stacey eden
Stacey Eden has won praise for her efforts in defending a muslim woman on a train Facebook

An Australian woman has been hailed a hero after defending a Muslim woman who was verbally abused by a fellow train passenger for wearing a hijab.

Stacey Eden could not help but intervene when the woman starting hurling insults at the victim, including allegedly calling her an Isis supporter, while she sat quietly on a Sydney commuter train.

Eden decided to record the torrent of abuse, which started with the woman saying: "Why are you wearing it [hijab] for a man that married a six-year-old girl?" The victim does not respond.

Eden then defends her and said: "She wears it for herself. She wears it because she wants to be modest with her body, not because of people like you who are going to sit there and disrespect her."

The aggressive woman continues: "Oh yeah? Your kids behead people in Syria. After the Martin Place siege."

Becoming more angry, Eden retorts: "That's not her doing it. That's a minority of people, not a majority of people."

The abuser then goes on to talk about the "148 Christians murdered in Kenya and killings in Syria", to which Eden responds: "What's that got to do with her?"

The woman admits it has nothing to do with her then blames Eden for starting the argument, who then tells the woman "to shut her mouth" and show some respect.

Eden decided to post the abusive video on Facebook to highlight the woman's ignorance.

She wrote: "She was saying some pretty horrible and hurtful things before I spoke up then as soon as I started defending them she stopped.

"People need to stop judging and putting others down over religion! EVERY RELIGION HAS GOOD AND BAD but if you take it back to the foundations, every religion is also built on LOVE. To LOVE one another.

"The purpose of religion is to control yourself, not to criticise others."

Since she posted the video it has gone viral, with worldwide praise for Eden's intervention.

Ghada Madkour posted: "Thank you Stacey! We need more good people like you in this world!"

Another user Rudee Kurnia said: "Thank you Stacey. At least you understand that Islam is a peaceful religion."

Eden said she was overwhelmed with how many people she has touched.

"I genuinely have tears in my eyes at the messages people have sent me. I didn't realise how something so small would end up being so important."

Mariam Veiszadeh, founder of Islamophobia Register Australia, said she was "heartened" by Eden's actions, and that it is unusual for bystanders to get involved in incidents like these.