UK mosque rebukes comission’s ‘warning’ following Palestine comments

The Lewisham Islamic Centre (LIC) in London has rejected a warning issued by the UK’s independent Charity Commission, which reprimanded the mosque for comments on Palestinian suffering made by an imam during October 2023 sermons. “The matters raised by the Commission represent a troubling attempt to scrutinise, restrict and penalise legitimate religious worship” and “the expression of solidarity with the Palestinian people,” the mosque said in an official statement issued Wednesday.

The mosque also accused the commission of imposing disproportionate expectations on Muslim charities after the warning, describing them as “unnecessarily burdensome”. The religious centre explained that a sermon, or khutbah, is an integral part of Islamic worship and often speaks to the issues affecting the wellbeing of congregations and their communities.

The LIC worried that the warning suggested the commission was “entitled to dictate which subjects Imams may address in their khutbahs”.