What Makes a “Good Muslim”
After Pauline Hanson reignites debate, this piece examines what defines a “good Muslim”, exploring faith, apathy, radicalisation and the challenge facing Western nations.
This is my considered contribution to the commentary about what constitutes a “good Muslim” after Senator Pauline Hanson sparked an important national conversation with her comments (in the context of immigration) during a Sky News interview with Sharri Markson.
Many Muslims are good people who are in a quandary, given the rigid ideology and demands of Islam.
Three Choices
Nabeel Qureshi was raised in a devout Muslim family in the US and describes how he realised this quandary when he set out to explore the roots of his religion.
“If the traditions about the prophet of Islam are in any way reliable, then Islam glorifies violent Jihad arguably more than any other action a Muslim can take. This conclusion led me to a three-pronged fork in the road. Either I could become an apostate and leave Islam, grow apathetic and ignore the prophet, or become ‘radicalised’ and obey him… Apostasy, apathy, or radicalisation. Those were my choices.”
Qureshi chose the difficult path of apostasy from Islam and converted to Christianity.
Apathy, Devotion and the Risk of Radicalisation
A “good Muslim”, it seems then, as far as Christians and Western nations are concerned, is an ‘apathetic’ Muslim when it comes to following the fundamental tenets and practices of the Koran, the Hadiths (traditions of Muhammad), and Shariah (legal framework of Islam).
The dilemma logically arises. What happens when apathy gives way to renewed devotion and a return to the fundamental tenets of Islam? The uncomfortable truth is that violent Jihad becomes a possibility as “Islam glorifies violent Jihad arguably more than any other action a Muslim can take”, as Qureshi explains.
Equally problematic is: how do Western governments determine where a potential Muslim migrant is on this spectrum? And also, what is the likelihood of a particular ‘apathetic/good’ Muslim becoming a fundamentalist or ‘radical/bad’ Muslim? Islamic hate preachers in Australia work overtime to guilt apathetic Muslims into becoming devoted and fundamentalist Muslims.
Qureshi’s arguments are corroborated by other subject matter experts, including Mosab Yousef (Son of Hamas), who also converted to Christianity and has exposed the inner workings and mindset of Hamas.
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what makes a good christian?
if a good christian is one who takes the bible lierally, then they can be just as equally radicalised, persuaded and coerced.
the tragic case of elizabeth struhs proves this.
its an indictrinated mind that thinks only muslims can be radicalised.
Kamryn, thanks for your post, a great question, ‘What makes a good Christian?’ That’s the rub, Christianity explains clearly that there are no such things as ‘good Christians,’ we are all sinners, deserving of eternal damnation. There is only one good Christian who has walked this earth, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So for me that’s the radical difference between Christianity and Islam, you can claim to be a good Muslim but you can never claim to be a good Christian.
In an interview I heard, a former Muslim, now a Christian, was asked, “What’s the difference between a radical Muslim and a regular Muslim?” The answer was short: ” They haven’t read the Quran”.
Dylan, thanks for your post. Your argument is well made. Let me paint a further dimension to this question. Your post is focused on the Muslim, the adherent of Islam to a greater or lesser degree. Let’s look at the reality of the last two or three decades. Muslims used to be confined to largely Muslim nations (in order of numbers, Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.) Now we have see Muslims migrate to western nations in large numbers. In many cases they have clearly failed to integrate, they have quite openly brought their faith and their culture to our shores, that’s only natural. All we have to do it take the litmus test in these western nations to see the impact on those nations.
All Muslims are made in God’s image, and whatever their religious and cultural traditions, are deserving of God’s grace through Jesus Christ. Yes we need to understand Islam, but we need to love Muslims into the Kingdom. In the last year, I have been challenged by God to reach out to the Muslims who have come to our shores, I believe the fields are ripe unto harvest.
I was brought up as a “good Christian”, but had no peace, gave up on God and then found faith and forgiveness in Christ 40 odd years ago. To be honest , I daren’t call myself a “good Christian” (ask my family 🙂 I am a saved Christian beloved by God.
i think the guy who wrote this is using the term ‘good’ in the sense of being devout. when asked what a good christian was he was quick to point out knowledge of scripture, praying, speaking in tongues, fasting.
in the word of faith movement which he belongs to theres plenty of these hyperfaith types who belive being a good christian is being an anti-vaxxer and shunning medicine.
they believe they dont sin.
and sadly because theyve been radicalised that leads to situations like little elizabeth struhs.
