The UK Muslim clerics and activists who preach hate, back terrorists – and get away with it

The next month, Muhammad Abdullah Shakir, imam at the Greenwich Islamic centre, called on his audience to “protect Al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem] from the usurping Jews”. Police said they had examined the footage and determined that “no offences were committed”.

Similarly, as the JC reported at the time, imams in Bradford and Manchester used their pulpits to openly attack Jews and lead prayers for a Hamas victory in the wake of October 7, with one asking Allah to “purify” the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem from “the filth of the Jews”. No action was taken against him.

On October 20, 2023, Abu Ibraheem Hussnayn at the Mohammadi Masijd Alum Rock in Birmingham openly quoted a hadith during his sermon which describes a war between Muslims and Jews.

He said: “This is not antisemitic, this is part of our tradition, we simply relay the hadiths.

"The prophet...told us that the trees and the stones will speak and say ‘Oh Muslim, behind me is a Jew, come and kill him’.”

No investigation resulted after the clip was shared online.

In July 2025, Asrar Rashid at Lozells Central Mosque quoted the same hadith and said: “We shouldn't be frightened of the term antisemitism or being labelled antisemitic.”

No action has yet been taken against him.

Then, in 2014, Gabriel Abdullah was convicted of affray and possession of a knife after walking into a Golders Green supermarket with a large blade and demanding to hear shoppers’ views on “Israel and Palestine”. Police originally treated the incident as a hate crime, but he was not charged with such an offence and was given two, concurrent suspended sentences.

And, that same year, Abdurraheem Green, founder of the Islamic Education and Research Academy (IERA), was caught on camera at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park saying: “Why don’t you take the Yahoudi [Jew] over there, far away so his stench doesn’t disturb us?”

The Charity Commission investigated the IERA and found “misconduct and mismanagement” during its founding, but declined to label it as a hate or extremist group and allowed it to continue operating.

Elsewhere, in one of the most well-known instances prior to the October 7 attacks, Mohammed Iftikhar Hanif and Jawaad Hussain were charged with “using threatening, abusive or insulting words, or behaviour, with intent, likely to stir up racial hatred”.

The pair were alleged to have driven through central London shouting: “F*** the Jews…F*** all of them. F*** their mothers, f*** their daughters, and show your support for Palestine."

However, charges were dropped in November 2022 after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) concluded that there was “no longer a realistic prospect of either defendant being convicted”.

Nick Price, head of the CPS's Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, explained: “Upon reviewing the evidence it has become clear we would not be able to prove to a court that one of the two charged individuals was in the car at the time of the captured footage.

"We could also not demonstrate that the second person had participated in the conduct to the criminal standard."

Meanwhile, a more recent case that has generated controversy is that of Dr Rahmeh Aladwan, who claimed that the UK is “occupied and controlled” by “Jewish supremacy”.

While, as a trainee, she does not currently work in the NHS, the Medical Practitioner Tribunal Service (MPTS) last month declined to enact a temporary order against her registration on the grounds that “a reasonable and fully informed member of the public would not be alarmed or concerned” by her continuing to practise.

The JC has since revealed that, in an X post after the tribunal decision was delivered, Aladwan hailed the October 7 attacks, saying: “Glory to the Palestinian armed resistance, glory to Al-Aqsa Flood.”

The General Medical Council (GMC), the UK’s medical regulator, is currently investigating allegations of antisemitism against Aladwan, which she has previously denied.