In the space of just 12 months, a man called Mohammad Tawhidi has come out of nowhere to become one of the most prominent Muslim voices in the Australian media.

Imam Tawhidi claims to be a Muslim leader — and a brave Muslim reformer.

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Through his appearances in the mainstream media, Imam Tawhidi has warned that Australia is being "infested by extremist Muslims".

"When I am worried about what I see is happening from my community and religion, trust me that there is something going on," he told the Seven Network's Today Tonight program on February 27, 2017.

On social media, his supporters, some from right wing groups, support his calls to shut down Muslim schools and ban Muslims from the Middle East coming to Australia.

An image of Mohammad Tawhidi from his verified Twitter account, @Imamofpeace. ( Twitter: Imamofpeace )

But strangely for a Muslim leader, he has very few supporters in the Muslim community.

He has no mosque, and only a handful of followers. And just as curiously, he only appeared in the media for the first time just over a year ago.

So who was he before he became a media star?

Questionable qualifications

Mohammad Tawhidi dropped out of The Al-Mustafa International University in 2012, the institution said. ( Supplied )

This is what Imam Tawhidi claims about his educational qualifications:

"I travelled to Iran, to the holy city of Qom, in 2007, and I engaged in my Islamic studies from there. I received my bachelor's degree and my master's degree in Islamic theology from the Al-Mustafa University." - Mohammad Tawhidi, 2GB, May 25, 2017

But Al-Mustafa International University in Iran says Imam Tawhidi has no bachelor's degree from their university, let alone a master's.

He started at the university, but dropped out.

In a letter, Al-Mustafa International University said:

"In spite of given warnings and notifications, the above-named person did not take heed of them each time and had not satisfactory academic record in his courses … he was placed on probation and [dropped] out on March 27, 2012 … the aforesaid person has no educational degree (or any given score) in his profile … Al-Mustafa University does not recommend Mohammad Touhidi for lecturing in any way. Accordingly, he has no competency to do religious activities or to preach sermons."

His own teacher seems to contradict his teachings

Imam Tawhidi says he is a moderate Muslim reformer — but his very recent past shows he has connections to a religious leader who is anything but moderate.

After Imam Tawhidi dropped out of university, he fell in with a fringe seminary school in Iran, run by a controversial religious family known as the Shirazis.

Imam Tawhidi studied under its senior cleric, the Grand Ayatollah Sayid Sadiq Husseini Shirazi, and later went to work in one of the Shirazi-run TV stations in Iraq.

Imam Tawhidi (right) speaks with Grand Ayatollah Sayid Sadiq Husseini Shirazi. ( Facebook: Exposing Tawhidi )

In February 2016, when Imam Tawhidi set up his Islamic Association of South Australia in Adelaide, Ayatollah Shirazi put out a press release in Iran claiming a connection with Imam Tawhidi and this new Australian-based organisation.

However, the beliefs of Ayatollah Shirazi are not at all aligned with the moderate brand of Islam that Imam Tawhidi calls for when he appears on Australian television.

For example, central to Ayatollah Shirazi's teachings is the insistence on an Islamic system of government, not a secular democracy.

Ayatollah Shirazi also teaches that women should be covered head to toe, and are not suited to holding positions in government, and that it is permissible for a girl to marry from the age of nine.

So has Imam Tawhidi suddenly abandoned his past?

Here is what Imam Tawhidi says:

"I do not attribute myself to any to anyone, at all. Anyone at all. I am a free human being … Yes, I am a student of the Grand Ayatollah Sayid Sadiq Al-Husseini Shirazi and he crowned me … I am not a representative of the Grand Ayatollah Shirazi. What's going on between me and the Sayid, that's nobody's business … I have his picture in my office, that doesn't mean that I represent him or I speak on his behalf." - Mohammad Tawhidi, Facebook, June 19, 2017

But even Muslims who should be his natural allies are sceptical.

Zuhdi Jasser, the founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, is a leading figure among the movement to reform Islam in the United States, and appears regularly on media outlets in the United States like Fox.

"Shirazi is no reformer. So for me to believe the veracity of an individual that claims to be about reform, and says many things that should appeal to most Australians, I would hope they would do some research and say: 'he says this to Australians, does he also say this to the Shirazi community?'" Mr Jasser told Background Briefing.

Dr Jasser questioned how Imam Tawhidi's views could change so radically in two years.

"I am all ears if Tawhidi wants to explain … then I will take him seriously," he says.

Insults on social media

Imam Tawhidi's use of social media has attracted both notoriety and attention for years.

In particular, he has been accused of posting inflammatory statements about revered figures from the Sunni sect of Islam.

In Islam, there are two main strands: Shia and Sunni. Imam Tawhidi is a Shia Muslim.

In Australia, Sunni and Shia have a long history of peaceful co-existence — and many in Australia's Muslim community don't like people coming in and stirring the pot.

A Facebook group was set up by Australian Shia Muslims in 2015, to try and expose Imam Tawhidi's apparent sectarian tendencies.

The group's admin spoke to Background Briefing, but didn't want to be named.

"Here in Australia we all want to live in peace, whether we be whatever religion or whatever denomination," the admin said.

"I go to a mosque that might be Shiite, or it might be Sunni, we are all brothers here trying to establish ourselves. We already have the bigots that hate Islam all together, and now we have someone trying to cause division within the Muslim community."

In April 2016, Imam Tawhidi said on his Facebook page that Sunni books are "full of monkey teachings" and that Sunnis are followers of an "alcoholic rapist caliph and obscene woman".

Some members of the Australian Muslim community say Imam Tawhidi is stirring up trouble.

"Up to my knowledge, I haven't seen any attack between the Sunni and Shia, until he come to Adelaide," Ahmed Zreika, president of the Islamic Society of South Australia says.

"When he come to Adelaide, I see on the social network, all the time, Sunni people and Shia people are fighting on social media (for him)."

Muslim leaders say that any stirring up of sectarian tensions goes against long traditions of tolerance and harmony in Australia.

"In Australia we have been very successful in both the Sunni and Shiite community in coexisting because the dominant culture in Australia is of co-existence," Professor Mohamad Abdullah, director of the Islamic Centre for Thought and Education at the University of South Australia, says.

"I think anyone coming in and criticising the Sunni or criticising the Shia in the guise of reformation … is problematic."

A strange change in direction

Imam Tawhidi only appeared in the Australian media for the first time early last year.

Before that, he was a virtually unknown Shia preacher who had arrived back in Australia after nine years spent overseas, mainly in Iran and Iraq.

What prompted him to morph into media star?

In late 2015, Imam Tawhidi sent an open letter to the Shiite Muslim community.

"The teachings I learnt were not incorrect but some were better off concealed … the coming year, 2016, will be a big year for me," he wrote.

"You will be seeing and hearing more of me in the media and social networks. Thus, I request from you all to keep in mind that my mission is an ideological one … There shall be a change of course. This is a matter our beloved Marja Taqlid, has advised and having respect for such a noble figure, I pay obeisance."

Roughly translated, "Marja Taqlid" means "religious leader" — so your Marja Taqlid is the person whose religious authority you've chosen to follow.

Background Briefing has seen two Facebook posts by Imam Tawhidi from late 2014, that clearly state the Grand Ayatollah Shirazi is his Marja Taqlid.

Imam Tahidi says he's a "free human being".

But if Imam Tawhidi's new focus on mainstream media coverage is indeed part of a change of direction advised by Shirazi, then this raises questions about Imam Tawhidi's ultimate goals.

Listen as Background Briefing untangles the backstory of Imam Mohammad Tawhidi.