The Sunnah mosque in The Hague has suspended Sheikh Fawaz for at least three weeks for allegedly insulting board members and disturbing a meeting. In an interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Fawaz al-Jneid voiced anger and frustration.
Sheikh Fawaz is known for his extreme opinions. In the past, he said he wished Dutch politician and anti-Islam activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali and writer and film maker Theo van Gogh, who was murdered in 2004, would contract a deadly disease. He sued populist MP Geert Wilders over his anti-Islam film Fitna. He is also said to approve of polygamy. But he has also denounced groups such as Sharia4Belgium and Shariah4Holland saying their views were too radical.
Speaking to Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Sheikh Fawaz said he did not intend to abide by the mosque’s injunction. He accuses the mosque board of trying to prevent him from speaking about politics during Friday prayers. In a letter signed by the mosque board, a lawyer acting on its behalf proposes a number of measures aimed to curtail the sheik’s powers within the mosque.
The radical preacher accuses the board of conducting a witch hunt against him. He compared the board members with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the late Libyan leader Muammar Khaddafi. He said police had prevented him on Friday from delivering his Friday sermon. The mosque board was not available for commentary on Friday.