UK Imam Hamza barred from preaching

[Guest guest]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/comp/articleshow?artid=36477191

 

LONDON: Britain's most controversial Muslim preacher, Abu Hamza, who ousted Indian immigrants from the mosque they built in north London, has been formally barred from preaching on account of his consistently inflammatory remarks.

 

On Tuesday afternoon, Hamza was penalised for ranting against the Columbia space shuttle disaster.

 

In remarks that were strongly criticised by Muslim organisations, Hamza said the astronauts had been punished by Allah because they included an Israeli, an Indian-born Hindu and Americans.

 

Britain's charity watchdog, the Charities Commission, said it was removing Hamza from his post as preacher at the Finsbury Park mosque because of his inappropriate political statements.

 

The mosque, it said, could now do "the important work for which it was originally established".

 

On Tuesday, his lawyer Muddassar Arani blamed "media hysteria" for his ouster.

 

Last month, British police had launched an unprecedented and dramatic midnight raid on Hamza's mosque, one of London's largest, in connection with the discovery of deadly poison Ricin.

 

As recently revealed in this paper, the mosque was built by some north Indians, led by Lucknow immigrant Masroor Ahmad, as a house of prayer for Muslims from the sub-continent.

 

But after Hamza and some thuggish Algerian supporters forced their way into the mosque, Ahmad and other South Asians were ousted.

 

The mosque, which is centrally located, became the alleged source of infamous inspiration for so-called international terrorists such as Zacharias Moussaoui, alleged 20th hijacker of the 9/11 planes and shoe-bomber Richard Reid.

 

Ahmad, the mosque's founder, has told this paper that Hamza's ouster might allow him to re-assert control and clean up the mosque.

 

Hamza's version of radical Islam, he said, was very different from the peaceable sub-continental interpretation.

 

Ahmad said the plan for a proper mosque came about after a local hotel-owner, Syed Munnawar, originally from Bihar, achieved considerable success by opening one room in his home for prayer.

[Guest guest]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/02/04/uk.hamza/index.html

 

 

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Muslim cleric Abu Hamza, who sparked a new storm by welcoming the deaths of the seven astronauts killed in the Columbia shuttle disaster, has been removed from his position by British officials.

Hamza, preacher at a London mosque linked to key terrorist suspects, was removed from his post by the UK Charity Commission.

 

Egyptian-born Hamza, 45, who is missing a hand and an eye, was accused of abusing his position at the North London Central Mosque in Finsbury Park to preach his radical brand of Islam and make inflammatory sermons.

 

The commission said it had acted "to enable the trustees of the North London mosque to govern the charity so it can do the important work for which it was originally established."

 

Police raided the mosque last month in a probe into the discovery of ricin poison in north London, and Hamza was forced to preach outside in the street.

 

Hamza was first suspended by the commission last April but had been given until January 20 to appeal. He said he would ignore the ruling.

 

"The reason for banning me is for making political comments against America and Israel," he told Reuters. A spokesman for Hamza said he "will continue to preach outside as usual."

 

Hamza, leader of the Supporters of Sharia group, first came to prominence in 1999 when five Britons of Pakistani origin were convicted in Yemen for plotting bomb attacks.

 

Among those arrested were his teenage son and stepson, and prosecutors said Hamza had sent the group to Yemen.

 

After the attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, Hamza said the plane hijackers should be hailed as "martyrs" if it emerged they had carried out the attacks in the name of Islam.

 

The controversial cleric hit the headlines in Britain again on Tuesday for calling the Columbia astronauts "thugs of space" who deserved to die.

 

He said the crew -- Americans, a Hindu and an Israeli -- were a "trinity of evil" punished by Allah.

 

Hamza said that they were "criminals" bent on boosting military satellite technology so America could dominate the world.

 

He said it was a sign from God that debris rained down on a town in Texas named Palestine and called it "a divine act."

 

The commission said representations had been received from Hamza's lawyers and that it had responded to them in full.

 

Hamza would still be free to pray at the mosque, which is currently closed following the police raids, the commission said.

 

British newspapers have singled out the mosque as a focus for Muslim extremism.

 

Shoebomber Richard Reid and the alleged "20th hijacker" on September 11, Zacarias Moussaoui, both attended the mosque.

 

[Guest guest]

never knew that Captain Hook had converted to Islam. learn something everyday.

 

Anybody know what happen to his patch?

[Guest guest]

The man gets more from state benefits than i do working. And for what? Threatening to kill us. I understand the expression 'soft johny englishman' now. Soft in the head to allow such people as him into Britain.

[livingentity]

Look at the ones they let in America!! This is a world-wide situation.

[Guest guest]

People i feel sorry for are Indians and Sihks because they seem to be getting lumped together at the minute under the term 'Asian'.Its how the British government offsets problems blatantly caused by the Islamic community- by saying well these asians are a benefit to Britain. But of course there not Muslims but Hindus. And they say there a small minority of the Islamic community but the majority supports there views.

[Guest guest]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?artid=38579403

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2003 06:53:17 PM ]

 

LONDON: In the first case of its kind for a century, Britain has used an obscure Victorian law to convict a cleric for preaching hatred of Hindus, Jews and Americans, even though no specific targets or assailants were named.

 

Late on Monday, Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal, a Jamaican Christian who converted to Islam, made history as the first Muslim cleric ever to be prosecuted in Britain.

 

In views that have been roundly condemned as "lunatic" by British Muslim organisations, El-Faisal was proved to have consistently spoken against Israel, Jews, Hindus and the oppression of Muslims in Kashmir.

 

His conviction by a court that was especially purged of all potential Jewish or Hindu jurors is thought to underline the seriousness with which Britain is trying to crack down on those accused of provoking the so-called clash of civilisations.

 

In an unrelated development, British ministers hinted they were "watching" the activities of another fiery and controversial immigrant preacher, Abu Hamza al-Masri, possibly in a move to strip him of his British nationality and deport him.

 

El-Faisal’s conviction, under an 1861 law that was last successfully used against an Italian revolutionary in 1905, comes as the British authorities warned they were examining his immigration status.

 

His possible deportation will come as commentators said the British authorities appeared keen to make an example of el-Faisal.

 

El-Faisal’s arrest in the UK was mentioned in a White House "war on terror" update last March.

 

The cleric left his religious studies in Saudi Arabia to preach at the south London mosque where British shoe-bomber Richard Reid is known to have worshipped.

 

El-Faisal admits to knowing James Ujjama, another British convert to Islam currently under trial in the US, but is reported to have described him as a "nutter".

 

El-Faisal’s followers said their hero’s conviction meant a conviction for the Koran, but British police said the preacher had repeatedly used a "cloak of piousness" to ply his bigoted trade.

 

The preacher, who ludicrously suggested using non-believers’ bodies as fuel for sub-continental nuclear stations, was arrested almost exactly a year ago.

 

At the time, British ministers had told Parliament to "watch this space"; even as MPs of Tony Blair’s governing Labour Party had called for the preacher to "get out of the country as quickly as possible".

 

David Winnick, MP, had demanded: "Is it not a matter of deep regret that there is this Muslim priest touring Britain, promoting Nazi-type race hatred, calling for the killing of Jews and all infidels?"