or criminal conduct,” the spokesman said.
“There are strong provisions under the Migration Act to refuse or cancel a visa where a person is found not to be of good character.”
Mr Evans has told his 350,000 Facebook followers “one thing that sickens my heart is watching Muslims have love and affection for disbelief and disbelievers”.
“One of the biggest threats to the success of (the Muslim community) is not from it’s (sic) outside enemies but from within from the so-called ‘moderate Muslims’,” he also says in posts.
Neither United Muslims Australia nor Mr Evans had responded to requests for comment last night.
However, in March Mr Evans told The Australian he was a “clear opponent” of Islamic State and did not necessarily hold the beliefs of those he had associated with.