"Hate" literature found at Edinburgh mosque

The King Fahd Mosque attached to the Islamic Centre of Edinburgh (ICET) has been named as the only Mosque in Scotland to disseminate so-called "hate" literature.

ICET, which is based close to the University of Edinburgh's George Square campus on Potterrow was identified by the centre-right think tank Policy Exchange last week as being one of the 100 mosques in the UK making “radical” literature available on their premises.

Serving thousands of Muslims in the area and countless students at its adjoining Mosque Kitchen restaurant, questions have arisen over the damaging impact of the report on the mosque's reputation.

ICET's websites have been off-line since last Thursday.

Written by Denis MacEoin, a graduate of Edinburgh University and Fellow at Newcastle-upon-Tyne University, the report was researched by four separate specialist teams.

These teams gathered and analysed various information available from mosques throughout the country, culminating in a report that claims fundamentalist literature is available in many of the most mainstream UK mosques.

The book found at ICET, called Al-‘aqida al-sahiha wa ma yudaduha, wa risalat al-ma‘iyy which translates as Correct beliefs, what opposes them, along with the treatise of the Divine Presence was purportedly a gift from the King of Saudi Arabia to celebrate the mosque's opening in 1998.

The same book was found on five different sites, including mosques in London, Birmingham and Oxford.

The book states: “a person may become apostate for many reasons which can nullify his faith. These reasons would make someone’s blood permissible to spill [to be killed for apostasy] and his wealth permissible to be usurped, because he is no longer a Muslim.”

A mosque source has stated that the book was not stocked or distributed by the mosque and it is unknown how the researchers came across it.

However the report cited instances where material was found “under the counter."

Haithm Alhindi, President of Edinburgh University's Islamic Society told The Journal: It [the report] seems to have a clear agenda to discredit the achievements and positive works of the central mosque as a significant and involved [art of the Edinburgh community."

Among the report's conclusions, it states that a significant proportion of the literature originated in Saudi Arabia and calls for the UK to “demand a far greater level of transparency from Saudi charitable institutions operating in this country.”

Saudi Arabia's influence on UK's mosques is indisputable, particularly in the case of Edinburgh's ICET. The King Fahd mosque cost ₤3.5 million to build and 90 per cent of construction costs were paid for by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.

The report outlines various steps the UK should take, which include revoking the charity status of institutions featured in the report and introducing strict regulations for Islamic schools.