Future imams denounce "misleading" modules of London Koranic school

The institute has close ties with Iran. One of the core texts describes non-Muslims as "filth", "pigs" and "dogs", makes calls for jihad and for fighting Christians and Jews.

London (AsiaNews) – A work that describes non-Muslims as "filth", "pigs" and "dogs", calls for jihad and war against Christians and Jews, is one of the core texts in a Koranic school in London, which forms future imams and has strong ties with Iran. The Times carried the claim, citing students of the school, the Hawaza Imiyya, based in the same building as the Islamic College for Advanced Studies (ICAS), charged with the formation of future preachers.  

The English newspaper revealed that one of the administrators of the two institutes is Abdolhossein Moezi, an Iranian cleric and personal representative of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader.

The students, who asked to remain anonymous, said the core text was written in the 13th century by Muhaqqiq al-Hili. They said the text is "disturbing" and "very worrying", and it paves the way for "very literal interpretations of the Koran that would not be recognised by 80 or 90% of Muslims today."

One of the school lecturers, Mohammed Saeed Bahmanpour, confirmed that Hili's work was studied at the Hawaza as well as the ICAS but he said it was not elevated to a doctrine. "We merely translate the text and leave the choice of whether to teach it or not to the individual teachers. The idea is that students will be familiar with classical texts; that's all." However he admitted that "in fact, most of the fatwa (religious decrees) of Muhaqqiq do not conform to those of our modern jurists."

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