Terror police intervene in murderer row at mosque
Senior officers listen to concerns over ultra-orthodox views among worshippers
SCOTLAND’S most senior counterterrorism detectives have approached leading Glasgow Muslims after an imam praised the murder of a Pakistani politician who promoted Christian rights.
Law enforcement figures were understood to be hearing concerns about ultra-orthodox views and international connections among some worshippers at the country’s largest mosque.
The talks came after The Herald revealed that the main spiritual leader at Glasgow Central Mosque, Habib ur Rehman, had described extremist killer Mumtaz Qadri as a “true Muslim”.
But they also follow revelations that the charity regulator held concerns about the governance of Glasgow Central Mosque, which is engulfed in a brutal civil war between liberal reformers and conservatives.
The discussions involved Assistant Chief Constable Ruaraidh Nicolson and Detective Chief Superintendent Gerry McLean, the head of Police Scotland’s counter-terrorism unit.
Asked about Mr Rehman’s remarks, a force spokesman said: “We are aware of an allegation, which is currently being assessed.”
Officers from Police Scotland’s Safer Communities unit visited the mosque ahead of Friday prayers, when Mr Rehman did not apologise for his remarks, which he has claimed were taken out of context.
Activist and lawyer Aamer Anwar said Mr Rehman’s comment about Qadri, who was executed for the murder of a liberal politician who raised concerns about the persecution of Christians using Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, was “grotesque”. He added: “There can be no moral or religious justification for remarks which glorify murder.”
Mr Anwar has been accused of trying to shut down the mosque and suffered online and personal abuse yesterday.
Mr Rehman was also abused on social media with calls for him to be “hanged”.
The imam, as the Herald reported yesterday, insists that he was condemning the execution of Qadri, not supporting the actions of the killer.
Writing to a small private group on the messaging service Whatsapp, Mr Rehman said: “A true Muslim was punished for doing [that] which the collective will of the nation failed to carry out.”
Imams from at least four mosques met last night to discuss the crisis.
A lecture on anti-terror laws that Mr Anwar was due to host was cancelled.
Concerns about hardliners at Glasgow Central Mosque have been growing since the beginning of the year when it emerged some of its money had been received by ultra-orthodox group Tablighi Jamaat.
The mosque has traditionally been seen as a bastion of inclusiveness.
Former First Minister Jack McConnell tweeted his concern at Mr Rehman’s remarks. He said: “The mosque has been a positive force in Scotland. This is shocking. I hope he is alone in these views.”
Chief Superintendent Paul Main of Police Scotland said: “Glasgow Central Mosque and the Muslim community in Scotland have, over a long number of years, been part of and added to Scottish culture. Myself, my team and local officers have had several contacts and meetings with officials at Glasgow Central Mosque in recent days. Police Scotland hope to assist in any way we can, to support the community through a difficult time of local and international events, join them in condemning acts of violence and minimise any risk of hate crimes or incidents taking place.”
THEY are the angry words of Pakistan’s bitter sectarian and religious politics. But they are echoing in Scotland.
“Slanderer”. “Unbeliever”. “Distorter of Truth”. The insults flew at lawyer Aamer Anwar after he condemned the spiritual leader of the country’s biggest mosque for praising an Islamist assassin.
“They said I wanted to close down Glasgow Central Mosque,” he said. “They said I was bringing shame on the community.”
The man Mr Anwar was criticising, Glasgow Imam Habib ur Rehman, has also come in for online abuse since The Herald and the BBC revealed he had described extremist murderer Mumtaz Qadri as a “true Muslim”.
Social media lit up yesterday with calls for the cleric – who has previously condemned terrorist violence in Paris and Brussels – to be “lynched” or “deported”.
The bile stems from a brutal turf war for control of Glasgow Central Mosque, the biggest single place of worship of any faith in Scotland, between liberals and progressives in parallel with a much greater battle for the political soul of Pakistan.
But long-standing convention against “washing laundry in public” within Scotland’s Muslim community – most of whom have Pakistani origins – means there is a groundswell of anger against anyone who speaks out.
This, said one thoughtful community elder, is because so many Scottish Muslims feel what First Minister Nicola Sturgeon this week called their “double burden”: revulsion at atrocities such as those in Brussels this week and the unfair weight of blame.
Mr Rehman at prayers yesterday in Glasgow Central Mosque once again prayed for the victims of terrorism.
But his remarks about Islamic assassin Qadri – recorded on the Whatsapp messaging service as he spoke to a handful of people – have brought to the UK a huge row that is polarising Pakistan.
Police officer Qadri, who was executed last month, had shot the governor of Punjab, Pakistan’s biggest province, after the politician stood up for Christians persecuted under the country’s vague and controversial blasphemy laws.
His victim, Salman Taseer, is a hero for liberal Muslims. But the hanged Qadri – for a minority of fundamentalists – has become a martyr. Mr Rehman said he was pained by the death of Qadri and added: “A true Muslim was punished for doing [that] which the collective will of the nation failed to carry out.”
The imam says his words were misunderstood and that he had, in fact, been condemning capital punishment, not praising the assassination of a moderate.
Glasgow Central Mosque, which claims to welcome all branches of Islam, is dominated by the Deobandi revivalist sect of Sunni Islam, common in both Pakistan and Pakistani-dominated mosques in Britain. Qadri belonged to a different strand of the faith.
Mosque funds, as revealed by The Herald, have been used to finance the Tablighi Jamaat ultraorthodox offshoot of Deobandism, which is now banned from teaching in Punjab schools but is legal in the UK.
Liberals, such as Mr Anwar and the liberal leadership of Glasgow Central Mosque ousted earlier this year, have questioned such funding and become concerned about the transparency of accounts, especially in respect of money sent to Pakistan.
Mr Anwar, meanwhile, cited threats and abuse in person, by text and by social media.
He said: “Many Muslims were angered and upset by the Imam’s remarks, but know they will be subjected to bigotry, abuse and vile threats if they condemn the remarks.”