A cleric who said that wives cannot reject sex was booked as a leading speaker at a British children’s summer camp before it was cancelled.
Sayed Moustafa al-Qazwini said that a wife “cannot” say she will not have sex on a podcast in February last year, and said that “companionship” is a husband’s right.
He said that if a woman was not ill, menstruating or suffering physically or psychologically, “she cannot say to her husband, ‘No, I don’t sleep with you’.”
Mr Qazwini is an Iraqi-American who is based in Orange County, California.
He was booked to appear as a headline guest at CampUK, a six-day residential event for children and families that was due to be held this month at Condover Hall, a Grade I listed country house in Shropshire.
The event has since been cancelled after JCA, which operates Condover Hall, was approached by The Times.
JCA told The Times that the event had already been under review “in accordance with JCA’s safeguarding responsibilities and procedures, as well as operational risk considerations at the venue.”
It confirmed: “Following that review, the camp is no longer taking place in August 2026.”
The event would have imposed strict rules on women and girls, with a hijab being mandatory in public and mixed areas, with those who did not being asked to make “the necessary adjustments.”
Music was also banned at the event, with “strict gender segregation” in place and every camper had to attend prayers.
Mr Qazwini has been recorded as saying that women were “susceptible to anxiety [and] depression” and that a husband must take that “into consideration”.
However, he added: “But if she is OK physically, mentally, she’s not on her period, she cannot say no to him. She cannot. This is his right, natural right, because if he does not do it in the halal [within the marriage] way, he’s going to do it somewhere else.”
He has also compared Hamas to the leaders of American independence: “The one who wants to free his country is not a terrorist,” he said. “If [they] are terrorists, then George Washington was the first terrorist. Abraham Lincoln was the first terrorist.”
Sayed Moustafa al-Qazwini was due to speak at the event before it was cancelled
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Mr Qazwini attended Camp UK in 2022 and 2024, as well as its spring retreat last year.
The Times also claimed that several people associated with Dar Alhekma Trust are associated with CampUK.
DAT is a registered charity under investigation by the Charity Commission following allegations that it provided a platform for supporters of the Iranian regime.
Dr Ali al-Faraj, a trustee of DAT, has spoken at CampUK, the trust said that he atteneded in a personal capacity rather then as a representative.
They added: “Dar Al Hekma Trust has no relationship or affiliation with CampUK.”
A former government advisor on political violence has called for CampUK to be shut down.
Lord Walney said: “It is right that this camp will now not take place, but it should not have fallen to a holiday centre’s safeguarding review to stop something like this once the spotlight fell on it.
“CampUK seems explicitly designed to import a highly austere and regressive interpretation of Islam into the heart of England, imposing practices on children that undermine this country’s values of equality and tolerance.”
JCA said: “Our role is to provide safe, high-quality residential experiences. We remain committed to providing a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for all guests,” adding that it welcomes thousands of people from “a wide range of backgrounds.”
A CampUK spokesman “categorically” rejected Lord Walney’s characterisation.
They said: “An invitation to make a defined contribution does not mean that CampUK endorses every statement or position a speaker has expressed during their public life
“We conduct stringent due diligence on speakers and seek to ensure that programme content is appropriate, balanced and enriching.”
They added CampUK was a volunteer-led British Shia Muslim project which celebrated its “British Muslim identity” and rejected antisemitism, racism, sectarian hatred and extremism.