19 January 2016

Charity watchdog slams Glasgow Central Mosque elders amid concerns of funding for ultra-orthodox group

SCOTLAND’s biggest mosque has been criticised by charity watchdogs in a damning report over the way the centre has been run by its previous orthodox leaders.

Trustees who wielded power at Glasgow Central Mosque - the country’s largest place of worship - breached their legal duties over many years, according to the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).

The watchdogs says trustees were making decisions about the running of the charity where they had no power to do so.

The probe follows concerns from Scottish-born reformers that money from the mosque was going to a group which has been accused of promoting Islamic extremism.

The loan of £50,000 to the European HQ of the conservative group Tablighi Jamaat in Dewsbury in 2011 only came to light after the younger generation of liberal Mosque members, who are co-operating with OSCR, effectively took control of the Mosque last year. [heraldscotland] Read more