Shaykh Asif Uddin

What is the difference between an Imam at a mosque, Lewisham Islamic Centre (Charity) making prayers against the IDF, and the Chief Rabbinate State (Charity) where the Chief Rabbi has been repeatedly making prayers for the IDF, expressing pride in the military of Israel (IDF) all at a time when people were being slaughtered and killed in Gaza, without any qualification and at a time when the IDF were facing allegations of war crimes and genocide in the ICJ. Both are registered charities. Yet the Charity Commission seems to consider the prayer of the Imam to be inflammatory, but not the prayer of the Rabbi, despite this being made on more than one occasion. The only difference is their faith, race and the ethnicity of those they are praying for. #CharityCommission #LIC #LewishamIslamicCentre #Discrimination

The “inflammatory” comments referred to here were in fact a dua (supplication) made during a Friday sermon. It was a standardised Islamic prayer, known as ‘Qunoot’, in which the Imam called upon God to intervene against those committing genocide against the Palestinian people, and to dismantle and bring an end to the actions of those responsible for such crimes. According to the Commission, this supplication was inflammatory. The Commission appears to attach particular significance to the fact that the prayer was made in October 2023, which was close in time to the 7 October attacks. Yet in doing so, it entirely disregards the context in which the supplication was made. By this time, the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza had already exceeded the number of people killed in the 7 October attacks. The UN was reporting approximately 3,700 Palestinian deaths, with more than 1,000 people believed to remain buried beneath the rubble at the date in question. Equally, the Commission fails to acknowledge the wider context of the numerous genocidal and dehumanising statements made by Israeli officials, statements which were put into action by the devastating destruction and killing in Gaza. It is difficult to escape the impression that the Commission expects the Muslim community to subordinate its expression of grief, outrage, solidarity and religious conviction to the sensitivities of the Israeli state and its military, while remaining silent or temper its anger as Palestinians are killed. If you are unable to raise your hand to God, what else is left for you to do? This raises fundamental questions about the Commission's role, its understanding of religious freedom and the limits of its authority. Does the Commission consider itself entitled to encroach upon the Muslim community and dictate the prayers its members may offer? Does it believe it has the authority to determine when such prayers may be said, or which circumstances justify them? Most importantly, does the Commission operate according to a hierarchy of sensitivities, in which the perceived sensitivities of the Israeli state are afforded greater weight and protection than the lives, suffering and dignity of Palestinians? A prayer calling upon God to intervene against those responsible for mass killing should not be divorced from the circumstances that gave rise to it, and then characterised as inflammatory simply because of the date on which it was offered. To do so risks turning the protection of sensitivities into a mechanism for policing religious expression and silencing legitimate expressions of solidarity with an oppressed and suffering population contrary to the principles of Arts 9 and 10 of the ECHR. #CharityCommission #Palestine #LIC #LewishamIslamicCentre