Mosque investigated after trustee promoted ‘jihad by sword’ to children

Charity watchdog fears further harm at Brighton Mosque due to management dispute

Abubaker Deghayes, from Saltdean in East Sussex, was jailed at the Old Bailey in April for making the remarks (SWNS)

A mosque is being investigated for failing to intervene when one of its trustees called for “jihad by sword” in front of vulnerable teenage boys.

The Charity Commission said one of Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre’s trustees should have stepped in when Abubaker Deghayes gave the speech in front of 50 people including children.

The regulator said the trustee present made no attempt to minimise the harmful impact of the speech on worshippers and should have intervened.

Deghayes, from Saltdean in East Sussex, was jailed at the Old Bailey in April for making the remarks and the mosque was given an official warning one month later.

He was also seen making a stabbing gesture when talking about jihad to the audience.

Two of his teenage sons, Abdullah and Jaffar, have been killed fighting in Syria. Another one of his sons, Abdul, was killed by a convicted drug dealer in 2019.

The Libyan-born mosque leader had denied wrongdoing and claimed he was talking about jihad by the sword as a form of self-defence.

A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “The commission determined that the trustees knew or ought to have known the risk this individual [Deghayes] posed to the charity, and set out the actions trustees should take to protect the charity and its beneficiaries from abuse.”

The spokesman added that there was an ongoing dispute at the charity about its management which has created an “increased risk that appropriate actions will not be taken to protect the charity from further undue risk of harm”.

It has appointed Andrew Wilkinson, from the law firm Shakespeare Martineau, as interim manager. He will appoint new trustees to the mosque.

The Commission said its inquiry will look at the administration, governance and management of the charity, and in particular whether trustees have been properly appointed or removed.

It will also explore what they have learnt from Deghayes’ conviction, whether the mosque’s income and spending has been properly accounted for, and if that money has been used exclusively for a charitable purpose.

In August 2018, Deghayes was jailed for 18 months trying to intimidate his wife when he was charged with attacking her.

He threatened his wife and her brother on 27 November, 2017 in a bid to influence the assault case against him. He was cleared in the assault case.

Deghayes told his wife’s brother to tell her to drop the case against him for assaulting her and not to go to court, and breached court bail conditions not to contact his victim directly or indirectly.

He said she could leave the country and threatened to have her shot if she did not comply.

SWNS