The British government’s faith minister is under fire for meeting and even kissing the hand of a controversial Pakistani cleric who has made several inflammatory remarks in the past against women.
Lord Wajid Khan, who is the UK’s new Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Faith, Communities and Resettlement under the Labour government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, was seen kissing the hand of Maulana Tariq Jamil, a popular Deobandi imam in Pakistan, in a video during the cleric’s visit to Lord Khan’s Burnley constituency last February.
The video of Lord Khan kissing Jamil’s hand was posted to the Maulana’s YouTube channel, which had over 8 million subscribers. The imam visited Burnley during his speaking tour in the United Kingdom last February.
Kissing a religious leader’s ring is often seen as humbling oneself in the leader’s presence. It demonstrates that the person bestowing the kiss accepts the ring bearer’s leadership and guidance in their life. It is also seen as a display of love and affection and a way of bonding with a religious leader.
In the video, Jamil was seen being greeted by Lord Khan, who is also a member of the House of Lords, and they are filmed meeting alongside an entourage. Multiple cameras filmed the meeting, and one man appears to interview him with a microphone as he walks down the street, grasping prayer beads.
After the ring-kissing in the street, Lord Khan and Maulana Tariq Jamil were filmed adjourned to a lounge at a “ministerial-style meeting“ in an office-like setting, where the two sat side-by-side like dignitaries in armchairs beside the British and Pakistani flags.
Lord Khan was then asked to explain his meeting with the controversial Islamic scholar and cleric by Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick.
“Why is a Government Minister responsible for community relations meeting with a cleric who has made extreme outbursts?“ Jenrick asked. “Why is he hosting a ministerial-style meeting with a self-appointed community leader? What was discussed?"
“His actions undermine community cohesion. We need answers and a full account of what happened,“ Jenrick continued.
In response to the backlash to his meeting with Jamil, Lord Khan said his meeting was not an endorsement of the cleric’s “deeply offensive“ remarks.
“Following the death of my mother last month, thousands of people have visited, often without invitation, on an open house basis to offer their condolences on this bereavement,“ Lord Khan said.
“I did not personally invite this individual, and this interaction should in no way be seen as an endorsement of these deeply offensive comments, which I condemn entirely,“ he added.
Jamil is an influential religious figure in Pakistan with millions of followers, but he has also delivered some inflammatory and discriminatory rhetoric, particularly against women.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jamil claimed that the coronavirus was unleashed upon humanity because of women’s wrongdoings, even blaming those who “were often scantily dressed“ as the cause of the pandemic. His comment outraged even those in Pakistan, and the country’s Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari described his remarks as “absurd.“
In October 2024, he continued with his comments against women’s rights after he urged Muslim women living in the UK to not participate in the British workforce and instead stay at home as wives and mothers.
The imam was forced to apologize for suggesting that the coronavirus pandemic, which killed over 200,000 people in the UK and over 30,000 people in Pakistan, was a form of divine punishment.
