An Islamic charity in the United Kingdom is facing criticism for giving a teaching role to a young woman accused of extremism and for hosting a sermon saying men should force their wives to cover up.
Teenage Sunday school teacher used job to 'recruit new jihadis', court hears. Dzhamilya Timaeva, 19, even produced a colourful cartoon book called the ‘Little Muwahideen’, which glorified waging war against non-believers of Islam. Incompatible!https://t.co/0tmN2rlYbp @MailOnline
— Xenomorph (@PetenShirl) November 13, 2024
The Tawheed Islamic Education Centre of Maidenhead (TIEC) was reported to the Charity Commission, the UK’s charity regulator, after it was revealed that it gave a teaching role to Dzhamilya Timaeva, a 20-year-old Chechnyan refugee who was on trial at Old Bailey last November after she was charged with counts of disseminating terrorist publications and one count of possessing a document for terrorist purposes.
Timaev from Windsor allegedly said it was her "duty" of her Islamic faith to "wage war against non-believers.”
The court also heard that starting in September 2022, Timaeva made lesson plans for the TIEC, which referred to a book called "Little Muwahideen.”
They are not charities. They are a dangerous cult
— Karrie (@KarrieboKarrie) October 29, 2024
The prosecutor who presided over the case, Gareth Weetman, said she arranged for copies of this book to be printed. Weetman said the book has a "colorful, cartoon" style aimed at children, but it included sections about waging war for Islam and defined Islam as "obligatory fighting" for Allah.
The book even had a section called “Hatred for the sake of Allah.”
"It is not just about teaching the basics of Islam but indoctrinating young minds," Weetman said.
Timaeva allegedly sent an electronic version of Little Muwahideen to TIEC. She told Old Bailey last November that her support of jihad only applied to Chechnyan men, and she believed that Chechnyans might wage “jihad” against Russians to secure their independence.
“Women who do not wear the hijab are influenced by Satan”. And people believe this in 2024. It’s like the Enlightenment never happened.
— Andrew Penman (@PenmanJourno) September 23, 2024
The TIEC also faced backlash for a sermon published on its website in November 2022. The sermon, titled "What Does it Mean to be a MAN or a WOMAN," was given by the head and principal of TIEC’s Tawheed Institute, Ustadh Yahya Al-Raaby.
According to TIEC's website, Tawheed Institute offers "weekend structured Islamic Science studies" and caters to "all agesfrom children 6 years plus to adult learners. "
In the sermon, Al-Raaby said a man is "the one who tells his family, his women, to cover up, and he teaches them that from a young age,” adding that a man "commands" his daughters to wear hijab even before they are 15 years old.
Al-Raaby argued that if a woman "refuses to cover," her husband must "admonish her" and "shouldn't share a bed with her until she obeys him in covering up.” He also said a man should take a "harsher, stern approach" if his wife still refuses to cover up, including taking away her "luxuries" to "make things perhaps a bit more difficult for her to cover up, to be a bit more forceful.”
He also argued that "the place of a woman is in a home" and "if there's no need for her to go out, she shouldn't be going out,” adding a woman "shouldn't be going out without permission from her husband or her father or whoever is responsible for her.”
The video of this sermon, criticized for being misogynistic, was removed from TIEC’s website shortly after the Timaeva case was reported in the media.
The National Secular Society (NSS), who reported the TIEC to the Charity Commission, strongly condemned the Islamic charity, arguing that charities should not be used as a vehicle for promoting extremism and misogyny.
Will this fall under Labour's definition of 'extreme misogyny' to be considered terrorism, or will it receive a religious exemption as usual?
— Prasujith (@Prasujith) September 24, 2024
"It is shocking to hear these views in 21st-century Britain. It is even more shocking to hear them come from a registered charity.” Megan Manson, head of campaigns at the NSS, said.
"Charities are meant to provide a public benefit - that's why they get tax breaks. But the idea that women shouldn't leave their homes and must obey their husbands is misogynistic and contributes to coercive, controlling, and abusive relationships.”
"The advancement of religion is a recognized charitable purpose. If this enables charities to advance harmful religious beliefs, it must be reviewed. Charities must not be used as a vehicle for misogyny and extremism.” Manson also added.
