A Muslim-raised psychiatrist says hijabs and long beards are often an Islamic 'middle finger' to Western society.

Tanveer Ahmed, who has a practice in Sydney's west, says disaffected youths from Muslim migrant families are turning to an extremist version of Islam to find a sense of identity.

'Where they tend to find a sense of identity is in Islam but a particular brand of it, one which they show through outer markers like hijabs or beards,' he said in a Rebel Media video.

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Sydney psychiatrist Tanveer Ahmed says long beards are a symbolic 'middle finger' to society

The Bangladeshi-born specialist, who moved to Australia when he was six, cited a term coined by Canadian author Tarek Fatah, who campaigns for a secular form of Islam which recognises gay rights.

'Underneath that exterior though sometimes it can be a sense of opposition to mainstream society, what Canadian author Tarek Fatah calls a middle finger to the West,' Dr Ahmed said.

The 42-year-old father of two daughters said that growing up in a culturally Muslim family, he had seen how children raised in that faith are often taught to be suspicious of Western society.

'We are taught to blame the West for a lot of our problems,' he said.

The Sydney psychiatrist says female facial coverings are an outer marker of Muslim identity

The Bangladeshi-born psychiatrist says Muslims are often brought up to distrust the West

'When we grow up we're told to avoid mainstream society because it's seen as morally corrupt.'

He added youths who turned to Islamist extremism or anti-Western views were also disconnected with their traditional cultural and continued to blame the West for problems in their ancestral nations 'be it colonialism or foreign policy'.

'This can breed a degree of resentment and identity disturbance for many Muslim kids,' Dr Ahmed said.

Dr Tanveer Ahmed says Muslims often wrap themselves up in their Muslim identity

'It pains me to say it because I'm talking about my relatives and friends here.

'Muslims wrap their identity so closely around Islam so it's not easy for them to challenge the ideas within it.'

While the 'vast majority of Muslims are not the problem', the psychiatrist who has counselled teenagers with Islamist views said Australia needed to take in fewer refugees who would have trouble getting skilled work.

'It's difficult to see then at least one of the solutions to our problem of terrorism is to have less Islam in our societies,' he said.