Charity Commission reportedly launches inquiry into mosque whose manager is said to have compared Israel to the Nazis and praised the Taliban
The Charity Commission has reportedly launched an inquiry into a mosque whose manager is said to have compared Israel to the Nazis and praised the Taliban.
Saddique Hussain, the general manager of Birmingham’s Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif mosque, reportedly shared a clip of Taliban fighters showing off assault rifles whilst reciting quotes from the Quran and wrote: “How beautiful and civilised and no ‘I’. May Allah SWT guide us on to His beautiful religion.”
It was said that Mr Hussain also shared a post which said that Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian children “for fun”. He allegedly shared a video clip from the news outlet TruNews, which has been described as a “far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website”, and according to the ADL has “increasingly featured antisemitic and anti-Zionist content, and also has a long record of disseminating radical Islamophobic and anti-LGBTQ messages”. The clip in question was from Rick Wiles, a pastor who has previously labelled Jews as “deceivers” who “plot” and “lie”, in which Mr Wiles compared Israel to the Nazis.
According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.
Mr Hussain allegedly shared another clip which stated that “Zionist lobbying” could have a Sky News video that reported on Israeli military actions removed if they wanted, while another shared video reportedly contained text that said: “I am Israel – I have the power to control American policy. My American Israel Public Affairs committee can make or break any politician of its choosing.”
According to the Definition, “Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” is an example of antisemitism.
The group Muslims Against Antisemitism denounced Mr Hussain’s posts, stating: “Promoting views and associations between ‘media control’ and depicting ‘Zionists’ as having ‘control’ shows the conspiratorial mindset of the person in question. Focussing on Israel and blaming Israel for actions that it is not even associated with, shows the frothing and foaming nature of the antipathy that some hold.”
After a police warning, Mr Hussain claimed that he “does not and never has supported the Taliban”.
The Charity Commission, which apparently carried out a compliance visit to the charity last November following concerns over social media activity, has reportedly now announced that a full investigation will take place into Dar ul Uloom Islamia Rizwia (Bralawai), the group that runs Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif, relating to the conduct on social media of staff and trustees, who have apparently also shared inflammatory material online.
The Commission said: “These posts resulted in the charity receiving negative media attention and complaints being raised directly with the Commission.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2020 showed that over eight in ten British Jews consider the threat from Islamists to be very serious.
Image credit: Facebook screenshot via the JC
