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https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/police-probe-city-mosque-visiting-22639070
A visiting imam, speaking at Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif in Small Heath, was heard to allegedly praise murderer Mumtaz Qadri, who gunned down Pakistani politician Salman Taseer in cold blood and was later convicted of murder and executed for the crime.
In the livestream of the prayer gathering on January 1st, posted by a worshipper on Facebook, the imam, understood to be visiting from Pakistan, refers to Qadri as “Ghazi” – an Urdu word meaning powerful and interpreted when used to preface someone’s name as meaning ‘brave warrior’.
The incident is being investigated by West Midlands Police.
Read more: Full inquiry launched into charity running city mosque over safeguarding concerns
In the sermon the imam – not a member of the mosque’s regular imam team – recited lines of poetry about sacrificing oneself for a beloved.
Speaking in Urdu to male worshippers inside the mosque’s grand main hall, he refers to people who are the ‘likes and high standards’ of ‘Ghazi Il-Muddin’ and ‘Ghazi Mumtaz Qadri’ who ‘left from this world’, before saying the poem that follows was written to laud and praise people like this.
One of those who viewed the livestream – posted on Facebook and seen by Birmingham Live – said he was appalled to hear the preacher speak positively about Qadri’s actions….
Salman Taseer was the Governor of Punjab and a respected businessman, who called for changes to Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws and urged a pardon for a Pakistani Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who had been condemned to death.
His stance put him at odds with some fellow Muslims and he was assassinated by Qadri, a member of his own security detail, who shot him 27 times with an AK-47 before surrendering to the police.
Bibi was later acquitted after a campaign backed by two Popes, some Muslim leaders and clerics across the world.
Qadri was executed in February 2016, but was seen by many in Pakistan as a kind of hero for – in their view – defending Islam. Qadri also had numerous supporters in Britain.
The mosque shared news on its website of an event on February 29 that year in honour of ‘Ghazi Mumtaz Qadri’….
A visiting imam, speaking at Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif in Small Heath, was heard to allegedly praise murderer Mumtaz Qadri, who gunned down Pakistani politician Salman Taseer in cold blood and was later convicted of murder and executed for the crime.
In the livestream of the prayer gathering on January 1st, posted by a worshipper on Facebook, the imam, understood to be visiting from Pakistan, refers to Qadri as “Ghazi” – an Urdu word meaning powerful and interpreted when used to preface someone’s name as meaning ‘brave warrior’.
The incident is being investigated by West Midlands Police.
Read more: Full inquiry launched into charity running city mosque over safeguarding concerns
In the sermon the imam – not a member of the mosque’s regular imam team – recited lines of poetry about sacrificing oneself for a beloved.
Speaking in Urdu to male worshippers inside the mosque’s grand main hall, he refers to people who are the ‘likes and high standards’ of ‘Ghazi Il-Muddin’ and ‘Ghazi Mumtaz Qadri’ who ‘left from this world’, before saying the poem that follows was written to laud and praise people like this.
One of those who viewed the livestream – posted on Facebook and seen by Birmingham Live – said he was appalled to hear the preacher speak positively about Qadri’s actions….
Salman Taseer was the Governor of Punjab and a respected businessman, who called for changes to Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws and urged a pardon for a Pakistani Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who had been condemned to death.
His stance put him at odds with some fellow Muslims and he was assassinated by Qadri, a member of his own security detail, who shot him 27 times with an AK-47 before surrendering to the police.
Bibi was later acquitted after a campaign backed by two Popes, some Muslim leaders and clerics across the world.
Qadri was executed in February 2016, but was seen by many in Pakistan as a kind of hero for – in their view – defending Islam. Qadri also had numerous supporters in Britain.
The mosque shared news on its website of an event on February 29 that year in honour of ‘Ghazi Mumtaz Qadri’….
