A radical Islamic preacher who praised Adolf Hitler as a ‘divine punishment’ against Jews has been deported from Australia mid-way through his national speaking tour.
Mizanur Rahman Azhari has a 10million-strong online following and delivers lectures across Asia, the Middle East and Western diaspora communities.
The Bangladeshi preacher was touring Australia over Easter as part of his ‘Legacy of Faith’ series, with stops in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra.
Daily Mail understands Azhari’s visa was cancelled on Tuesday after Tony Burke’s office became aware of the case on Monday. He is now awaiting deportation.
Azhari was previously barred from the UK and banned from preaching at public congregations in his native Bangladesh over allegations of extremist hate speech.
Liberal Senator Jonathan Duniam earlier on Wednesday said he and other parliamentarians had been warned by community groups about Azhari’s arrival.
‘I know a number of members of parliament, including the minister himself, received communication from groups including the Australian Federation for Ethnic and Religious Minorities in Bangladesh,’ he told the Senate on Wednesday.
In a 2023 sermon delivered in the United States, Azhari promoted a range of antisemitic conspiracy theories, offering praise for the Holocaust, dehumanising Jewish people, and urging his audience to sever ties with them.
Mizanur Rahman Azhar (pictured) had his visa revoked by the United Kingdom in 2021
The Coalition has criticised Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke (pictured) for granting the visa
Azhari described Hitler as a ‘divine punishment’ for Jews, declared ‘the Jews are the biggest terrorists of the world,’ and called them a ‘poisonous blemish’.
He also claimed Jewish people were responsible for ‘various troubles of the world, including AIDS’, alleging they had invented the disease.
Azhari reportedly ‘expresses joy in his speeches about Hitler’s cruelty to Jews’.
His speaking tour began in Brisbane on Monday night and is scheduled to continue in Melbourne on April 3, Sydney April 4, and Canberra April 6.
Duniam said it was deeply concerning that the Albanese government had allowed Azhari to enter Australia, given what he described as a well-documented international record of extremist activity and incitement of hatred.
‘But Mr Azhari, this speaker here who has been issued a visa by this government, has been sadly, in a number of other parts of the world, being accused of and found to have been spreading racial hatred,’ he told the Senate.
He pointed to the United Kingdom, where Azhari’s entry was revoked in 2021 due to concerns he was spreading anti-Hindu hatred.
Duniam said Bangladeshi authorities had also acted against the preacher over extremism and threats to public order.
‘In his home country of Bangladesh, the government then accused him of promoting extremist ideologies and being sympathetic to extremist Islamist groups,’ he said.
Mizanur Rahman Azhar (pictured) is currently on a speaking tour of Australia
‘The police were instructed to monitor the content of his gatherings because of the divisive nature and hatred that was spread through what he was doing.’
According to Duniam, the allegations against Azhari go well beyond a single religious group and reveal a persistent pattern of hate speech.
‘There is a range and a litany of examples of antisemitic hate speech, his maligning of the Hindu religion, demonising of the Bengali culture,’ he said.
Despite this history, Duniam said, the government had still authorised Azhari’s entry to Australia.
‘But this man, of course, despite all of this and all of it on public record too, I might add, has been granted a visa to come here,’ he said.
The Australian Federation for Ethnic and Religious Minorities in Bangladesh wrote to Burke earlier this week calling for immediate intervention.
The organisation warned that Azhari’s speeches risk inflaming religious tensions and legitimising extremist rhetoric.
The group cited extensive documentation of Azhari’s past, including antisemitic conspiracies and praise for violence and inflammatory attacks on religious minorities.
Daily Mail has contacted speaking tour organisers Islamic Practice and Dawah Circle, and Tony Burke for comment.
