After an investigation revealed claims of a booklet preaching "any Muslim should kill" those who insult Prophet Mohammed being allegedly handed out at a London mosque, the police have launched a hate crime probe into the matter.
The piece of literature talks about the case of Mumtaz Qadri, an man with radical views on his religion, who murdered a governor in Pakistan for supporting liberal reforms to the country's strict Islam laws. It says "all Muslims should support" Qadri and that being a "big shot" does not prevent someone from being an apostate who should face being killed. The matter came to light following a Standard investigation. After it alerted police to the booklet, the Scotland Yard said it was looking into it "to establish whether a criminal offence has taken place." A Scotland Yard spokesman said, "We will be assessing the contents of these leaflets to establish whether any criminal offence has taken place. We are committed to tackling hate crime in all its forms and have long since recognised the impact of hate crime on communities."
Distributed to several worshippers at the Dar-ul-Uloom Qadria Jilania mosque in Walthamstow, the booklet carries the name of preacher Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani on its cover; the imam of the place of worship. A worshipper who received a copy, told the Standard, "The event was a few months ago. I was at Giyarween Shareef. Two or three people delivered the leaflet. Unfortunately, I am shocked. I think it gives a bad impression. Islam teaches when you live here you obey the law and the rule of law, but this is not doing that."
Jilani denies writing the book despite being featured on it. He said it had been "falsely attributed" to him, and that he did not "authorise" the use of his name or picture and did not give permission for any of his sermons to be reproduced. Jilani added that he did not agree with the booklet's contents and that he did not know "if, why, or how" it was distributed in the mosque. He said it it had been distributed, then it was without his knowledge and "without authorisation by either me or any member of the committee."
The mosque is also home to charity, the International Muslim Movement. The Charity Commission said it was also "urgently" looking into the material and poised to launch its own investigation. It said, "We are assessing the information received as a matter of urgency so as to establish the facts and have contacted the charity's trusteers for their response. At this time, the commission has not opened a statutory inquiry into the charity. However, if the information provided is accurate it would raise serious regulatory concerns."
