Lewisham Islamic Centre has criticised an official warning from the Charity Commission after the watchdog described the mosque’s religious sermons on Palestine as “inflammatory.” The centre has accused the commission of “penalising solidarity with Palestinians” and “interfering in Islamic religious worship.”
The mosque in south-east London was told by the Charity Commission yesterday that it must improve its handling of speakers and events at its premises.
A statement published on the Charity Commission’s website said: “The Commission opened a regulatory compliance case after complaints were raised about sermons delivered at the charity which also had adverse media coverage. After assessing the evidence related to these and other events held at the charity, the regulator made a finding of misconduct and / or mismanagement. This was connected, but not limited to, two sermons hosted by the charity that ‘included content that was inflammatory, divisive and not in the charity’s best interests.’
“The official warning sets out that the charity needs to ensure all activity on its premises furthers its objects, benefits the public and is in its best interests. It must also ensure that any activity carried out by, or associated with, the charity does not unnecessarily risk damaging its reputation. The charity should also review, implement, and adhere to, a robust and suitable events and speakers policy which applies to all of the charity’s speakers.”
The Commission also warned that failure to remedy the misconduct and / or mismanagement identified by the Commission may lead to “further regulatory action.”
According to Sky News, the warning follows a specific sermon in October 2023, in which Imam Shakeel Begg talked about the “suffering at the hands of the oppressors and the Zionists.”
October 2023 was the month which saw both an attack on Israel by armed Palestinian groups and the start of Israel’s disproportionate and genocidal response, collectively punishing all Palestinians in Gaza for the October 7 attack.
However, in response, LIC released their own statement which provided key additional context. The LIC claims that their sermons came after “more than 3,500 Palestinians had been murdered, with more than 1,000 unaccounted for under the rubble.”
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They additionally condemning the Commission for “penalising solidarity with Palestinians” and “interfering in Islamic religious worship” after the centre said their prayers for Palestinians were also included in the Commission’s decision to issue an official warning.
“The Commission’s action takes issue with one of our Imam’s supplication for the people of Palestine, Gaza and Jerusalem, including prayers for their protection, healing and deliverance from oppression. These were acts of Islamic worship. They reflected the compassion, solidarity and religious responsibility felt by Muslims witnessing the immense suffering of the Palestinian people.
“The Centre considers it profoundly troubling that such expressions of solidarity should become the subject of regulatory action. The Commission’s focus was on the fact that the khutbah (sermon) in question took place in October 2023. However, it fails to note that by the date the sermon was given, more than 3,500 Palestinians had been murdered, with more than 1,000 unaccounted for under the rubble.
“Palestinians do not lose their entitlement to compassion, dignity, justice or international legal protection because of the actions of Hamas or any other organisation. Nor should Muslims be discouraged from expressing their concern for Palestinian lives and rights, and robust condemnation of the actions of the perpetrators through prayer, religious teaching or peaceful political expression.”
Lewisham Islamic Centre confirmed that it was continuing to seek legal advice on the most appropriate course of action.
Elsewhere, Zillur Rahman, a partner at Rahman Lowe Solicitors, said on X: “What is the difference between an Imam at a mosque, Lewisham Islamic Centre (Charity) making prayers against the IDF, and the Chief Rabbinate State (Charity) where the Chief Rabbi has been repeatedly making prayers for the IDF, expressing pride in the military of Israel (IDF) all at a time when people were being slaughtered and killed in Gaza, without any qualification and at a time when the IDF were facing allegations of war crimes and genocide in the ICJ. Both are registered charities. Yet the Charity Commission seems to consider the prayer of the Imam to be inflammatory, but not the prayer of the Rabbi, despite this being made on more than one occasion. The only difference is their faith, race and the ethnicity of those they are praying for.”
Is the Charity Commission anti-Palestine?
The controversy surrounding the LIC’s warning is not an isolated incident.
Since the outbreak of the Gaza genocide in October 2023, the Charity Commission has taken regulatory action against several British Muslim charities and mosques over sermons, social-media posts and other communications relating to Palestine. Several have received official warnings, while one mosque trustee was disqualified from holding senior positions in charities for three years.
Although the Commission maintains that its interventions concern charity governance and the prevention of inflammatory or extremist material, the cases have raised questions about whether Muslim institutions are facing disproportionate scrutiny when discussing Palestine.
One of the earliest cases involved Nottingham Islam Information Point, where trustee Harun Abdur Rashid Holmes delivered a sermon on October 13, 2023, six days after the October 7 attacks. The sermon included a Hadith concerning Muslims fighting with Jews during the global conflicts prophesied during the end times of humanity.
The Commission subsequently deemed the material inflammatory and divisive, issued an official warning to the charity and disqualified Holmes from serving as a charity trustee or senior charity manager for three years.
In 2025, the Mosque and Islamic Centre of Brent received an official warning following an investigation into five speeches delivered in November and December 2023. The Commission concluded that four contained inflammatory and divisive material.
Central Oxford Mosque Society was also issued an official warning over social-media posts published in October and November 2023, including cartoons which criticised mainstream media’s biased coverage of the Gaza genocide. The regulator considered two of the cartoons inflammatory and divisive.
Another case involved Al-Manar Centre Trust in Cardiff, which received an official warning following the sharing of a video in November 2023 featuring footage of Hamas fighters and the release of Israeli hostages. The Commission argued that the video presented Hamas in a “positive light” and could be interpreted as justifying or downplaying the October 7 attacks.
Meanwhile, Abdullah Quilliam Society in Liverpool received regulatory action over sermons and speeches, including a June 2025 video criticising government figures and what it described as the Israeli lobby’s influence. The Commission subsequently imposed restrictions and requirements relating to the charity’s sermons, events and online publications.
Taken together, these cases raise serious questions about the relationship between charity regulation, religious expression and political advocacy. The Charity Commission maintains that its interventions are based on charity law and trustee responsibilities. It also disclosed in July 2025 that it had opened more than 300 regulatory cases involving charities supporting different sides of the Middle East conflict over the preceding 18 months.
While these figures are not limited to Muslim organisations, the repeated interventions involving British mosques have fuelled concerns about whether Muslim institutions are being subjected to disproportionate scrutiny when expressing views on Palestine.