Nabeel Qureshi had 3 choices :–apostasy resulting in death ; violent Jihad which is the main duty of all”good ” Muslims, or , become apathetic ie be a “pretend ” Muslim going to the mosque, etc but in his heart not believing in Islam. ( At least half of the population of Iran are “pretend ” Muslims ). Nabeelchose to become a Christian. WHY are Muslims so scared of the Bible? Why are people killed in Muslim countries if they read or own one ? Image Australia as a Muslim country with Sharia Law :–all non -Muslims as dhimmis (2nd Class Citizens paying Jizya , a special Tax on all non-Muslims ), our War Museum in Canberra showing only Muslim Jihadi victories over Christians and Art Galleries closed (“offensive ” ), music banned , our children taken by them as young as 8 or 9 into forced marriages with Muslims, all women veiled, confined to the home, no more finishing school or attending university–an Australia like a cross between UK + Afghanistan, Christianity banned, churches turned into mosques. Is this what you want for your children and grandchildren ? A subtle ban on Christmas and Easter is already happening. “Cultural Catholic ” Albanese attended Ramadan . This is what appeasement, compromise brings. Expect more killings of Jews because Jihad orders their deaths.
Already in Europe Christian cemeteries have had their tombs destroyed. I found out just now that there was a Petition to ban the return of ” ISIS Brides to Australia. The Petition was not publicised and submissions closed in October 2025. Sneaky. Islamization by stealth.
Anyone not following the ‘radical’ path of Islam will be counted among the infidels, even the ‘good’ muslims (even those who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca). They will be no better off than Christians, Jews, non-believers or anyone else when it comes to the destruction that radical Islam requires.
All applicants for residence, and especially for citizenship, should be required to sign, in a prominent part of their application, a promise to assimilate to the Western culture and values, and be tested annually on progress in the English language.
Tony, I like your suggestion, but have two responses. I don’t think the current political climate could ever instigate such a move as they are wedded to the ‘feel good’ policy of multiculturalism, of ‘celebrating diversity and the maintenance of the different cultures and languages.’ My second thought is that this would only work if all our ‘institutions’ stopped offering language services in a wide range of languages. These services are hugely expensive, I suspect, and would save our tax dollars a fair bit. But again the current political climate will not do this.
What’s the “national conversation” here, exactly: immigration policy, or a permission slip to psychoanalyse 800,000 Australian Muslims you clearly haven’t studied?
Your post isn’t “considered.” It’s a stack of basic critical-thinking errors dressed up as concern.
1. You start with a poisoned frame
Calling it “what makes a good Muslim” after Hanson’s “no good Muslims” line turns an entire faith community into a loyalty test. That is collective suspicion, not analysis.
2. You build a false trilemma
“Apostasy, apathy, or radicalisation” is a rhetorical trap, not a serious map of Muslim life. It ignores the actual spectrum: devout and peaceful; devout and civic-minded; spiritually serious and ethically constrained. Life is not a three-lane highway designed for a polemicist’s punchline.
3. You commit appeal-to-authority plus selection bias
Your “experts” are public Christian apologetics figures whose brand is built on attacking Islam (Qureshi, and “Son of Hamas”). That is not “subject matter expertise” in Islamic theology, Qur’anic exegesis, or jurisprudence. It is testimony from a particular ideological lane, chosen because it confirms your conclusion.
4. You misunderstand jihad at definition level
You treat “jihad” as if it simply means “violent holy war,” then build everything on that. Even basic reference works note jihad primarily as “struggle/effort,” with context-dependent meanings, and it’s often mistranslated in the West. If you don’t start with accurate definitions, everything downstream is garbage-in, garbage-out.
5. You smuggle in “good Muslim = apathetic Muslim”
You literally argue that a “good Muslim” (for Western nations) is someone apathetic about “fundamental tenets” and practice. That’s not integration. That’s asking for a neutered, embarrassed identity as the price of belonging. It’s also a confession that your standard is not “peaceful,” it’s “less Muslim.”
6. You leap from devotion to violence with no logic bridge
You say “when apathy gives way to renewed devotion… violent Jihad becomes a possibility.” That’s a textbook non sequitur. Devotion does not equal violence. By that logic, any sincere religious revival in any faith is a security threat. Your own comment section even spots the double standard.
7. You make a sweeping claim about “hate preachers” without evidence
“Islamic hate preachers in Australia work overtime…” Who? Where? What’s the data? You offer none, because the line is doing emotional work, not evidentiary work.
Here’s the bottom line, Dylan: if you “know nothing about Islam,” stop lecturing the public about Islam as if your discomfort is a credential.
If you want a serious conversation, start with primary texts, mainstream scholarship, and real-world data about Australian Muslims, not a cherry-picked conversion narrative and a fear-based conclusion.
Otherwise, the graceful thing to do is simple: please be quiet on what you haven’t bothered to learn.
