Fire has gutted the Islamic Centre on Lowson Street in Fawkner. "The Islamic State" has been spray painted on the wall of the centre. Picture: Eugene Hyland

Members of the Imam Ali Islamic Centre on Lawson St, Fawkner gathered outside the gutted building today as investigators worked to determine the cause of the blaze.

“Our initial appraisal of the scene seems to indicate suspicious circumstances as to how the fire began,” detective senior constable Joseph Hartwig said.

“It’s early days in the investigation. A number of incidents have been reported previously to police and that will form part of our enquiry.

“It’s going to have a fairly substantial impact on the community around here. We’re trying to work as best we can with them.

“Our goal here is to identify who has done this, what the reason is and go from there.”

The centre has been described as a “second home” to the Shiite Muslims, predominately Iraqis, that attend prayer, occasions and educational classes there regularly.

Bags marked with asbestos warning signs lie on the footpath after firefighters battled the blaze.Source:News Corp Australia

“We’re very upset, our children come here, my wife, my mum,” one man said.

He said firefighters had been called to the building just last week.

Police are guarding the centre’s carpark entrance but “the Islamic State” graffiti can clearly be seen from the street of the fenced property.

Some members today dismissed the provocative tags as a distraction from a motive they claimed was related to a three-year building ownership dispute due to go to court early next year.

“We know who did this, I’m not going to believe this ISIS bulls--t,” one congregation member said.

The Herald Sun has contacted the Moreland City Council for clarification on the status of the now destroyed building.

Emergency services were called to the site around 2.30am and it took fire crews around 50 minutes to contain the blaze. Asbestos was also found.

Members said it was the third fire in about as many months, adding they have previously aired their concerns about potential property damage to local police.

The building was heavily damaged after the blaze.Source:News Corp Australia

One neighbour said the community centre was at the centre of a row with council over building permits and parking.

“It’s supposed to be some sort of prayer school but they come all hours of the night and park everywhere,” one man said.

“We’ve had a lot of rows with the council over it, because they park everywhere.

“To my understanding they’re not meant to be using it at all, until it passes council regulations.

“There’s been a lot of trouble with them and the council. (The council) shut it down, building regulations, they’ve gone through a lot of red tape.”

Another neighbour verified it was a busy centre, and finding a park in the street was difficult.

“Truth be told, it’s a very strange building,” a woman said. “They have a black flag up sometimes. It’s constant.”

An Islamic centre was destroyed by fire in Sydney in April this year, with a mosque in Geelong also going up in flames in May.

Originally published as Muslim community gutted by fire