The Charity Commission has opened a regulatory compliance case into a west London mosque following complaints about alleged hate speech by one of its imams and concerns over a guest speaker with a history of extremist remarks.
Hounslow Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre is facing scrutiny after the National Secular Society (NSS) lodged a formal complaint with the charities regulator this week. The complaint centres on comments made by the mosque’s imam, Shaykh Ammar Siddiqui, and the mosque’s decision to host Egyptian preacher Yusri Jabar.
The NSS raised concerns over a seminar held at the mosque in January 2023, during which Mr Siddiqui allegedly claimed that gay people would “destroy the human race” and appeared to defend the use of capital punishment for homosexuality in some Muslim-majority countries.
The two-hour event, based on a book titled Advice for the LGBTQ, was uploaded to the mosque’s YouTube channel and was reportedly aimed at children.
In the recording, Mr Siddiqui said: “There is no other way the LGBTQ sort of motive, the agenda, the purpose of that is to destroy the human race. Why? Because you cannot produce.”
Addressing laws that impose the death penalty for homosexuality in some countries, he added: “The punishment is there to stop people from engaging in it. It’s a deterrence.”
The complaint also highlights the mosque’s decision to host Mr Jabar, a social media preacher who has previously made comments calling for violence against Jewish people and expressing support for armed conflict against Israel.
In a YouTube video published in January, Mr Jabar reportedly said: “Wars will stop after killing the Jews - there will be no wars after killing the Jews.”
Despite calls for ministers to prevent his entry into the UK, Mr Jabar was allowed to travel to Britain and spoke at an event hosted by the mosque earlier this week.
The mosque has also previously attracted attention because it was attended by Asif Hanif, one of the suicide bombers responsible for the 2003 attack on Mike’s Place bar in Tel Aviv.
Megan Manson, head of campaigns at the National Secular Society, described the situation as “outrageous”, noting that the charity had received significant amounts of public funding.
“We urge the Charity Commission to investigate these concerns and evaluate this organisation’s suitability as both a registered charity and the proprietor of a school,” she said.
Ms Manson also called for reforms to prevent organisations from using charitable status to spread hatred and division.
A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said charities “must not allow their premises, events or online content to become forums for hate speech against any community”.
“The public, rightly, expects charities to bring people together, not to stoke division,” the spokesperson said.
“When such allegations arise we will, within our regulatory remit, deal with it robustly.
“Following serious concerns raised in the media about an individual connected to Hounslow Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre, we have opened a regulatory compliance case to gather more information and to engage with the charity’s trustees.
“We have since received a complaint from NSS and will be considering the contents of this complaint as part of our case.”
Scene was founded in Brighton in 1993, at a time when news stories about Pride protests were considered radical.
Since then, Scene has remained proudly independent, building a platform for queer voices. Every subscription helps us to report on the stories that matter to LGBTQ+ people across the UK and beyond.
Your support funds our journalists and contributes to Pride Community Foundation’s grant-making and policy work.
Member discussion