As Australian Muslims prepared for Ramadan this week, the leader of the second most popular political party in the country, Senator Pauline Hanson, said of them: “Their religion concerns me because [of] what it says in the Qur’an … They hate Westerners … You say, ‘Well, there’s good Muslims out there.’ Well, I’m sorry. How can you tell me there are good Muslims?”

None of this is surprising. This same senator has twice worn a burqa into parliament, wrongly claimed that halal certification funds terrorism, and wanted a royal commission into Islam.

At the same time as Hanson made her comments, Sydney’s Lakemba mosque has said it is facing “the most alarming situation since Cronulla” due to repeated threatening letters arriving at its doors. A large Melbourne mosque says it has increased security ahead of Ramadan due to Islamophobic incidents. This is after repeated reports of Islamophobia in Australia being at the highest recorded levels.

For Muslims, Ramadan commemorates the final time divine words crossed a metaphysical boundary into human language and crystallised as the Qur’an. In this month, adult Muslims abstain........

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