The author of a guide for Muslims in the West to help “navigate LGBTQ Pride month” has defended his criticism of London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan.
Speaking to GB News, Editor of 5Pillars Roshan Salih hit out at Sir Sadiq’s “contradictory” support for the LGBT community despite being a practising Muslim.
In the guide, Muslim news website 5Pillars highlights passages from the Koran that prohibit same-sex relationships.
Over the past few days, the website has also attacked the London Mayor for promoting LGBTQ, particularly so soon after returning from Hajj.
Mr Salih has called for Sir Sadiq to “choose between his faith and being London Mayor”, arguing that “clearly the two are not compatible”.
He told GB News: “It’s LGBT Pride month, and you’ll see rainbow flags everywhere, a lot of schools will try to foist these kind of opinions on Muslim students, they will say that it’s okay to be gay and Muslim, and it isn’t okay to be gay and Muslim.
“So we felt we had a duty to our readers and viewers, who are our conservative, religious Muslims, to outline the Islamic position, and that is that homosexuality is a sin according to Islam, according to the Koran.”
He added: “We hate the sin, not the sinner, so we don’t seek to target people. It only becomes a sin if you act upon it, and that is the same teaching as any other faith in the world. It’s the same teaching as Christianity.”
5Pillars Editor Roshan Salih has defended his criticism of Sadiq Khan’s support of Pride Month and LGBTQ, declaring ‘Islam comes first’
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GETTY / GB NEWS
Challenging Mr Salih’s argument, host Emily Carver suggested that he believes that “Islam doesn’t have a place in our Western liberal democracy” and that the two are “incompatible”.
He disagreed, responding: “Ultimately, I do believe my personal view is that there is a fundamental incompatibility between holding high political office and being a practising Muslim.
“If you are in that position, which Sadiq Khan is, inevitably you’ll be pressured to promote alcohol like he did the other day or attend LGBTQ Pride events, and that is fundamentally contradictory to his personal faith.
“For me, Islam comes first, your faith comes first, your relationship with God comes first. Your afterlife comes first. Sadiq Khan should take the proper choice.”
Mr Salih has come under fire for publishing a ‘practical guide’ for Muslims to ‘navigate Pride month’
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GB NEWS / X / 5PILLARS
Noting the widespread criticism towards the 5Pillars guide online, Emily questioned why Mr Salih “chooses to live in a Western liberal democracy like Britain if he believes that a true Muslim shouldn’t be in a position of public office”.
Mr Salih hit back: “I think this is outrageous. Ultimately, supporting LGBTQ is not a condition of British citizenship. You can get on with your life, not even be involved in politics, and many Muslims and non-Muslims do that.
“Muslims ultimately are the only community told to leave if they have views which go against social norms. Christians who oppose abortion are not told to leave; it’s only Muslims who are actually told to leave the country if they don’t agree with certain social norms.”
Mr Salih argued that if he was to personally take up public office, he would “ban alcohol” and “ban homosexuality”.
Mr Salih told GB News that if he was in public office he would ‘ban alcohol and homosexuality’
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GB NEWS
He explained: “I am against anything that goes against Islam, so if I was Prime Minister, which would never happen and as I said to you, I would never seek high public office, then yes, I would ban alcohol, I’d ban adultery, I’d ban homosexuality.
“I’d ban all these things which go against Islam, but ultimately, these are my personal views. Shoot me if you want to for my personal views. I’m not seeking them to impose them on anybody else.”
He concluded: “But I am seeking to preserve the purity of the Islamic faith amongst fellow believers. It’s not a religion that is ready to evolve, and that’s why it is a thriving religion.
“Christianity is a dead religion. Churches are empty because Christianity has changed with the wind.”