Mrs Zubair, a Bangladeshi Muslim, wears a hijab when she’s out in public. The traditional headscarf clearly identifies her as a Muslim and in the wake of terrorist attacks overseas, it’s attention she doesn’t need.

“People get scared when they see a man with a beard like (Osama) bin Laden’s,” Mr Zubair said.

“They see the beard and think they’re a terrorist even though they’re not doing anything wrong.”

Two years ago, Mr Zubair was out walking in Wagga with a visiting Muslim speaker and the pair were laughed and yelled at. 

“Some people made fun of us because they’re not used to seeing Muslim people,” Mr Zubair said.

“It doesn’t happen at all in places like Sydney and Melbourne, where there are more Muslims about.

“This is a smaller city and they’re not used to it, but slowly it’s becoming less and less.”

An agriculture and botany teacher from Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital city, Mr Zubair came to Wagga in 2012 to do a doctorate in agriculture. 

“I arrived in Sydney during the floods in the area and had to stay with a friend for a couple of weeks before I could come to Wagga,” Mr Zubair said.

“Before I came to Australia I could not imagine it was like this, I’m a big cricket fan but that’s all I knew about Australia.

“My experience has largely been very good, people are usually friendly and nice.”

Mr Zabair doesn’t look like a stereotypical Muslim, he has no beard and he doesn’t wear a cap on his head.

“No one can see I am a Muslim,” he said.

“The problem is my religion is very misunderstood.”

The son of a university lecturer, Mr Zabair was raised in a middle-class, moderate Muslim household in Dhaka, a city of about 7 million people. Bangladesh is a predominantly Muslim country, but most people are moderate, meaning they observe only they basic tenets of the religion.

“We pray five times a day, we don’t lie, we help people out and we behave well to non-Muslim people,” Mr Zubair said.

“Every group has some good people and some bad people, but the large number of Muslims are not bad.”

Islam has been the target of a lot of misinformation spread on social media and during election campaigns, according to Mr Zubair.

Last week, TV personality Sonia Kruger called for a ban on Muslim immigration to Australia because she “would like to feel safe”.

Ms Kruger’s comments were derided by Griffith imam Mohamed Mofreh who condemned terrorists and said it was unfair for people to judge other people’s religious beliefs.