Controversial Australian sheikh known as the Imam of Peace is rushed to hospital with illness 

A controversial Australian imam has called on people to pray for him after he was rushed to hospital with a mystery illness.

Mohammad Tawhidi, who calls himself the Imam of Peace, tweeted an image of himself in the back of an ambulance on Wednesday.

‘Please pray for me whatever religion you believe in. Please,’ he captioned the photo.

‘Please pray for me whatever religion you believe in. Please,’ he captioned the photo

He also added an update to his Facebook page that said he was in severe pain and had difficulty breathing. 

The tweet quickly received more than 47,000 likes with many of his supporters tweeting at him telling him to be strong and they hope he recovers.

‘Please dear Lord bless the Imam. Bless his doctors with skill. And please allow him to continue his work,’ one user wrote.

‘Get well soon sir, praying for your speedy recovery,’ another user said.

The Adelaide-based Shia religious leader moved to Australia from Iraq in 1995 when he was 12.

He amassed a large social media following under the name ‘Imam of Peace’ and often advocates against Islamic extremism. 

Tawhidi has more than 608,000 Twitter followers for criticizing extremist and anti-West elements of Islam.

The Adelaide-based Shia religious leader moved to Australia from Iraq in 1995 when he was 12 

In December last year Tawhidi claimed an Islamic preacher from Pakistan was calling for him to be killed.

The sheikh tweeted the death fatwa that was issued against him by Mufti Ahmad Raza Sialvi, with photos of the call to kill.

‘Yesterday, a death Fatwa was issued against me by Mufti Sialvi of Pakistan. First, I thank the officials who contacted me expressing their concerns and support,’ his tweet read.

‘I’ve put all future meetings and events on hold until further notice. I’ll come out of this much stronger.’