A charity has been formally warned that a trustee disqualified after a “inflammatory” preaching of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7.
The charity committee said that on October 13, 2023, the Nottingham Islamic Information Point preached: “Muslims will not kill them until Muslims fight against Jews until Jews are hidden behind rocks or trees.”
It is one of more than 300 charitable cases related to the conflict.
Nottingham Islamic Information Point was contacted for a response.
According to Hamas's Ministry of Health in the region, about 1,200 people were killed and 251 people were taken hostages in Hamas' 2023 attacks, and at least 57,268 people have been killed since then, according to Hamas's – Ruling Health Ministry.
Nottingham Islamic Information Point, based in Nottingham, is designed to support victims of Islamic fear attacks and address misunderstandings about religion.
The charity committee added that during the preaching, the trustee Harun Abdur Rashid Holmes was a trustee who encouraged attendees not to be “busy with politics and voting.”
The regulator found that the sermon “has not further promoted the purpose of the charity, including providing relief to those in need, is not in the best interest of the charity” and thus constitutes misconduct and/or mismanagement.
“Not considering”
Holmes is not a well-trained Imam, the committee believes that it does not meet its duties as a trustee and was disqualified in July last year.
He was blocked from holding a senior management position in a charity in England and Wales for three years – the Commission noted the lack of good judgment expected by the trustees.
While the watchdog said it recognized that some of the preaching contents came from specific hadiths – a narrative of historical events attributed to the prophet Muhammad's historical events – did not give proper context and therefore was “inflammatory and cleaved.”
The regulator also said the timing of preaching was “not considered” six days after the Israeli attack.
The committee said Mr. Holmes had accepted that, in hindsight, the Hadith was sensitive and he did not give enough background.
Stephen Roake, the committee’s assistant director of investigation and compliance, said it was “solid” in behavior.
“In times of conflict, charities are expected to bring people together, not the Stock Division.
“After our intervention, the remaining trustees of the charity took positive steps to improve their governance. This included the introduction of stronger incident policies.
“All charities that host events and speakers should take note of the case and make sure they have adequate due diligence.”
Rocket barrage was launched from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, triggering war breakouts in ongoing hostilities [Reuters]
About one-third of the 300 cases related to the Middle East conflict since the end of 2023 have led to formal statutory guidance issued by the Commission.
More than 70 referrals have been made to police when regulators believe they may have committed criminal offenses.
Commission CEO David Holdsworth said some people undermined the charity’s “potential” in the opinion of the Telegraph.
He wrote: “In the past few years, especially since the escalation of the Middle East conflict in October 2023, we have seen charities being abused to promote the personal views of people associated with charities and, in some cases, inciting hatred or tolerating violence.
“There is no hiding place for those seeking to use charities to promote hatred or harm others.”
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