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YOUNG Muslims are increasingly turning to the internet to get religious advice on jihad as national security agencies crack down on local hardline clerics.

With counter-terrorism agencies keeping a close eye on radical imams, moderate leaders fear impressionable young followers are seeking religious orders from other sources.

The concern centres on overseas-based websites issuing personal fatwas -- religious decrees -- on jihad or fighting in the name of Islam.

Senior Islamic leader Ameer Ali warned that it was difficult to ascertain the qualifications and identity of the clerics issuing the dangerous rulings.

The Australian Federal Police is investigating Somali community figures accused of encouraging young men to return to their war-torn homeland and fight alongside Islamic jihadists.

Dr Ali said young Muslims who embraced the information age and turned to the internet for answers to their religious questions were at risk of being captured by radical Islamist websites.

There were thousands of websites issuing fatwas by email that undermined the traditional form of obtaining religious rulings from a local mufti or cleric, he said.

"I have seen fatwas coming from South Africa, from India, from Pakistan, and we don't know who these people are," Dr Ali said. "Their credentials are not verified and what their educational background is. If you ask to go and fight overseas, they may say yes."