Former president of the Islamic Council of Victoria Ghaith Krayem says forcing people to sing the national anthem is un-Australian. 
Mr Krayem's comments come after controversial group Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) spokesman Uthman Badar told a crowd of about 500 people that Muslim children should not be forced to sing the Australian anthem.  
???Mr Badar was speaking on Sunday at a HuT-organised forum in Sydney's south-west,  on the "criminalisation" of the Islamic community. 
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott wanted to ban the organisation.
But Victoria's main Muslim body's former boss, Mr Krayem, said forcing people to sing the national anthem was un-Australian. 
"No one, regardless of religion or ethnic background, should be forced to sing the national anthem. That's not what Australia is," Mr Krayem said.
"We uphold national anthem and we give it the respect it deserves  ... [but] we are not America, we don't have this patriotism-on-steroids that Americans do.
Mr Krayem said in Australia, the national anthem and the flag did not hold the same place as in America.
"Growing up, we only would sing the national anthem if we felt like it, and there were times as a child  you mucked around [and] you didn't sing the national anthem," he said.
"I would hate to think we would ever become so nationalistic that if someone chose not to sing the national anthem that they would be ostracised." 
Mr Krayem said singing the national anthem was not forbidden in Islam.
"This isn't about religion, this is about what Australia actually is," he said. 
"Australian values have never been ... these rabid nationalists that the Americans have always been."
Mr Krayem said instead of forcing people to sing the national anthem, the focus should be on connecting and strengthening their Australian identity.
"I don't think we should be treating the national anthem as something that people need permission to do or not to do," he said.
"What we need to be doing is actually instilling in people a connection to our Australian identity because once you do that then when the anthem is played it becomes a very natural thing to join in."
He said if people didn't want to stand or sing the national anthem, then the best approach was to "simply leave them be" and continue the work around "building Australian identity".
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Mr Krayem was the current president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, and that he represented the ICV's view.
n.choahan@fairfaxmedia.com.au
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