Haitham al-Haddad

Haitham al-Haddad is a British scholar and television presenter^[1] of Palestinian origin.^[2][3][4] Al-Haddad sits on the boards of advisors for Islamic organisations in the United Kingdom, including the Islamic Sharia Council. He is the chair and operations advisor and a trustee for the Muslim Research and Development Foundation.^[5] Some of his views have been considered as controversial, including remarks on Jews, homosexuality, Osama bin Laden and female genital mutilation.^[4][6][7][8] Haddad is a Salafi.^[9]

Educational qualifications

Haitham al-Haddad gained a PhD at SOAS, University of London^[10] and is a Saudi-trained Imam.^[11]

Controversial remarks

In 2001, Haitham al-Haddad allegedly said "I will tell you the truth about the fight between us and Jews who are the enemies of God and the descendants of apes and pigs".^[7] He later said that "this is the translation of what has been attributed to me" and that it had been incorrectly translated from Arabic to English.^[7]

A journalist for Radio Netherlands Worldwide wrote, "Strikingly, the cleric omits the definite article "the" before "Jews." In the Arabic language, this omission could be taken to mean he was not speaking about Jews in general but only about those Jews who are enemies of God and descendants of apes and pigs.^[7]

Haddad controversially praised Osama bin Laden in 2011 following his death.^[12][13][14]

In an article called ‘Standing up against Homosexuality’, Haddad wrote of “the scourge of homosexuality”, which he calls a “criminal act”.^[15] On women, he declared that “a man should not be questioned why he hit his wife, because this is something between them”.^[16] In addition to this he has also claimed that “the most honourable and worthy role for a woman is striving to be a fine wife...this role does not only secure the best for a woman in the hereafter, but also fits perfectly with her natural disposition”^[17]

Controversial events

2012 Netherlands visit

In February 2012, the Dutch parliament majority tried to prevent Haddad speaking at VU University in Amsterdam. The university subsequently cancelled the event. Haddad blamed the opposition to him on a Jewish lobby.^[4][18]

London "mega-mosque" project

Haddad called^[19] for a 15,000-people march to put pressure on Newham council to permit building of a large mosque in West Ham, London Borough of Newham, which would have been three times the size of St Paul's Cathedral.^[20][21]

"Halal Fun Day"

In February 2014, al-Haddad's leadership of the MRDF caused controversy after the organisation booked Legoland Windsor for a private event, which it called a "Halal Fun Day". A local councillor claimed that residents were "up in arms", and called for a demonstration, protest groups Casuals United and the English Defence League also stated that they would protest.^[22] Later that month, due to backlash and threats from those nationalist groups, Legoland cancelled the planned event.^[23]

University of Westminster

In February 2015, the University of Westminster postponed a talk by al-Haddad after it was revealed that Mohammed Emwazi, known as "Jihadi John", became radicalised at that university. Over 3,000 had signed a petition for him to be banned from campus, stating that his presence could endanger LGBT students.^[24]

References