A preacher at a Birmingham mosque, who was consulted by West Midlands Police before the ban of Maccabi Tel Aviv from the club’s Europa League clash with Aston Villa, claimed husbands have the right to physically discipline their wives.
Aqeel Mahmood addressed Green Lane mosque on December 17, speaking about marital rights and obligations.
During the lecture, he asserted men possessed “a level of authority over the woman” and were entitled to obedience from their spouses.
Mr Mahmood stated physical discipline was permissible as a “last resort” when wives proved rebellious, although he added it should not cause pain, injury, fear or humiliation, describing it as “more symbolic”.
The preacher also declared it was “common sense” wives should not leave their homes without obtaining their husband’s permission.
Green Lane mosque was one of eight Muslim organisations officers approached before making its controversial decision to prohibit Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from travelling to Villa Park to witness their side lose 2-0 against the Premier League side on November 6.
The mosque previously received advice from the Charity Commission concerning another preacher’s comments about women.
Chief Constable Craig Guildford now faces demands for his dismissal amid ongoing disputes regarding the intelligence used to justify the ban.
Aqeel Mahmood delivered the controversial address at Green Lane Mosque
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GREEN LANE MASJID
Lord Walney, the Government’s former extremism adviser and ex-Labour MP, said: “This latest deeply regressive interpretation of Islam linked to Green Lane mosque casts further doubt on the judgment of West Midlands Police ahead of what now seems to be a preconceived decision to ban Israeli fans from the Villa game.
“The chief constable is bringing shame to his own force by refusing to do the right thing and resigning,” he added.
For its part, Green Lane mosque stated it categorically rejected harm of any kind and did not tolerate domestic abuse or misogyny.
The mosque said the quotes had been taken out of context and missed the central themes of the lecture, which it said were “namely love, mercy, personal responsibility and an unequivocal rejection of harm, coercion, oppression or abuse in any form”.
Chief Constable Craig Guildford has defended West Midlands Police’s actions
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PAIn a statement, the mosque told The Times it was committed to community cohesion and mutual respect, adding it provided domestic abuse counselling and other services for women.
“Extracting isolated phrases from longer lectures and presenting them as advocacy for abuse is misleading and does not reflect the values, policies, or legal obligations of the charity,” they added.
GB News has contacted the Mosque for further information.
The latest revelation piles further pressure on Chief Constable Guildford, with recently emerged letters casting doubt on other claims made by West Midlands Police.
Newly revealed letters from Dutch officials cast doubt on other claims made by West Midlands Police
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GETTY
Mr Guildford had maintained his force recommended barring the Israeli fans from the European tie based on intelligence received from Amsterdam regarding their conduct at an earlier game.
However, Amsterdam’s mayor Femke Halsema and Liesbeth Huijzer, acting inspector-general of the Netherlands Inspectorate of Justice and Security, denied the assertion.
Ms Halsema said descriptions of Israeli fan behaviour “do not match” the facts.
She added: “Nor were the Amsterdam police under pressure to change any of the facts, which were already public and generally known well before the decision to ban supporters in the UK. Any suggestion otherwise is nonsensical.”
Dutch police also stated the claims were “not true” and had not originated from their force.
“We do not see any new facts or circumstances that would warrant revising these findings or reopening the investigation,” Ms Huijzer wrote in documents obtained by The Telegraph.