Threatening calls from Islamic extremists have led the leader of a major London mosque to turn his mobile phone off at night out of fear.
Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Saad, the imam tasked with turning around the Finsbury Park mosque in the wake of the Abu Hamza scandal, warned that radical Islam still poses a threat to Hackney’s Muslim community.
“I started to get regular calls, with people shouting the F-word down the phone at me, so I decided to keep it switched off,” Mr Saad said.
“I only go on it to pick up messages every now and then.”
In another incident, Mr Saad said a member of his congregation stood up and ranted at him when he condemned a terrorist attack.
“When the Glasgow incidents happened I gave a Friday sermon about the importance of respecting the law and to be a good Muslim,” he said.
“One person stood up and he was shouting and cursing, saying: ‘You bastards’.
“He just left after that and never came back.”
Finsbury Park mosque was renamed the North London Central mosque in 2006 after its imam, the infamous hate cleric Abu Hamza, was jailed for seven years for inciting murder.
When police searched the mosque at the time of Hamza’s arrest they found forged passports, CS gas, knives and guns.
Mr Saad said he was determined to repair the mosque’s integrity despite the challenges he encountered.
“For the past two and a half years it has been a tough job on me,” he said.
“Positive images are hard to make, but negative images are easy.
“I was chosen to give the mosque a new life. I was shocked that they [Muslim Association trustees] chose me as they normally want an old man with a long white beard to become imam.
“I’m enthusiastic and energetic though, and that is what they need to work against radicalisation.”
Thumbnail taken from Marxpix on Flickr.
