If ya wana take a ride w/ me: #IllRideWithYou puts Islamophobia on the barbie!

Thousands of messages of support were posted online for Muslims in Australia fearful of an Islamophobic backlash in the wake of a shooting at a Sydney cafe that left three dead, including the gunman.

When good samaritan Rachael Jacobs posted a Facebook message about a Muslim woman on her commuter train silently removing her hijab, it was picked up by the world: "I ran after her at the train station. I said 'put it back on. I'll walk with u'. She started to cry and hugged me for about a minute - then walked off alone”.

The post inspired Twitter user @sirtessa to tweet, "If you reg take the #373 bus b/w Coogee/MartinPl, wear religious attire, & don't feel safe alone: I'll ride with you. @ me for schedule," followed by a second tweet asking, "Maybe start a hashtag?" 

In just two hours, there were 40,000 tweets using the hashtag #Illridewithyou; another 100,000 followed in the next four hours. The hashtag trended the globe, popping up across Asia, Europe, Africa and North America, and of course, the Middle East. Even Sydney-born actor Russell Crowe added celebrity to the spontaneous campaign.

Now thousands more have joined in, offering to meet up and travel with Muslims - on buses, trains, or on foot. Half of Australia's 500,000 Muslims live in Sydney, and many more Muslim workers commute to the city from its western suburbs - that’s a significant audience for this outpouring of solidarity.

Sydney FC's official Twitter account urged users to use the tag responsibly though: "Please, if you're going to use #illridewithyou, include journeys and times, make it genuinely useful not just a trendy thing to tweet."

Posting on one of the many comment boards about the shooting, Rohan Pinto in Dubai summed up the phenomenon: “This left me with moist eyes. This is the sort of attitude we need. This calls for a salute; humanity matters, we are all equals. Respect each and every religion - no religion supports violence. Hats off to Australia.”