Alwaght- A Saudi-linked Wahhabi cleric is facing expulsion from Belgium after he was found preaching hatred and extremist ideology at the country’s biggest mosque.
Belgium’s Immigration Minister Theo Francken told radio station BelRTL that the cleric's residence permit was withdrawn as a prelude to expelling him. He had lodged an appeal against that decision which, if it failed, would oblige him to leave the country.
Brussels’ Grand Mosque, which was leased to Saudi Arabia for 99 years in the 1960s as part of an energy deal, has faced repeated accusations from local politicians of propagating Wahhabism, an extremist reading of Islam that is the official sect in Saudi Arabia.
Wahhabism, sometimes referred to Salafism, is also the ideology of all Takfiri terrorist groups in the world, including al-Qaeda, ISIS, al-Nusra Front, Boko Haram, and al-Shabaab.
“There is a problem with the Grand Mosque... I have taken the decision to withdraw the residence permit of the imam of that mosque,” Francken said.
“We have had some very clear indications that he was very radicalized, Salafist and conservative. He was dangerous for our society and national security.”
The cleric, named in the Belgian media as Abdelhadi Sewif, rejected allegations he had anything to do with Wahhabism.
The Salafist movement - which is strongly influenced by Wahhabism which is Saudi Arabia’s official sect - sees many Muslims as heretical has been linked to terrorist groups such as ISIS, Al Qaeda, Taliban, Boko Haram and Al Shabaab.
Last July, a British think tank demanded a public inquiry into Saudi Arabia’s funding of Wahhabi extremism in Britain that is fueling terrorism.
A leaked intelligence report in Germany last December suggested that Saudi Arabia supports extremist Wahhabi groups in the European country.
Meanwhile, Bahraini regime’s plan to fund a mosque in Finland’s capital has sparked tensions as Muslims say it is meant to divide rather than unite them in a country where they constitute a tiny minority.
The mosque meant to be a center of Helsinki's growing Muslim diaspora is expected to based on the Wahhabi ideology despised by many Muslims.
