Calls to ban Islamic preacher who said sex with female prisoners is 'halal'
Uthman ibn Farooq, a Muslim preacher based out of California, has dates scheduled in multiple English cities for his 'Waking the Dead – Returning from the Darkness' tour.
But he's come under serious scrutiny for his remarks online, including one instance where he said women who wear perfume are 'fornicatresses.'
His YouTube channel has 150,000 subscribers, but he's featured in One Message Foundation's videos – they have more than 1,000,000 followers.
Farooq sparked outrage when in one video, he was asked why it was lawful to have 'intimacy' with a slave, but adulterous if someone was to have sex with a non-slave.
He said: 'Allah made it that those people taken under a war as captives, who were trying to kill you, who you're now going to support and keep in your house and spend money on and treat well, that they are like a wife.
'This is somebody whom you can have those relationships with. So if Allah made it halal [lawful], then it's not sinning, that is not adultery because Allah made it.'
UK politicians have cited the remarks as a reason for his visa to be revoked before his upcoming tour dates.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: 'This man should never set foot on UK soil. His visa must be revoked immediately. Islamists spreading hate and sowing division are not welcome here.'
Charity founder Fiyaz Mughal, of Tell Mama, said Farooq's remarks send a 'barbaric message to people'.
'Any sheikh or imam who attempts to publicly justify having sex with people who have no choice should not be allowed in the UK,' he said.
'We have enough problems with backwards views in the UK and we don't need others coming here and legitimising such poison.'
Farooq works with One True Message Foundation, based in West London – and is featured prominently in their videos.
The organisation previously sparked outrage when they released a video where a member compared women who don't wear hijabs to 'unwrapped sweets'.
'I have two sweets, yeah, one I open the wrapper and I throw it on the floor, yeah, and I tread on it a little bit. The other one I leave in the wrapper, and I throw it on the floor and I tread on it.
'One's in the wrapper, one's not. I pick both of them up and I say take one. Which one are you going to choose? Case closed,' they said.
Last year, the previous government announced that dangerous hate preachers would begin to be blocked from the UK as part of a new taskforce to 'clamp down on hate and protect the British public'. More Trending
'Hate preachers and extremists will be automatically referred to the Home Office for immigration action, including the cancellation or refusal of visas, should they attempt to travel to the UK.
'Information will be gathered using our embassy network and using open-source intelligence expertise,' they said.
It's unclear if this guidance could be used to bar Farooq.
Metro has contacted the Home Office, Farooq and One Message Foundation for comment.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
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