The National Secular Society has warned the culture secretary that proposals to tackle extremism in charities will prove ineffective “in the majority of cases”.
Last week Lisa Nandy MP told the Telegraph she plans to prohibit anyone convicted of hate crimes from serving as a charity trustee. The proposals would also give greater powers to the Charity Commission to stop charity leaders who promote extremism.
In a letter to Nandy today, the NSS said that while it welcomed the proposals, it was concerned they “will not stop the promotion of extremism in the majority of cases”.
It called for “more fundamental reform” to charity law to tackle the issue.
Mosque attended by Manchester terrorist previously reported over extremism concerns
The NSS referred to 44 charities registered under “the advancement of religion” charitable purpose which it reported to the Charity Commission in 2023, over concerns about antisemitic, extremist and divisive statements made within weeks of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
It said it was “unclear” how the proposals would prevent such extremism, because none of the individuals who made the statements had apparently been convicted of hate crimes, and many are not ‘charity leaders’ but itinerant preachers.
It noted that two of the 44 charities had undergone additional scrutiny this month.
One, Fountains of Knowledge, funds a mosque attended by the Heaton Park synagogue attacker Jihad al-Shamie.
Al-Shamie, whose attack on the synagogue this month left two dead, attended a three day conference at Masjid Sunnah Nelson in November 2022, according to The Times.
A sermon published to Masjid Sunnah Nelson’ s YouTube account less than a week after the October 7th attack quoted religious text describing “yahood” (Jews) as “transgressors and oppressors”.
The sermon, entitled “When Palestine Bleeds” and delivered by Abul Abbaas Naveed (pictured), linked the Israel-Gaza conflict to “the plots of the kuffar, and the oppression of the kuffar, and the animosity of the kuffar, and the plotting of the kuffar against Islam, and against the people of Islam”. Kuffar is often considered a derogatory term for a non-Muslim.
The Charity Commission said that in response to the NSS’s concerns, it “provided the trustees with formal guidance” regarding “the use of inflammatory language and the use of words or phrases which are open to misinterpretation or have multiple meanings.”
But in subsequent sermons seen by the Times, Naveed quoted a religious text describing Jews as “treacherous”.
Both Naveed and the charity have denied radicalising al-Shamie.
Another charity reported to the Commission was East London Mosque Trust, which was criticised this week for banning women and girls over 12 from what it billed as a “family friendly” and “inclusive” fun run.
The NSS reported East London Mosque to the Commission for a sermon uploaded a week after October 7th which implied “those of power who run many of these big media companies” are ‘manipulating the masses’ over the attack.
The NSS also highlighted its new report highlighting how some charities promote misogyny through religious ideology.
In one case last year, An-Noor Masjid hosted a sermon by Mahamed AbdurRazaq which said a man may hit his wife if she refuses sex. Although An-Noor Masjid was given “advice and guidance” by the Charity Commission, AbdurRazaq was subsequently invited to preach several times at another charity, Green Lane Masjid, which had also previously received “advice and guidance” over its imam’s statements regarding women.
The NSS expressed doubt that Nandy’s proposals would stop these “repeat offenders”, because promoting misogyny or violence against women is not recognised as a hate crime in law.
It called for a review of the charitable purpose of “the advancement of religion”, its role in facilitating extremism, and its compatibility with the requirement for charities to provide a public benefit.
NSS: Charity law needs reform to stop spread of “division and extremism under the cloak of religion”
NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson said: “We welcome the culture secretary’s recognition of the role charities play in promoting extremism, and its efforts to crack down on the problem.
“But charity law needs more fundamental reform to prevent the sector being exploited by fundamentalists who spread division and extremism under the cloak of religion.
“Registered charities receive generous tax exemptions and other financial benefits in exchange for providing a public benefit. But promoting antisemitism, misogyny and other forms of extremism is inherently harmful. It is wrong in principle for organisations which promote such ideologies to be supported directly or indirectly by the state.”
Media coverage:
Criticism of Nandy’s ‘ineffective’ plans to tackle extremism in charities (Charity Times)