A radical imam who helped prompt the government’s extremism crackdown is reportedly still active in his local mosque where he ‘speaks to primary school children’.
Shakeel Begg was found to be an ‘extremist preacher’ by a High Court judge in 2016. It was also found that his role as an imam put him in a position to ‘plant the seed of Islamic extremism in a young mind’.
But despite the ruling, Begg is still the head imam of the Lewisham Islamic Centre (LIC) in south-east London, The Times has reported.
The mosque is regularly visited by schoolchildren from the local area and has links with the local council.
According to Lewisham Islamic Centre’s Facebook page, the mosque has welcomed pupils from nearby schools on at least six occasions in 2022 and 2023.
Shakeel Begg (pictured), who helped prompt the government’s extremism crackdown, is reportedly still active in his local mosque where he ‘speaks to primary school children’
Shakeel Begg (right) was found to be an ‘extremist preacher’ by a High Court judge in 2016
The imam has been pictured having discussions with the schoolchildren, some of whom are primary-school age.
The mosque’s school was itself sent hundreds of thousands of pounds in government grants before it closed in 2019.
Begg has also continued to work with the Met Police and in September, Trevor Lawry, the local borough commander visited the mosque for an interfaith forum.
Furthermore the force supported Begg’s libel case against the BBC in 2016 saying he had supported Prevent – the government’s counter-extremism programme.
Michael Gove, the communities minister, said in the House of Commons yesterday that Begg’s case was brought to the attention of the government and was a factor that pushed them to redefine extremism.
Begg (far right) is still the head imam of the Lewisham Islamic Centre (LIC) in south-east London. He has continued to work with the Met Police
The mosque is regularly visted by schoolchildren from the local area and has a link with the local council
Michael Gove, the communities minister, said in the House of Commons yesterday that Begg’s (right) case was brought to the attention of the government and was a factor that pushed them to redefine extremism
Begg was also criticised by the Campaign Against Antisemitism in November in light of comments he made about the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel.
He told his followers on the Friday after the attack: ‘Grant victory to the people of Palestine, the people of Gaza, support them over their enemy, your enemy. Punish the oppressors [Israel]… destroy them and tear them apart.’
He added that the West and Israel were ‘smearing’ Muslims by saying that they had killed ‘innocent children’ in Israel.
‘We know that’s a lie,’ he told worshippers. He went on to slam pro-Israeli celebrities, naming Justin Bieber, Kylie Jenner and Floyd Mayweather, as ‘sick’ people.
Begg’s case was brought to the High Court in 2016 after he sued the BBC for libel when they labelled him extremist.
However Lord Justice Haddon-Cave dismissed this, saying that Begg had promoted religious violence ‘by telling Muslims that violence in support of Islam would constitute a man’s greatest deed’.
Begg however has previously said that the statements referred to by the judge were interpreted in a different way to how he intended them and he apologised for the confusion.
He added that he condemns terrorism and extremism and did not want to encourage violence.
A spokeswoman for Lewisham council said: ‘We work with organisations which engage with the many different groups within our community, and faith organisations of all kinds are a very important part of that.
‘There are a significant number of Muslims in Lewisham and the Lewisham Islamic Centre as a body supports our efforts to increase and sustain community cohesion.’
A spokesperson for The Met denied that Mr Begg had an advisory role with the force and instead attended a faith breakfast with officers.
They said these types of events are critical for ‘engagement work’ and that the purpose of the faith breakfast was to talk about the ‘stop and search charter’.
MailOnline has contacted Lewisham Islamic Centre for comment.
The Met Police and Lewisham Council have also been approached for further comment.