Below is a factual, historical list of major Islamist-linked terrorist attacks and related events since World War II. This list includes acts attributed to Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Hamas, al-Qaeda, ISIS/ISIL (Islamic State), the Taliban, and other Islamist militant groups.
Context: Islamist Terrorist Attacks (1979–2024) – A detailed analysis by the French think-tank Fondation pour l’innovation politique recorded 66,872 Islamist terrorist attacks globally between 1979 and April 2024, resulting in 249,941 deaths, and many more injured and displaced.
What we don’t see are mass protests against Islamic violence by ‘good muslims’.
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Selected Islamist-Linked Terrorist Attacks and Events Since WWII
1. 1949 — Aleppo synagogue bombings (Syria)
2. 1950s — Early fedayeen raids from Gaza into Israel
3. 1954 — Assassination attempt on King Hussein of Jordan
4. 1964 — First Palestinian fedayeen raids against Israel
5. 1967–1970 — Escalation of fedayeen operations
6. 1970 — Black September assassinations (Jordan)
7. 1972 — Munich Olympics massacre — Black September kills 11 Israeli athletes
8. 1973 — Terrorist attacks during Yom Kippur War
9. 1974 — Ma’alot massacre (Israel) — PFLP
10. 1974 — Attack on Istanbul airport by PLO elements
11. 1975 — Beirut bus bombing (Lebanon)
12. 1979 — Iranian Revolution–linked executions and attacks
13. 1979 — Grand Mosque seizure, Mecca (Saudi Arabia)
14. 1979 — U.S. Embassy takeover in Islamabad
15. 1979–1989 — Soviet–Afghan War insurgent bombings
16. 1981 — Assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
17. 1983 — Beirut barracks bombings — Hezbollah-linked
18. 1983 — U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut
19. 1984 — Hijacking of Kuwait Airways Flight 221
20. 1985 — TWA Flight 847 hijacking (Hezbollah/PLO)
21. 1985 — Rome airport attack (Islamist splinter group)
22. 1985 — Vienna airport attack
23. 1986 — Hindawi affair — attempted airline bombing
24. 1987 — First Intifada begins (Palestinian uprising)
25. 1988 — Pan Am Flight 103 bombing (Lockerbie)
26. 1989 — Iran–Iraq border attacks
27. 1991 — Iraq’s attempted assassination of George H.W. Bush
28. 1992 — Israeli embassy attack in Buenos Aires
29. 1993 — World Trade Center bombing (al-Qaeda linked)
30. 1994 — Buenos Aires AMIA bombing (Iran/Hezbollah linked)
31. 1995 — Riyadh bombing (Saudi Arabia)
32. 1996 — Khobar Towers bombing (Saudi Arabia)
33. 1997 — Luxor massacre (Egypt) — extremist group
34. 1998 — U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya/Tanzania (al-Qaeda)
35. 2000–2005 — Second Intifada suicide attacks (Hamas, PIJ, others)
36. 2000 — Sbarro pizzeria bombing (Hamas) — Jerusalem
37. 2001 — 9/11 attacks (al-Qaeda) — U.S.
38. 2002 — Bali nightclub bombings (Jemaah Islamiyah)
39. 2002 — Passover massacre (Hamas) — Netanya, Israel
40. 2003 — Istanbul synagogues bombings
41. 2003 — Casablanca bombings (Morocco)
42. 2003 — Istanbul Hilton bombing
43. 2003 — Riyadh compound bombings
44. 2003 — Canal Hotel bombing (UN HQ, Baghdad)
45. 2004 — Madrid train bombings (al-Qaeda)
46. 2004 — Beslan school siege (Chechen Islamists)
47. 2005 — London subway/bus bombings (al-Qaeda inspired)
48. 2005 — Sharm el-Sheikh bombings (Egypt)
49. 2006 — Mumbai train bombings (Islamist extremists)
50. 2006 — Hezbollah-Israel conflict and associated attacks
51. 2007 — Al-Askari Mosque bombing (Iraq)
52. 2007 — Suicide bombings in Iraq surge
53. 2007 — Tal Afar bombings (Iraq)
54. 2008 — Mumbai attacks (Pakistan-linked militants)
55. 2008 — Baghdad market bombings
56. 2008 — Sinai bombings (Egypt)
57. 2009 — Fort Hood shooting (U.S.; Islamist radicalization)
58. 2009 — Little Rock recruiting office shooting
59. 2010 — Moscow Metro bombings
60. 2011 — Arab Spring–linked attacks (Egypt/Syria)
61. 2011 — Norway attacks (breach by Islamist-linked extremist plot foiled)
62. 2011 — Rise of ISIS/ISIL; attacks in Iraq/Syria
63. 2012 — Benghazi U.S. consulate attack
64. 2012 — Toulouse and Montauban shootings (France)
65. 2013 — Boston Marathon bombing (ISIS influence)
66. 2013 — Westgate mall siege (al-Shabaab, Kenya)
67. 2014 — Rise of ISIS caliphate; mass killings
68. 2014 — Peshawar school massacre (Pakistan, Tehrik-i-Taliban)
69. 2014 — Beheading and mass executions by ISIS
70. 2014 — Yazidi genocide (ISIS)
71. 2015 — Charlie Hebdo attack (France)
72. 2015 — Paris attacks (ISIS)
73. 2015 — Beirut bombings (ISIS)
74. 2015 — San Bernardino shooting (U.S.)
