The new Flemish Minister President Liesbeth Homans from N-VA has initiated procedures against the Al Ihsaan mosque in Leuven.
The mosque received substantial criticism back in 2017 following the imam’s preaching, justifying physical violence against women, and had to close down temporarily.
Since December, however, the imam is active again at the mosque and there have been indications that a Salafist organisation is giving sermons, reports De Morgen.
The new Flemish President believes the establishment doesn’t respect the criteria to be officially recognised as a place of worship and that it should stop receive state subsidies, reports Het Laatste Niuews.
Homans has sent a letter to the Al Ihsaan mosque, Belgium’s Muslim community executive, the communal councils of Leuven and to the Flemish Brabant region. They will have 60 days to issue an opinion, after which a decision will be taken on whether the mosque can continue to be recognised as a place of worship.
This is the second procedure Homans has launched against mosques in Belgium. In a similar case in Beringen, the Fatih mosque had finally lost its official recognition and the loss of 50,000 euro in state subsidies in 2018.
The Brussels Times
