Four Islamic charities are being assessed by the Charity Commission after hosting a preacher who “condones sexual slavery”, the National Secular Society has said.
The NSS said it had referred the charities to the Charity Commission after social media posts indicated they had hosted Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, an Islamic scholar from Pakistan, during his visit to the UK this month.
The Umm Ul Qura Foundation, the AlHikmah Project, Makki Masjid and Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith UK all welcomed the preacher, the NSS said.
In a post on his Facebook account in 2021, Zaheer said Islam “designed a solution” for “Laundi”, who are female prisoners of war, which means “they are distributed to the soldiers in an organised manner” or “sold as slaves”, according to the NSS.
Zaheer repeated this view, according to a 2010 television interview transcript published on MEMRI, which monitors the media in the Middle East.
In the interview, he said it is permitted to use Jewish women captured in Israel as “concubines”.
Zaheer also supported the death sentence given to Asia Bibi in Pakistan in 2010 after she was accused of ‘blasphemy’.
In a CNN article, Zaheer said pardoning Bibi would be “criminal negligence”.
Asia Bibi was released in 2018 after a final appeal.
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we are assessing concerns raised with us about a number of charities in relation to claims of their association with an individual who is alleged to have made controversial statements.
“We are examining the information shared with us to determine whether there is a role for the commission as regulator.”
Megan Manson, head of campaigns at the National Secular Society, which wants to see the advancement of religion removed as a charitable purpose, said: “It should be obvious to all that charities shouldn’t be used as a platform for harmful extremists.”
The charities have been contacted for comment.