75. 2016 — Brussels bombings (ISIS)
76. 2016 — Istanbul airport attack (ISIS)
77. 2016 — Nice truck attack (ISIS pledge)
78. 2016 — Dhaka restaurant attack (ISIS)
79. 2016 — Berlin Christmas market attack (ISIS)
80. 2017 — Westminster attack (ISIS)
81. 2017 — Manchester Arena bombing (ISIS)
82. 2017 — London Bridge attack (ISIS)
83. 2017 — Sinai mosque massacre (Egypt, ISIS-linked)
84. 2017 — Mogadishu bombings (al-Shabaab)
85. 2018 — Surabaya church bombings (Indonesia)
86. 2018 — Strasbourg Christmas market attack (ISIS)
87. 2019 — Sri Lanka Easter bombings (ISIS)
88. 2019 — London Bridge attack (ISIS)
89. 2019 — Kabul bombings (Taliban/ISIS)
90. 2020 — Tehran assassination of nuclear scientist (Iran/Hezbollah tensions)
91. 2020 — Normandy church attack (ISIS)
92. 2020 — Vienna shooting (ISIS)
93. 2021 — Kabul airport attack (ISIS-K)
94. 2021 — Nice basilica stabbing (ISIS pledge)
95. 2022 — Kabul mosque bombings (ISIS-K)
96. 2022 — Iran protests–linked attacks
97. 2023 — Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel, Oct 7
98. 2023 — Israel–Gaza war escalations with multiple civilian attacks
99. 2023 — ISIS attacks in Somalia
100. 2024 — Sinai insurgency attacks (ISIS)
101. 2024 — Multiple ISIS-linked attacks in Europe
102. 2025 — Bondi Beach Massacre (14 Dec): Two Islamic State gunmen (allegedly **) fired into the crowd at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach, Sydney, killing 15 people, injuring more than 50.
[** Alleged perpetrator before Australian courts]
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📌 Notes on Groups Mentioned
– Hezbollah — Shia Islamist group based in Lebanon; involved in bombings in the 1980s, multiple conflicts with Israel.
– Hamas — Palestinian Sunni Islamist group; conducted suicide bombings and rocket attacks during the Second Intifada and after.
– Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) — Smaller Palestinian Islamist group; carried out bombings and rocket attacks.
– Al-Qaeda — Transnational Sunni extremist group; responsible for major global attacks in the 1990s–2000s.
– ISIS/ISIL/Daesh — Emerged from al-Qaeda in Iraq; responsible for wide-scale violence and “caliphate”-era atrocities.
– Taliban — Afghan Islamist group; carried out insurgent attacks, some targeting civilians.
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question for the daily declaration editors: this guy goes around calling himself ‘reverend’ but he’s not ordained.
he’s a former teacher and lay preacher, but he’s adopted the honorific ‘reverend’.
how does this work? like if it’s ok to self-appoint yourself a ‘Rev’ then i guess that’s ok. i don’t mind either way.
i guess i’m just thinking about all the great people of God in Australia who have been to seminary, theology school, have done all the hard yards and been ordained by their church and they are bestowed the honor of ‘Rev’. meantime we have backyard people who come out of nowhere and get a social media following and suddenly start calling themselves ‘Rev’.
happy to accept if he is legally able to do so, no big deal, no harm done, but just asking more so to see whether we should even take this title seriously anymore.
Thanks for that list Kym. But I think we also need to add to that wonderful legacy of Islam the question of what exactly has the Koran and its adherents contributed to society in general. We see millions of muslims fleeing their Koran loving lands. and heading for the west -not other muslim countries. We see no peace with minorities. In fact there is brutality and suppression of other religious minorities, at the very least, institutionalised discrimination. Most christians, Jews and other groups have been forced to leave the middle east or exterminated. The middle east used to be populated with Jews and Christians. They were there long before the religion of ‘peace’ came on the scene. And now they want to wipe out this tiny piece of land called Israel, which was never theirs, anyway! You have to be insane to still think good of Islam!