Banning the ISIS flag sounds obvious but it risks inadvertently increasing Islamophobia

These words in Arabic are the core of Islamic belief: "There is no deity but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger." This combination of words is known as the shahada or testimony of faith.

The shahada is recited by the world's 1.5 billion Muslims on a daily basis and is sacred to Muslims. It is found in books, in artwork, in mosques, in schools, and in homes.

Unfortunately, terrorist group ISIS uses the shahada in their flag. The new Commonwealth counter-terrorism bill to ban hate symbols seeks to ban the public display and trading of the Nazi and ISIS symbols. Whilst we support the banning of the Nazi symbol and understand the rationale for wanting to ban the ISIS symbol, we are concerned that by doing so, the government is in effect criminalising the core tenet of the Islamic faith.

ISIS is a criminal terrorist group not bound by concern for how their indiscriminate violence will be associated with Islam, but this new Bill will inadvertently have the same effect.

The government must not rush through this law without proper consultation about its potential wider impacts. Surely there are ways to address the problem without causing this entirely avoidable harm.