Christian Skaug 
Et videoopptak der imam Sheikh Zakaullah Saleem ved Green Lane-moskeen i Birmingham forklarer den korrekte prosedyren for steining av kvinner, har fått britiske myndigheter til å holde igjen 2,2 millioner pund i statsstøtte til bygging av et ungdomssenter ved moskeen.
Moskeen det gjelder har gjennom flere tiår blitt anklaget for ekstremisme og hatprat, skriver Daily Mail. Et program på kanalen Channel 4 avslørte i sin tid at Abu Usamah al-Thahabi, en annen imam ved moskeen, hadde tatt til orde for voldelig jihad mot kuffarer (vantro), opplyser den britiske avisen.
Deler av statsstøtten var allerede blitt utbetalt før steiningsprekenen ble kjent:
Officials had transferred £77,000 to the mosque before an anti-extremism group called Focus on Western Islamism (FWI) raised the alarm. The rest of the award was halted when FWI appeared to present evidence showing how the mosque’s clerics promoted hate speech.
The £2.2 million grant was offered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), from a £300 million pot set up to fund youth centres across Britain.
Før tildelingen hadde en veldedig stiftelse gransket moskeen og funnet den OK:
The money was awarded after due diligence checks on the mosque had been performed by an independent body called the Social Investment Business (SIB), which is headed by former Labour Security Minister and Communities Secretary Hazel Blears.
Men videoen der Zakaullah Saleem forklarer at en kvinne av hensyn til bluferdigheten må graves ned til midt på overkroppen før hun steines, fikk altså den bevilgende myndigheten til å fryse statsstøtten.
Hans imamkollega al-Thahab har en forhistorie for å ha forsvart hatprat mot homofile:
In another speech in the film, which was broadcast in 2007, Al-Thahabi said: ‘If I were to call homosexuals perverted, dirty, filthy dogs who should be murdered, that’s my freedom of speech, isn’t it? But they’ll say no, I’m not tolerant. But they feel that it’s OK to say something about the Prophet [Muhammad]?’
Atter en annen imam ved Green Lane-moskeen har tidligere preket at en mann legitimt kan voldta kona hvis hun ikke oppfyller de fysiske behovene hans:
Another imam, Abu Mustafa Rayyan, gave a talk where he says a wife must fulfil her husband’s ‘physical needs’ at all times, leading to accusations that this may condone marital rape.
Det ansvarlige departementet vil nå gjennomføre en granskning:
Last night, the DCMS said it would be inappropriate to comment while an investigation was ongoing. The SIB said: ‘[We have] paused the distribution of the grant and are investigating the recent allegations.’
Ved moskeen hevder man at steiningsprekenen er tatt ut av sin sammenheng og at den grusomme praksisen, som sharia foreskriver i tilfelle seksuell utroskap, ikke egentlig anbefales i Storbritannia:
The Green Lane Mosque said Imam Saleem’s quotes on stoning have been taken out of context, and ‘he did not suggest that these practices have a place in UK society’.
Imamen har ikke gjort noe kriminelt, kommenterer britisk politi:
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said having reviewed the video clips of Imam Saleem’s speech ‘we are satisfied that there are no criminal offences’.
