An imam at the Heaton Park terrorist’s mosque is reported to have called on God to “deal with the Jews” in an incendiary sermon in the year before the lethal attack on the nearby synagogue.
The anti-Jewish prayer is alleged to have been delivered at the Al-Sunnah Mosque in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, where knifeman Jihad al-Shamie and his associate Mohammad Bashir, with whom he planned a second potential attack, were regular worshippers.
The mosque is a registered charity and The Charity Commission confirmed to the JC that it has launched a probe into the claims and “will not hesitate to take robust action” if regulatory guidance has been breached.
An anti-extremist campaigner has also urged the police to launch a criminal investigation and said it was time for the state to “get more proactive”.
Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by armed police while he carried out his terrorist attack in Manchester in October 2025.
Jewish worshippers Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, died after the Syrian-born British citizen drove his Kia Picanto into the gates of the synagogue and began attacking with a knife, wearing a fake suicide belt.
Meanwhile, in July, Bashir, 31, was sentenced to a minimum of 17 years in prison at Manchester Crown Court for his role in plotting a separate terrorist attack on a Ministry of Defence site alongside al-Shamie.
The court in that case heard that the pair drove on a 10-hour round trip to conduct hostile reconnaissance at the UK Defence Academy in Shrivenham, Swindon, on August 14 last year, before they deliberately disposed of their mobile phones.
During the hearing, the court was shown CCTV footage which revealed Shamie and Bashir discussed “martyrdom” and terrorism plans while attending the Al-Sunnah Mosque.
The Times has reported that three recordings of sermons filmed in April 2024 at the Al-Sunnah mosque are being investigated.
The sermons were allegedly published on the mosque’s YouTube page but have been taken down.
In one video, the imam reportedly said: “God deal with the Jews and their allies… God, seize them with the seizure of the Mighty, the Powerful.”
In a second recording, he reportedly told a room of worshippers: “God grant victory to Islam and cherish the Muslims, humiliate polytheism and the polytheists … God deal with the Zionists, you are the most merciful, God deal with the Zionist aggressors, God seize them with the seizing of the Mighty, you are the most merciful.”
In a third sermon, the imam said: “God, hasten victory for our brothers in Palestine … Send upon them reinforcements from You with which You will repel those who disbelieve and those who transgress. Our Lord, God, deal with the Zionist aggressors, for they cannot escape Your power.”
It is not known if al-Shamie and Bashir were at the mosque at the time of the anti-Jewish sermons.
Fiyaz Mughal, a Muslim counter-extremism campaigner, said the alleged sermons would not be enough to inspire extremism in themselves, but they “consolidated the dehumanisation” of Jews.
He said: “In a way it validates Jewish people being ‘the other’ in the minds of individuals.
“It might not immediately inspire them to act, but it dehumanises and continues to consolidate the dehumanisation of Jews, creating the environment for potential violent action.”
He said Muslims hearing such hate speech had a duty to take action immediately.
He said: ”I have heard very senior Muslims, even working in Government, say to me it is not the role of Muslims to speak up about this, nonsense.
“For the last 40 years, particularly since 9/11 and since the creation of Al Qaeda, it is imperative Muslims act because there is a distinct problem in our communities
“If they don’t go and tell agencies, if they don’t inform Jewish groups, ‘look we’ve heard these antisemitic comments and we are making you aware’, or if they don’t tell the police they are letting down the nation and other Muslims.
“Frankly, the reputation of being a Muslim ain’t too great today. We have to reclaim our sense of Muslim identity and peacefulness, and reclaim Islam back from violent extremism and antisemitism, and we need to oust the cancer of extremist Islamism.”
Greater Manchester Police told the JC that Counter Terrorism Policing North West cannot confirm active investigations without details of a formal crime report or referral made directly to them.
Mughal, who founded Tell Mama and Faith Matters to combat hatred, added that it was vital the police took action.
“We are living in a different environment in Britain to even ten years ago, extremism is becoming more complicated and fragmented, so it means the State needs to get far more proactive” he said.
“If we find any non-compliance issues in a mosque or in a temple or in any faith institution where there is an extremism risk, we will not just close you down; we will go after you criminally.”
The Charity Commission, the independent regulator for registered charities in England and Wales, emphasised that it was conducting an initial regulatory assessment rather than a formal statutory inquiry.
A spokesperson said: “We take very seriously any alleged links between a charity and extremism or terrorism. Such links are abhorrent, and have no place in the sector.”
“We are assessing concerns raised with us about sermons which appear to have been given at Al-Sunnah Mosque in 2024. Should we identify evidence that charity law or regulatory guidance has been breached, we will not hesitate to take robust action in line with our statutory remit.”
The JC has contacted the Al Sunnah Mosque for comment
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