Former Australian cricket star Usman Khawaja has joined a nationwide campaign to combat Islamophobia, using his platform to raise awareness of growing anti-Muslim hatred and encourage victims and witnesses to report incidents.
The campaign, launched in Melbourne alongside Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, urges bystanders to speak out against anti-Muslim abuse, ABC News reported.
A campaign video highlights that Islamophobia can occur “at work, online, while shopping, in the places we feel safe,” adding that reporting incidents helps create “a future where acts of Islamophobia can be properly addressed.”
Khawaja said the issue became deeply personal after his mother, Fauzia, was verbally abused while watching him play during the 2024 Boxing Day Test against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“She had a couple of guys come up to her and start yelling into her ear and she was pretty shocked by the experience,” Khawaja said.
“I was playing so I didn’t find out until later in the day.
“Funnily enough, those two individuals were Australian supporters. They were doing that to an Australian — a fellow Australian.”
Personal Experience
The 39-year-old, who retired from international cricket in January after a 15-year career, also reflected on his own experiences.
“I’ve experienced Islamophobia since I was a kid in lots of different, varying ways, but I’ve witnessed it more in recently because I’m more attuned to it and I think it’s more prevalent right now,” he said.
“In the Australian cricket team, I felt like an outsider for a very long time, until recently, the last five years.
“There were times when people tried to ostracise me and discriminate against me because of my beliefs in a broader sense.”
Khawaja said Muslim women face even greater challenges because they are more visibly identifiable.
“If I walk down the street, I can get away with it. If you look at me, you don’t really see too much,” he said.
“But women who wear hijabs are targets right now, because they wear their religions on their sleeves. It’s very hard for them to walk down the street and blend in.
“I think hate right now is more prevalent that it has been before, not just in terms of Islamophobia, but in general.”
Aftab Malik described anti-Muslim rhetoric as “stereotypical, damaging and dangerous” and warned that reported cases represent only “the tip of the iceberg.”
He estimated a 740 per cent increase in Islamophobic incidents since the Bondi attacks, saying: “These incidents are becoming increasingly brazen, outlandish and violent.”