Statement to the Community

A Statement from the Trust of Masjid & Madrasa al-Tawhid

To the Community of Masjid al-Tawhid,
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullaah wa barakatuhu.

The Trust would like to update the community regarding what has recently occurred at the Masjid. As you are probably aware, over the last few years Usama Hasan, son of Dr Suhaib Hasan and ex-Vice Chairman of the Trust, has raised a number of controversial issues in the public sphere while using the name of the Masjid to give those opinions weight. In October 2008, at a special meeting of the Trust, Dr Suhaib Hasan forbade Usama Hasan from using the Masjid name in this manner – but unfortunately he has continued to do so since then. In January 2011, Usama Hasan gave a highly controversial lecture at the Masjid titled “Islam and Evolution”. Hundreds of local people attended this lecture, and the vast majority opposed, and were deeply offended by, his views. This led to the Trust falling into into disrepute amongst the local Community, and many members of the congregation left the Masjid and began to attend other mosques in the locality.

The Trust was similarly deeply disturbed by the manner in which Usama Hasan has used the Masjid as a platform for his own controversial political agenda, and hence on 23rd February 2011 the Trustees unanimously voted to remove Usama Hasan as Imam and Trustee of Masjid al-Tawhid.

It was later claimed that Usama Hasan had retracted some of his controversial views, but in his interview with CNN on 21st March 2011 – a full month after his removal, and a week after his 'retraction' - he stated : “What I would like to point out now is that religious scholars, in the main, are opposed to evolution, they believe it is blasphemy, it is against the Quran, whereas scientists say that evolution is a scientific fact, or a scientific theory with overwhelming evidence. There exists this gulf, this impasse, and at some point people may have to address that issue, but only when the community and the religious scholars are ready.” This clearly shows his intention to raise these controversial issues again when he feels the time is opportune.
See this CNN article.

For the record, Usama Hasan is free to hold whatever views he wishes, but if these views are in opposition to the Constitution of the Trust then he cannot simultaneously remain a Trustee of the Masjid. The Constitution clearly states in clause 10 (6) that a Trustee will cease to be a Trustee if they are :"not an adherent to or in support of the belief and ideals of the Ahl-e-Hadith (Strict adherence to the Quran and Sunnah generally and in disputed matters especially)".

Following his removal as a Trustee, the Hasan family began a vicious media smear campaign against those Trustees who had acted against Usama Hasan, such as this article in The Guardian. Unfortunately, Usama Hasan and Dr Suhaib Hasan publicly and privately intimidated and verbally abused the other Trustees. Mrs Shakeela Hasan, Dr Suhaib Hasan's wife, has also verbally abused some Trustees in a most vicious fashion. Coincidentally,anonymous letters threatening physical harm were also received by a number of Trustees if they did not stop their course of action. One Trustee even received an anonymous letter that attempted to blackmail him on the basis of a private family incident.

The Trustees repeatedly offered mediation to resolve the dispute via external Imams and Community leaders, but this was consistently ignored and rejected. The Trust has been disappointed by the attitude taken by the Hasan family, and emphatically will not allow the Masjid to be treated as the personal property of any family or individual. Rather, the Masjid is the House of Allah, which is to be run in a civilised professional manner on behalf of the Community and seeking their best interests, and in accordance with the Constitution of the Trust.

Further, on 29th May 2011, the five year term of Dr Suhaib Hasan expired as Chairman and Trustee of the Masjid. Contrary to the lies being spread by some individuals, Dr Suhaib Hasan chose not to request renewal of his Trusteeship, and hence he is no longer a Trustee. The other Trust members did not remove him from the Trust. He continues to be an Imam of the Masjid. Claims by members of the Hasan family that Dr Suhaib Hasan is automatically renewed as Chairman are in clear violation of the Trust Constitution.

The remaining Trustees will now consider the best way to move forward in order to preserve the interests of the Masjid and fulfil the purpose of the Trust as outlined by the Constitution. This includes establishing formal rules and procedures for running the Trust to avoid any future abuse of power, as has happened for the last few years.

We ask the Community to support the Trust in achieving this and we pray that Allah the Almighty guides us all to that which is best. We sincerely hope that the Masjid can regain the confidence of the Community and become a vibrant, active and welcoming Centre of excellence once again.

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