LONDON: The Charity Commission is investigating allegations of embezzlement of more than £1 million and corruption at one of the UK's largest mosques – Hounslow Jamia Masjid & Islamic Center in west London.
A viral video shows worshipers and mosque management, who are mostly Pakistanis, locked in a fight inside the mosque, amid accusations of harassment, abuse, intimidation, pushing, punching and violence.
The dispute began (published in major UK newspapers) after former friends and mosque administrators fell out and began blaming each other.
Police and an ambulance responded to the scene, the Sun reported.
A mosque administrator resigned from his role after 20 years of service, including 10 years as president, and a councilor reported five alleged attacks on his home and car to police, pleading with the council and Labor bigwigs to intervene.
In his resignation letter from the mosque, Abdul Majid told how when he ran the Hounslow Jamia Masjid, the bank balance constantly fluctuated between £400,000 and £500,000 in credit.
Abdul Majid stated: “Unfortunately, the current financial status of the mosque is of great concern as the account balance is now very low. This, among other things, has forced me to conclude that I can no longer continue in this role in good conscience.”
Around £300,000 of charitable donations collected each year at the mosque “do not appear in any official account or bank records”. Large collections for the Gaza crisis “are not accounted for,” he said.
Majid referred to documents in which the company BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions filed a claim for £150,000 against the 11 mosque managers consecutively over a 12-year lease of photocopiers. An out-of-court settlement, “without board approval or proper discussion”, means the mosque will pay the company £5,000 a month until August 2027.
A lucrative security contract went to a close associate of the mosque's senior management team. Relatives were awarded the contract to supply food and meat to the mosque. The Charity Commission was told about a number of contracts without a transparent tendering process.
It has been suggested that “unqualified” people have been appointed to key financial positions. There is a major problem around “family relationships”, the Charity Commission was told.
The councilor also approached Dan Bowring, Labor Party chairman for Brentford and Isleworth constituencies. He called for a formal Labor Party investigation into the “conduct of certain individuals within our party who are misusing their official positions and community influence to incite hostility and endanger the safety of elected members”.
The mosque is frequented by up to 4,000 Muslims a day.
A source at the mosque said of the leaked fight footage that some worshipers were banned from entering the premises after leaders accused them of causing “disruption of peace and public disorder”.
One of the people who was also banned from entering the mosque was the councillor. Those expelled were told that returning to the mosque would be considered an “illegal intrusion” and tensions are still understood to be “heightened”.
The Charity Commission, responsible for ensuring the governance, management and administration of a charity is fit for purpose, said in a statement: “We have opened a regulatory compliance case at Hounslow Jamia Masjid and the Islamic Center to assess concerns about the charity's governance.”
A source at the mosque said: “This is about personal animosity. There is no truth to the allegations. The people involved in the dispute used to be best friends, they had common business and social issues. They quarreled and brought their personal problems to the mosque, making it a big issue. The accusations are baseless and frivolous.”
The mosque source said that very soon they will state their position and present the facts to the public and the faithful. He said all allegations of financial corruption are false.
