A Muslim cleric in Montreal was allegedly asked by a knife-carrying man if he wanted to "die a martyr," say police who suspect it was a hate crime.

Imam Said Jazeri alleges a knife-wielding man asked 'Are you carrying belts full of explosives?' before he chased Jazeri's friend down the street. (CBC)

Imam Said Jazeri said he and a friend were leaving a mosque on Friday night when a man with a butcher's knife approached them.

The man pointed the knife at Jazeri and asked: "Do you want to die a martyr?"

Then, Jazeri said, he asked: "Are you carrying belts full of explosives?"

Jazeri managed to call police when the man chased his friend down the street.

Const. Benoit Couture said no one was hurt, but it appears the man wanted to cause the pair harm. He said investigators consider the attack a hate crime.

A 34-year-old man has been charged with armed assault, uttering threats and possession of a dangerous weapon. He will appear in court on Monday for a bail hearing.

Jazeri is a prominent voice in Montreal's Muslim community. His mosque was among four in the city to be vandalized after he organized a protest against the controversial editorial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

The publication of the cartoons, initially by a Danish newspaper in the fall of 2005, offended many Muslims who consider them blasphemy, because Islamic tradition forbids even favourable depictions of Muhammad out of fear they could lead to idolatry.

Jaziri said the alleged knife threat "looks like it has to do with our situation these days," an apparent reference to the arrests in southern Ontario on June 2-3 of 17 Muslim men and youth who are accused of plotting to bomb Canadian targets and of being inspired by al-Qaeda.

Harper meets Muslim leaders

Muslim leaders in Toronto met privately with Prime Minister Harper on Saturday night to discuss their concerns about an anti-Muslim backlash after the arrests, which were made under the federal Anti-terrorism Act.

The meeting was held Saturday night, a week after the bomb-plot arrests.

Farzana Hassan-Shahid of the Canadian Muslim Congress said the talks were a positive step, but that more empathy needs to be developed between the Muslim community and government officials.

"Government policies, especially, should reflect that," she said.

Participants said there were "very frank exchanges" and that the prime minister took detailed notes. He also assured the group that he recognizes their concerns.

Muslims call for end to preaching of intolerance

Muslim leaders representing about 30 mosques in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec also met Saturday in Toronto and later called for a zero-tolerance policy in mosques and community centres against preaching "any form of hatred or intolerance."

The leaders said Muslim-Canadians can either ignore or deny the presence of radicals, or remove those radicals.

But they also insisted that the vast majority of Muslims in Canada are moderate and don't advocate violence.