http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23929834-imam-fears-nutters-could-kill-him-for-preaching-evolution.doThe imam of a London mosque who preached that Islam and the theory of evolution are compatible said today he feared for his life and his family after receiving death threats.
Usama Hasan, 39, who also believes Muslim women should be allowed to uncover their hair in public, said: "There are enough nutters out there." He stopped leading Friday prayers at his Leyton mosque after a hate campaign was launched against him.
Dr Hasan also stepped down from his post as a senior lecturer in engineering and information sciences at Middlesex University after protesters disrupted a talk by handing out leaflets against him and saying he should face death for his views. Police advised him to stay away from the Masjid al-Tawhid mosque. The father of four said: "This was incitement to murder, death threats, there are enough nutters out there and I do worry next time I am in a public place or if I lead prayers.
"I have already beefed up security at the house. I am worried about my wife and young children. I do a lot of public speaking and I may need it (security) for the rest of my life."
The Cambridge University graduate believes he could be targeted in a similar way to MP Stephen Timms who was stabbed by radicalised student Roshonara Choudhry.
In an effort to defuse the situation, Dr Hasan has decided to retract some of his "inflammatory" comments about Darwin's theory. He said Islam was "not ready" to have such a debate.
Tensions rose in December when a visiting Saudi cleric told a congregation in Birmingham that anyone who believed in evolution could not lead Friday prayers. In January five men disrupted Dr Hasan as he led prayers at his mosque, saying he was un-Islamic.
In response, the academic, who is also vice-chairman of the mosque, held a lecture entitled "Islam and the theory of evolution", arguing how the religion and theory were compatible. It was disrupted by 20 men who distributed leaflets calling for him to be executed as an "apostate".
His views have also caused a rift among leaders at the mosque, where his father Suhaib Hasan, a Wahhabi scholar, is chairman.
A statement from the mosque secretary Mohammad Sethi - that appeared on extremist websites - said Dr Hasan had been suspended because his lecture resulted in "considerable antagonism" from the community and for his "belief Muslim women are allowed to uncover their hair in public".
His father said on the mosque's website that his son had been the victim of a "vicious agenda" by a "faction of trustees". Maajid Nawaz of the Quilliam Foundation, a think tank on Islamic extremism where Dr Hasan has worked, blamed fundamentalists for trying to "hound" him from his position.
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