Fears that Muslims will suffer

A hostage runs to armed tactical response police officers after she escaped from the cafe under siege in Sydney. Photo / AP

Zeeshan Ahmed fears peaceful Muslims will suffer as a result of the siege in Sydney which he describes as an "act by a madman".

Seventeen people were held hostage by an armed gunman, self-styled sheikh Man Haron Monis, who stormed into a cafe and forced crying women to hold a black flag with white Arabic writing up to the window Monday morning in Sydney's CBD.

A swarm of heavily armed police stormed a cafe early yesterday morning, ending the siege by the Iranian-born gunman, who had held the hostages for more than 16 hours. Two hostages died.

Mr Ahmed, a Papamoa IT support specialist, was upset when he learned what was happening in Sydney.

Mr Ahmed, who was raised in Pakistan, is a Muslim.

"I was very upset when I read it (the news). The first thing that came into my mind was how peaceful Muslims will suffer as a result of this act by a madman in Australia."

Mr Ahmed said one of the moral responsibilities of a Muslim was to keep friends, family and neighbours happy.

"Not to hurt anyone, in the holy book (the Quran) it says, if someone kills someone who is innocent, it's like he killed all of humanity."

Mr Ahmed said the gunman did not represent the Muslim faith.

"[He] was not in a stable state of mind ... I don't know from where [he] would get ideas like this from but one thing is for sure, he is crazy. The person who did that was not a real Muslim and what he did was not Islamic in any way.

"Islam is peace and love. Islam is not taking innocent people hostage or hurting anyone.

"The word Islam means peace and Muslim means people who practice Islam so together it means peaceful people."