CONTROVERSIAL Muslim Cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal has denied a report that he has been preaching hate against non-Muslims via the Internet. A report yesterday in the London-based Indo Asian News Service, which quoted the British tabloid The Sun, claimed that al-Faisal has been found to be broadcasting his extremist views live over the Internet. The report said the cleric had been broadcasting hate messages six days a week and had recruited “over 40 fanatics whose real identities and locations are hidden from authorities by code names”. The report alleged that al-Faisal has been advocating Jihad or holy war and urging his followers that it was their duty to “conquer nations”.

But al-Faisal has denied the allegations, saying he was not a hate preacher.

“I do not preach hate, I preach against crimes against humanity. The people who are accusing me of preaching hate are really the ones that really have hate in their hearts because they are committing genocide in Afghanistan as we speak,” he told the Observer.

Al-Faisal’s younger sibling, Marshall Forrest, also scoffed at the allegations when contacted by the Observer. “At this stage I would not jump on any horse. We have gone down that road before,” Forrest said.

In the meantime, the Islamic Council of Jamaica has again distanced itself from hate preaching by Muslim radicals. Head of the Council Mustaffa Muhammad steered clear of referring directly to the accusations against al-Faisal but said hate preaching is not a part of the true Islam religion.

“If this is known to us then we would get to that person and educate him. If a person preaches hate it simply means he does not know the religion. There is nowhere in Islam that says we should hate people because they are not Muslim,” Muhammad said.

He said al-Faisal, who was born Douglas Forrest in 1964, was not a part of the local Muslim community and does not worship at any local mosque. “He is not a member of the Islamic Council of Jamaica. He has never been a member of our community and has never participated with us for over 25 years,” Muhammad said.

The controversial al-Faisal was deported to Jamaica from Britain following a four-year prison term after the British Government accused him of preaching hate messages to failed shoe bomber Richard Reid and for influencing Jermaine Lindsay who killed himself and 26 others on an underground train near King’s Cross in London in 2005.

Al-Faisal became the first person in more than a century in Britain to be convicted under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act when he was found guilty of soliciting murder and causing racial hatred in 2003.

He was also credited by failed Times Square bomber, Pakistani-American Faisal Shazad as being his inspiration.

In 2009, al-Faisal sneaked out of Jamaica and ended up in Africa and was deported from Kenya earlier last year for allegedly trying to recruit people there for a Jihad.

His imprisonment and deportation from Kenya sparked violent protests in the East African country, resulting in the deaths of seven Muslims and arrest of 300 others. He has been placed on an international terrorist watch list.