Islamic preacher who called for gays ‘to be thrown off mountain’ to speak at London conference

Several anti-gay Islamic preachers are due to speak at a faith conference in north London this weekend, campaign group Hope Not Hate has said.

The group claims one of the speakers attending the “Beloved to Allah” event at Edmonton Islamic Centre on Sunday is Abu Usamah at-Thahabi.

In February the cleric had his invitation to visit Reading University’s Muslim Society withdrawn because of fears of violent protests. 

Thahabi’s extreme views have already been documented in a Channel 4 programme made in 2007 and by the Centre for Social Cohesion.

He has been caught referring to gay people as “perverted, dirty, filthy dogs who should be murdered” and has recommended that gay men should be thrown off a “mountain”.

Hope Not Hate says other speakers at Sunday’s conference include: Abdul Hakeem Quick and Murtazah Khan.

In an interview for Voice of Islam broadcast on New Zealand television in 2003, Quick told viewers that AIDS was caused by the “filthy practices” of homosexuals. “They want to take us all down with them,” he said. Quick has endorsed the death penalty for homosexuality.

Along with Abu Usamah at-Thahabi, Murtazah Khan has also advocated the idea of throwing gay people off mountains and stoning them to death.

Khan has previously claimed: “I’m not homophobic. I believe in a natural way of life. I’m repeating you what your Bible tells you.”

• Dec 01 2023

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