The British authorities have frozen a grant they gave to a key mosque in Birmingham after an anti-Muslim group alleged that its Imam Sheikh Zakaullah Saleem promoted hate speech, Daily Mail reported.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) had offered the £2.2 million grant to the Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham.

The officials had transferred £77,000 out of the total grant to the mosque before an anti-Muslim group called Focus on Western Islamism (FWI) started the propaganda against the mosque and its imams.

Resultantly, the disbursement of the rest of the award was halted and an investigation was initiated against the imam over the recent allegations.

The DCMS deemed it inappropriate to comment while an investigation was ongoing. The Social Investment Business (SIB), which did the due diligence before the grant was approved,, said: ‘[We have] paused the distribution of the grant and are investigating the recent allegations.’

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said that after reviewing the video clips of Imam Saleem’s speech ‘we are satisfied that there are no criminal offences’. However, investigations were still underway and the grant frozen for the mosque.

It is pertinent to mention that the money was granted after SIB, an independent body, performed the due diligence checks on the mosque.

Out of context

The action was initiated against the imam after the FWI alleged that he was recorded telling his congregation the correct way to stone a woman after she had been found guilty of adultery.

The Green Lane Mosque issued a clarification regarding the matter, stating that Imam Saleem’s quotes on stoning were taken out of context, and ‘he did not suggest that these practices have a place in UK society’.

In reality, the clip was about the concept of women’s dignity and modesty in Islam. The imam seems to suggest that modesty was so important that a woman being stoned had to be lowered into a pit so that most of her boy remain hidden.

The second case of alleged hate speech allegedly by another imam also involved an example he chose.

While talking about the blasphemous caricatures in Western countries Imam, Abu Usamah 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 [PBUH]?’

The funds were disbursed by the DCMS from a £300 million pot set up to fund youth centres across Britain.