However, the prime minister says the private meeting will still go ahead with those who want to seriously deal with the issue "rather than look the other way".

The group of leaders, including Grand Mufti IbrahimAbuMohamed, signed a letter on Tuesday night telling the prime minister they won't attend the meeting.

"ManyintheMuslimcommunity... aredeeplyconcernedand disappointedwithstatementsmadebysenior government ministersandthe prime ministerintherecentpast, whichinferthatthecommunityiscollectivelyculpablefor thecriminalactionsofindividuals andshouldbedoingmoretopreventsuchactsof violence," the letter said.

"Thesestatementshaveachievednothingtoaddressunderlyingissues,but rather,havealienatedlargesegmentsoftheMuslimcommunity."

They say they were invited to a meeting this week after Mr Morrison postponed an earlier meeting.

The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils said there was no agenda for the proposed meeting, and Mr Morrison has not responded to concerns sent to him on November 12.

Mr Morrison told Islamic leaders they need to do more to combat extremism after a man stabbed another man to death in Melbourne's Bourke Street on November 11.

"The objective of the proposed meeting disregards many of the points that our community had raised in the past week and which we believe need to be discussed in a frank and honest manner prior to any discussion about solutions," AFIC said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mr Morrison tweeted in response to the statements that he had privately invited Muslim leaders to a meeting in good faith "to talk honestly about what more we should be doing together to protect our communities".

"Some have chosen to publicly boycott this meeting. Continuing down a path of denial only lets their communities down. It makes their communities less safe and more vulnerable," he wrote.

"The meeting is going ahead with those who want to deal with this issue seriously rather than look the other way.

"And where some can genuinely not attend, I look forward to following up with them at a later time, including with key ministers."

Australian Associated Press