Charity Commission opens compliance case over Hapley imam's comments
The Charity Commission has opened a regulatory compliance case after concerns about sermons and social media content linked to Hapley Islamic Community Centre, where an imam said women can be beaten.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The Charity Commission has opened a regulatory compliance case into concerns about alleged sermons and social media content linked to Hapley Islamic Community Centre. The case follows comments by an imam at the centre in which he said women could be disciplined physically.
In a clip played in coverage, the imam said: 'A woman, when you see from her new shoes, then advise her, and boycott her in bed, meaning don't touch her in bed, and discipline them physically as well by lightly hitting them to show them who is in charge.' The centre is a London mosque and is registered as a charity. The remarks were criticised as an endorsement of beating a wife, and the segment argued that a vicar making similar comments would not be treated the same way.
The Charity Commission said: 'concerns have been raised with us about alleged sermons and social media content linked to Hapley Islamic Community Centre. And we've opened a regulatory compliance case to further assess these. This will determine any next steps.'
The centre has been approached for comment, but no response from Hapley Islamic Community Centre was included. The coverage also used the case to claim that so-called two-tier Britain is real, with different groups and communities treated and policed differently. It then moved to unrelated financial news.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| An imam at the centre reportedly said a woman should be physically disciplined lightly to demonstrate who is in charge. | |
| The Charity Commission opened a regulatory compliance case over alleged sermons and social media content linked to the centre. | |
| The London mosque is registered as a charity. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
GB News gave the story a strongly critical framing, playing a clip of the imam and describing the remarks as saying it is okay to beat a wife. It linked the Charity Commission case to a claim of two-tier Britain and suggested a vicar would face different treatment. The segment included the Commission's statement and said the centre had been approached, but it did not carry any response from the mosque.
- “So according to the Imam, it's okay to beat up the wife.”
- “when you hear the phrase two-tier Britain, it is not an online conspiracy theory. It is actually happening.”
- “A woman, when you see from her new shoes, then advise her, and boycott her in bed, meaning don't touch her in bed, and discipline them physically as well by lightly hitting them to show them who is in charge.”
Broadcast Timeline
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