Imam Mohammad Tawhidi

My name is Mohammed Tawheedi.

I'm a third generation Imam.

I am an ordained Islamic cleric.

I was ordained in the holy city of Qom in Iran, which you're familiar with.

And I'm an Australian citizen.

I currently reside in North America.

And I also have extensive travel in the Middle East with a focus on the UAE.

I specialize in Islamic law and my faith, for those wondering, I am an Orthodox Shia Muslim.

Orthodox is not an Islamic term, but it is the closest for the listener to Islam.

understand that I am not a reformist in any way.

I believe in reform of societies, reform that does not involve change of religion.

So I want religion to remain what God revealed it as, and not man-made, because man-made is not accepted within Islam.

Right.

So...

I am a follower of my religion.

And to break it down in such a simple way, I don't think it would be fair for the religion itself or for its adherents, or for countries like the UAE, Bahrain, who are working very hard to establish peace and harmony, or their populations.

So the distinction we need to make is between Islam and Islamism.

Islam as a religion and Islamism as a contemporary political ideology that uses Islam to gain power and

Islamists are not a monolith.

So there are Islamists who believe in participating in democratic principles.