The head of an Australian mosque accused of radicalising the attempted hijacker of a commercial flight has broken his silence, claiming "the righteous will always be attacked".
Samir Mohtadi, founding leader of MyCentre Mosque in Melbourne's north, took to social media on Sunday to seemingly rebut allegations and say "the best thing sometimes is not to say anything".
"There's something common, those who're righteous, they've always been attacked, abused, accused, killed, imprisoned, and this is the way it is," he said in a video posted to the mosque's Facebook page.
Hamam al-Hammami is accused of trying to seize control of a flydubai plane he was co-piloting on September 30, that was bound for Tel Aviv, before being overpowered by cabin crew and passengers.
On Saturday local time, the United Arab Emirates Attorney-General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi released a statement saying signs of the pilot's drift towards extremism and terrorism first emerged while he was a student at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2017.
The pilot became radicalised through associations with individuals while attending the MyCentre Mosque, in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows, the statement suggested.
The statement also suggested Mr Mohtadi received support from an association linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
In a video posted on Sunday, while not directly addressing the allegations, Mr Mohtadi recounted the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who he said when accused of being "unchaste", chose to meet the allegations with silence.
"There are circumstances, my beloved brothers and respected sisters, regardless how much you explain yourself to people, they're fixated with their ideas and that's it; you can't change them," Mr Mohtadi said.
"So the best thing sometimes is not to say anything.
"They're going to continue on accusing you, abusing you, making false accusations."
Most of the other content on the mosque's page is religious or community centric, but a post on September 26 appears to refer to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "the biggest terrorist on earth".
In early October, the Australian Federal Police confirmed the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team was investigating the pilot's potential domestic connections.
The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils rejected any insinuation of a connection between MyCentre and violent extremism, in a statement released on Sunday.
"AFIC affirms unequivocally that MyCentre is a respected community organisation known for its youth engagement, family support programs, counselling services and balanced community messaging," the statement read.
"The centre has a long record of constructive work with young people, families and local institutions, and has consistently promoted lawful, peaceful and socially responsible conduct."
There is no evidence the centre had ever endorsed, facilitated or tolerated any form of violence or unlawful activity, according to the federation of Islamic councils.
"Attempts to associate MyCentre with terrorism are misleading, harmful and inconsistent with the facts," it said.
Councils president Rateb Jneid said community organisations that had spent years supporting young people and families should not have their reputations damaged through speculation or guilt by association.
"Serious allegations must be supported by credible, independently verified evidence, not assumptions or untested claims," Dr Jneid said.
"We must not allow sensationalism to undermine the valuable work being done within our communities or create unnecessary suspicion and division.”
