In a dark and nearly empty fifth floor office near the Adelaide CBD we find the Islamic Association of South Australia.

It consists of Imam Mohammed Tawhidi, his loyal assistant Haider and mahogany furniture.

Is Imam Mohammed Tawhidi a "hero speaking the truth" or a "charlatan"? Charlatan 10706 Hero speaking the truth 10595

The chairs and desk are donated from anonymous sources.

Likewise, the airport-grade metal detector which flanks the front entrance.

Tawhidi himself is dressed in traditional holy orders – immaculately pressed and stainless.

“I don’t know how old I am,” says Mr Tawhidi, recounting his childhood escape from Iraq to Iran without identity papers.

Mohammed Tawhidi is one of the most controversial figures in the Muslim community.

“I recently had a molar removed to determine my age – I’m somewhere in my mid-30s.”

This man has been ridiculed, denounced, spat on, roughed up and shamed.

Why?

The few who applaud Tawhidi say it is because he is brave enough to stand up to the toxic extremism which has infiltrated Australia.

Imam Tawhidi says he has become "an imam of peace".

If you ask radio jocks and conservative commentators, you will be told Tawhidi is a hero speaking the truth.

Ask the Left and you’ll be told he is a "fake sheikh" – a charlatan who has been discredited after overselling his credentials.

Ask the man himself and he’ll tell you he is doing God’s work – fulfilling a destiny to clean out the radicals from his religion after escaping a path that was leading him towards fundamentalism earlier in life.

In one breath, Tawhidi is humble – "I woke up and become an Imam of peace and I go around and there has been no reception whatsoever."

Imam Tawhidi refers often to his academic credentials.

In the next, delusional – "I will say this because of my studies on counter-terrorism, I feel I’m qualified. If the United States cracks down on Iran and its regime, Iran will fund ISIS".

The counter-terrorism studies Tawhidi is referring to is a free online overseas course with a certificate that can be purchased for $49. It took him 12 weeks to complete from home.

But press him on his qualifications and he will tell you he “studied at Harvard and Georgetown universities”.

And herein lie the roots of Tawhidi’s troubles.

Tawhidi's detractors deride him as a "fake sheikh".

Prone to self-aggrandisement and media opportunism on a scale that would make even Clive Palmer blush, Mohammed does himself no favours when he succumbs to temptations which, for example, push him to refer to himself in the third person as “Imam Tawhidi” at the start of every second sentence.

Despite an impressive 123,000 followers on Twitter, the majority of the Muslim community here have called what they believe to be his elaborate bluff.

Far sadder than claims he is having them on is the niggling suspicion that he is having himself on – that he is playing dress ups with his robes and believes he really is the character he has invented.