City mosque leader who praised Taliban spoken to by police
POLICE have quizzed the manager of one of Birmingham’s biggest mosques after he posted a Facebook message appearing to praise Taliban leaders in prayer during the capture of Kabul.
The post sparked anger among some worshippers, who include Afghan refugees who fled the Taliban regime 20 years ago.
One mosque attendee has withdrawn his child from planned Islam classes because of it.
Saddique Hussain, general manager of Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif in Golden Hillock Road, Small Heath, has since removed the post after police intervened. It had been posted on his personal Facebook page.
He has also issued a full apology for any offence caused and reiterated he ‘does not and never has supported the Taliban”.
In the post, he shared a video showing an armed group of Taliban leaders at prayer after entering the presidential house in Kabul, reciting from the Qur’an, and wrote this message: “How beautiful and civilised and no ‘I’. May Allah SWT guide us on to His beautiful religion.”
Furious worshippers complained to police and mosque trustees, claiming it indicated support for the Taliban regime – a claim Mr Hussain denies.
One worshipper, who has submitted a formal complaint, said: “There is nothing civilised about the Taliban holding guns and reading Qur’an.”
The Taliban is an organisation banned from posting direct on Facebook as it is considered a ‘dangerous organisation’ under the social media group’s policies.
Police confirmed they were alerted and visited the mosque, where they interviewed Mr Hussain.
They issued a warning and said they would be ‘monitoring the situation.’
The board of trustees responsible for overseeing mosque affairs said they too were investigating the incident.
A mosque regular told the Birmingham Post the message caused a lot of anger and added: “This is inexcusable, it comes across as supportive of the Taliban and that is absolutely disgusting.
However, there were also messages of support for Mr Hussain on his Facebook page.
In a later Facebook post Mr Hussain claimed he did not properly appreciate that the men in the image included Taliban officials or that they were armed before posting the video.
He added: “I reaffirm that I do not support and never have supported the Taliban.
“Like many people I pray for a positive resolution to the crisis in Afghanistan – for peace in the country and a civilised government under which the human rights of all citizens are respected.”