Should groups that do nothing apart from promote religion get charitable status?
A survey in May by Ipsos found that 66% of people in Britain agreed with the statement: “Religion does more harm in the world than good”.
I suspect that number will have gone up following the murder of 1,400 Israeli civilians by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and the sometimes sickening reactions to the massacres.
There’s been a wave of hatred coming from a number of religious organisations in the UK, many of them registered charities.
It seems only reasonable to question whether these groups should be allowed to reap the rewards that come with being a charity.
Take the Abdullah Quilliam Society in Liverpool. On October 20 its preacher Haroon Hanif said unbelievers will be “wiped out”, while reserving particular bile for Israel.
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“We are large in numbers right now, two billion, and if the two billion just marched on Israel it’s all over,” he said.
“If we spat in the direction of Israel, two billion, it’s all over.”
The Al Rahmah Faith Centre in Leeds is another charity and it hosted imam Umer Muqadam, ranted: “Allah will distinguish and Allah will make clear who the believers are and he will wipe out those disbelievers.”
He did at least concede that Hamas carried out “atrocities” but refused to condemn them, saying: “This is how the believer responds, he is not apologetic, he’s not on the back foot, he changes the narrative and takes control of it.”
In another video on its website, titled “Proud Muslims not Pride Muslims”, he rails against homosexuality, calling it “one of the great sins”.
“We will not accept to call a Muslim who acts upon his homosexuality a gay Muslim, we do not accept this, we say he is a Muslim and he is a sinner," he said.
A third charity, the Greenwich Islamic Centre in South London, provoked uproar when imam Muhammad Abdullah Shakir (below) referred to “usurping Jews” and said: “Curse the infidels who turn people away from the path of Allah.”
Muhammad Abdullah ShakirThe Labour leader of Greenwich council and the leader of the Conservative opposition joined forces to denounce the speech “with sadness and disgust”.
“To say our Jewish friends are not welcome here belies the integral contribution they have made to the community we have shared for centuries,” their statement read.
“Instead we say to them, you are valued. You are our neighbours and our friends. We will stand up against hate and as a community, we will refuse to let anyone make you feel unsafe or unwelcome."
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The Greenwich Islamic Centre subsequently said that it condemns “any form of hate speech” though I got no reply when I asked what action, if any, it has taken against Shakir.
The Abdullah Quilliam Society and Al Rahmah Faith Centre also did not respond to me.
If you've got the stomach for further similar examples then I recommend the twitter account @habibi_uk.
Hate preaching is not just limited to Islamic groups - in 2021 I wrote about an extremist Christian charity here.
Research by the National Secular Society in 2019 found that out of the 165 religious charities with an annual income of over £10 million, over 25% list no objectives apart from religious activities.
No wonder that some people are questioning whether such organisations should get the prestige and tax breaks that come with being a registered charity.
As the law stands organisations like these are entitled to them because the promotion of religion is one of the purposes an organisation can meet in order to become a charity.
“It is appalling that organisations promoting antisemitism and other abhorrent views are able to enjoy the benefits of charitable status,” said Megan Manson, head of campaigns at the National Secular Society.
"These charities are registered under the recognised charitable purpose of 'the advancement of religion'.
“However, the fundamentalist and intolerant interpretation of religion they're advancing is harmful to the public, not beneficial.
"If allowing charities to register simply because they advance religion enables them to promote antisemitism and other extremism, we clearly need to reform charity law.”
Update 9/11/23. A Charity Commission spokeswoman said: “We will always act robustly where we encounter charities promoting unlawful extremism. Serious concerns have been raised with us about activities linked to a number of charities and we are prioritising resources to assessing these.
"We act in a fair, balanced and independent manner in furtherance of our statutory objectives – which include increasing public trust and confidence in charities – and ensuring charities operate within the law.”
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