A MUSLIM cleric dubbed a “firebrand” by authorities is conducting a speaking tour of mosques here in the UK despite having been banned from preaching in Pakistan.
Now Mr Qadri’s UK visit has sparked concern from religious experts and politicians who fear that the tour will cause divisions within the Muslim community and the greater general public.
Mr Qadri had been due to speak at the central mosque in Falkirk on December 15 but the invitation was withdrawn after a public outcry.
MP Siobhain McDonagh, who has campaigned for a clampdown on extremists preachers entering the UK, said she was shocked Qadri was being allowed to travel from Pakistan.
The presence of Syed Muzaffar Shah Qadri in the UK has caused concern
She said: “I’m amazed that somebody can be banned in Karachi but get entry clearance to the UK.
“The Home Office has got to stop hiding behind the line it does not comment on individual cases because this is a real issue for everyone in the UK.”
Fiyaz Mughal, director of anti-extremist group Faith Matters, said: “No individual who promotes sectarianism internationally should be allowed into the UK as there is a risk statements would be made that further inflame issues in the UK or create issues that our country does not need.”
Scottish Conservative equalities spokeswoman Annie Wells MSP has also raised questions about the event.
“If this individual is deemed too extreme for Pakistan, then that tells you all you need to know about his views,” she said.
“There’s no place for this kind of hate preaching in Scotland, and we shouldn’t tolerate it.”
An unnamed source told The Sunday Post: “It’s amazing British authorities are allowing someone to spout this nonsense in the UK – especially since he’s banned in Pakistan.
“It gives people the wrong idea about Islam and is probably the reason you have people like Tanveer Ahmed getting radicalised and committing cold-blooded murder.”
In the past Mr Qadri had publicly backed bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri who murdered his employer, the Pakistani political Salman Taseer, on January 4 2011.
Mr Taseer, a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party, was a popular politician in his home country and had spoken out against the country’s blasphemy laws.
Mumtaz Qadri had been an influence on Bradford cab driver Tanveer Ahmed, 32, who stabbed to death shopkeeper Asad Shah.
He was later sentenced to a minimum prison sentence of 27 years
Mr Shah had been a member of the Ahmadi Muslims and was targeted after he had posted a number of messages on social media including one that wished his customers a “Happy Easter”.
The murder has been just one of a number of high-profile cases of division between Muslim sects over differences on what is considered blasphemous.
A former Sufi imam Jalal Uddin, 71, was battered to death with a hammer in Rochdale by supporters of Islamic State (ISIS) who claimed the man was practising “black magic” in February.
A Sufi Muslim leader was brutally hacked to death in Bangladesh in May in what police called an attack by Islamic extremists
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