An Islamic charity trustee who used a sermon to say Muslims would ‘kill Jews’ six days after Hamas‘s October 7 attacks has been disqualified – with the charity also receiving a formal warning.
Harun Abdur Rashid Holmes delivered the talk at Nottingham Islam Information Point where attendees heard ‘the hour will not begin until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims will kill them until a Jew hides behind a rock or a tree’.
Guests at the event held by the charity, which is said to help victims of Islamophobia and teach about the religion, were also told not to ‘busy yourselves with politics and voting’.
Such an ‘inflammatory and divisive’ sermon has now seen the Charity Commissioner hit Nottingham Islam Information Point with a formal warning.
The regulator, which operates across England and Wales, said this is one of more than 300 cases involving charities in the past 18 months related to conflict in the Middle East.
They said the sermon delivered by Mr Holmes ‘did not further the charity’s purposes, including to provide relief to those in need, and was not in the charity’s best interests’, therefore amounting to misconduct and/or mismanagement.
Mr Holmes, who is not a trained imam, was deemed not to have acted in accordance with his duties as a trustee and was disqualified in July last year.
This means he is now not allowed to hold any senior management position in a charity in England and Wales for three years – and he has been noted by the commission to lack the good judgement expected of a trustee.
Harun Abdur Rashid Holmes (above) delivered the talk at Nottingham Islam Information Point where attendees heard ‘the hour will not begin until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims will kill them until a Jew hides behind a rock or a tree’
The watchdog said while it recognised some of the sermon’s content had come from a specific hadith – from the Islamic prophet Mohammed – the appropriate context had not been given and it therefore was ‘inflammatory and divisive’.
The regulator also said ‘no consideration’ had been given to the timing of the sermon, coming six days after the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, which Mr Holmes later accepted.
The commission’s assistant director of investigations and compliance, Stephen Roake, said: ‘In times of conflict, people expect charities to bring people together, not to stoke division. In this case, we found due consideration had not been given to the words and rhetoric used.
‘The sermon was inflammatory and divisive, and we acted robustly and disqualified the trustee who gave the sermon. We also issued the charity with a formal warning.
‘Following our intervention, the charity’s remaining trustees have taken positive steps to improve their governance. This includes the introduction of a more robust events policy. All charities that host events and speakers should take note of this case and ensure they have sufficient due diligence in place.’
MailOnline has approached Nottingham Islam Information Point for comment.
Charity Commission chief executive David Holdsworth said such instances were ‘undermining’ charity’s ‘potential for good’ in an opinion piece for the Sunday Telegraph.
Mr Holmes (above), who is not a trained imam, was deemed not to have acted in accordance with his duties as a trustee and was disqualified in July last year
Charity Commission chief executive David Holdsworth (above) said such instances were ‘undermining’ charity’s ‘potential for good’
He wrote: ‘Over the past few years, and particularly since the escalation of conflict in the Middle East in October 2023, we have seen charities misused to promote the personal views of those linked to the charity, in some cases inciting hate, or condoning violence.
‘While trustees, like all of us, have personal rights to freedom of speech, there can be no hiding place for those who seek to use charities to promote hate or harm to others.
‘This is not only to put a stop to fundamentally uncharitable activity, but also to help protect and promote public trust in the wider charitable sector.’
Mr Holdsworth added that he will ‘not shy away’ from using ‘more robust powers’ to stop those ‘undermining the incredible positive impact of charities at home and abroad’.
Of the 300 cases considered since the end of 2023 in relation to conflict in the Middle East, around a third have resulted in formal statutory guidance being issued by the commission.
More than 70 referrals to police have been made where the regulator considered that a criminal offence might have been committed.
But the ‘inflammatory and divisive’ sermon has now seen the Charity Commissioner, which operates across England and Wales, wade in and hit Nottingham Islam Information Point (above) with a formal warning
In January, a London charity was handed an official warning after fundraising for a soldier in the Israel Defence Forces.
The Chabad Lubavitch Centres North East London and Essex Ltd, which describes itself as working for the advancement of the Orthodox Jewish religion, raised more than £2,000 after setting up an online page in October 2023 for a soldier stationed in northern Israel.
Some £937 was sent directly to an individual soldier but the commission said the trustees of the charity were unable to account for how the money was spent and the regulator concluded the charity’s actions had amounted to misconduct and a breach of trust.
While charities in England and Wales can legally raise funds to support the UK armed forces, they cannot legally provide aid or military supplies to any foreign armed force, the commission said.
It was believed to be the first time the regulator had used its powers to issue an official warning on the issue of fundraising for a foreign military.
The case was not one among those referred to police, as the commission said its unlawfulness related to charity law rather than criminal law.
