Hague: As-Soenna mosque expansion

The radical As-Soennah mosque in The Hague will be expanding (see plans here). The Hague municipality has granted a building permit. Additionally, according to the municipality there is nothing to be done about the statements of the disputed imam sheik Fawaz Jneid, the preacher in this mosque. This according to answers by CDA mayor Wim Deetman to questions by the VVD.

The Hague branch of the VVD wanted to know if something could be done against the radical imam, because the party is concerned about the sermons he delivers in the As-Soenna mosque. The VVD was also concerned that the mosque had received a building permit to expand.

The imam Fawaz Jneid, a Syrian, is known for cursing director Theo van Gogh and former VVD parliament member Ayaan Hisri Ali in 2004.

Last summer he called Elsevier blogger Afshin Ellian a malignant tumor because Ellians attacked the radical Islamist movement of Salafism in his blog.

Former minister of integration Rita Verdonk wanted to expel him from the country, but that was not legally possible because Fawaz Jneid hold a Dutch passport.

The mosque is permanently watched by the internal security service AIVD.

According to Deetman there is nothing to be done about the planned expansion because aspects of the public order are not considered when giving a building permit. The building permit was given already in 2006, but has just now been announced.

There is not much to do against the imam since he mostly stays within the bounds of the law, "and therefore within the freedom of speech," according to Deetman.

Additionally, the mosque will get subsidy money in order to counsel criminal immigrant youth and early dropouts in their return to society, but according to Deetman that isn't true.

The mayor is not happy with the imam and his mosque. Muslim marriages had been conducted in the As-Soenna mosque, without a civil marriage. In the Netherlands a religious ceremony is not allowed without a civil marriage.

Source: Elsevier (Dutch)

See also: Hague: Imam wants censorship committee, Holland: Islam is blossoming