A south London imam has challenged Prime Minister David Cameron to repeat his defamatory comments after being accused of supporting ISIS in parliament.
Shaykh Sulaiman Ghani was described by the leader of this country as a “man who supports IS” – a popular acronym for ISIS.
The defamatory statement was made during yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Question Time (PMQT) when an MP raised the question of politicians “sharing a platform with extremists” in light of Labour’s Sadiq Khan, and the ongoing London mayoral elections.
It is well documented that Shaykh Ghani has consistently condemned ISIS and all forms of terrorism, speaking recently at a conference entitled “The Evils of ISIS” at the South London Islamic Centre.
However, due to Cameron’s “parliamentary privilege”, he cannot be legally sued for statements made in the chamber.
In response to the Prime Minister’s slanderous accusations, Shaykh Ghani told 5Pillars: “I challenge him to repeat those absurd and flagrantly flawed assertions about myself outside the chamber. As those allegations are baseless and an utter lie and if he does so I will sue.
“In actual fact I have never and will never support IS/Daesh, in fact I have consistently like all mainstream Islamic scholars not only spoken out but condemned IS/Daesh for the monstrosity that they are.
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“They have as much to do with Islam as the KKK do with Christianity. I hope the Prime Minister will reflect on his comments and either provide proof of what he has claimed or rectify his comments.”
“It is disappointing that the Prime Minister chooses to stoop to sensationalist tabloid levels in his inaccurate representation of the views of others.
“At a time of rising Islamophobic hate crime and distrust of Muslims, the Prime Minister’s ‘extremism’ further cast Muslims as the ‘other’ and provides succour to far-right groups.
“I would ask the PM to make more stringent checks on the sources his advisers are using before making totally false accusations
“I urge the Prime Minister to either provide proof of what he has claimed, or apologise and retract his comments as a matter of urgency.”
