A preacher at a London mosque has sparked backlash after encouraging Muslims to “discipline” their wives if they are disobedient.
The Hackney Islamic Community Centre, which has charitable status, publishes lectures given at the mosque to its YouTube channel.
In one sermon, a teacher describes homosexual intercourse as “one of the most evil of acts”, while another shows the same preacher hailing Saudi Arabia for executing those suspected of “witchcraft”.
Yasin Munye delivered a lecture posted on the channel where he reads from Manthumatu al-Kaba’ir, a poem which outlines what are considered major sins in the religion.
He notes one as: “Disobeying the husband, leaving the house without his permission, and disobeying the husband when it comes to calling her to bed, when it comes to calling her for intimacy, when she says ‘no’ without any excuse.”
Mr Munye adds: “Advise her, and boycott her in bed, don’t touch her in bed – and discipline them physically as well, by lightly hitting them to show them who is in charge.”
The preacher goes on to describe homosexual acts as a “crime”, before noting that participants are “executed” under Sharia law.
He said: “Scholars, they differ on how the execution occurs. Some of them say he is executed through the sword, like every other normal execution.
The Hackney Islamic Community Centre’s charitable status allows the mosque to be exempt from paying a number of taxes.
According to its published accounts, it did not pay a penny on the £191,097 income it received in the year to March 2025.
Just shy of £155,000 of the total income was raised through donations.
The mosque describes its purpose as assisting “mankind” through its push to “advance the Islamic faith”.
The Hackney Islamic Community Centre re-registered its charitable status in April – a move branded “alarming” by National Secular Society (NSS) head of campaigns Megan Manson.
She said: “Hackney Islamic Community Centre is just one of many charities promoting misogyny, homophobia and other harmful ideologies through the charitable purpose of ‘the advancement of religion’.
“This charitable purpose must be urgently reviewed. It is evidently facilitating the advancement of ideas which, far from benefiting the public, could fuel discrimination, division and abuse.”
The NSS has reported the mosque to the Charity Commission, warning that the content it pushes out are not compatible with holding charitable status.
The Charity Commission confirmed it has received the complaint and will weigh up the concerns outlined before determining whether to launch a statutory inquiry.
A spokesman said: “The Commission has clear expectations that all charities, regardless of their purpose, must operate for the public benefit and provide a safe and trusted environment for all.
“Concerns have been raised with us about alleged sermons and social media content linked to Hackney Islamic Community Centre and we have opened a regulatory compliance case to further assess these. This will determine any next steps.”
Earlier this year, the Charity Commission refused to censure Hatch End Islamic Centre preacher Ahmed Shah, despite him declaring it was “mandatory” for women to serve their husbands in a now-deleted sermon.
Instead of taking away its charitable status, the commission insisted it would offer “advice and guidance” to the north London mosque.
GB News has approached the Hackney Islamic Community Centre for comment.