The Ghanaian Minaret

California, US: A prominent US-based Islamic preacher, Sheikh Uthman bin Farooq, has reacted strongly to his ban from entering the United Kingdom (UK).

The ban is an outcome of a campaign championed by British political figures and media outlets, accusing the preacher of promoting hate and division.

He called the accusations against him baseless and rooted in double standards.

In a video released this week, the preacher denounced what he described as a smear campaign led by figures such as former immigration minister Robert Jenrick and supported by outlets including The Telegraph and various tabloid publications.

“Allah is sufficient for us and the best disposer of affairs,” he began, before challenging claims that he spreads hate and division. “That’s an absolute lie. I’m all about peace and love.”

The preacher emphasised that his mission in the UK has always been to engage with youth, offering them a path away from street violence and towards education, faith, and community building. “We come with nothing but peace and love, harbouring nothing but harmony,” he said.

Sheikh Farooq was due to begin a speaking tour of London, Manchester and Birmingham later this month entitled “Waking the Dead – Returning from the Darkness”.

He directly addressed the controversy surrounding his views on topics such as homosexuality, clarifying that his comments are rooted in religious scripture and not incitement.

“When I am asked about homosexuality and I quote biblical scriptures… that answer is considered hate speech? Then every preacher and rabbi in your country is guilty of hate speech.”

The preacher argued that criticising or quoting scripture is selectively condemned depending on who is speaking.

“If I quote the Quran and I’m called a hate preacher, then that would mean every Muslim believes in hate? No sir, it is you who is guilty of hate,” he said, referring again to Jenrick.

He cited remarks made by Jenrick in 2024 suggesting people shouting “Allahu Akbar” should be arrested — a statement he condemned as Islamophobic.

The preacher also took aim at perceived double standards in UK foreign policy and political discourse, referencing the warm receptions given to leaders like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both of whom he accused of human rights abuses. “When you welcome Modi… and Netanyahu… with a red carpet, why are they allowed on British soil?” he asked.

In contrast, he argued, Muslims and those who speak up for Palestinian rights are vilified.

He criticised what he sees as a push to silence or dilute Islamic beliefs. “You want me to apologise for my religion. You want me to monetise my ideas. You want me to commercialise my religion — but I shall not.”

He concluded with a resolute commitment to his mission and principles: “I’m going to stand firm on the Quran, on divine scripture, on the way of al-Mustafa. I am going to give a voice to the voiceless, stand firm on the truth, and I’m not going to sugarcoat it.”

Despite being in the UK about a month ago, the UK Home Office has revoked the visa of the US-based cleric, citing concerns about the preacher promoting slavery sex.

In a YouTube video, Mr Farooq, who is based in San Diego, was asked why it was lawful and not adultery to have “intimacy” with a slave but was adulterous to have intimacy with a non-slave.

Mr Farooq, a speaker and scholar with the One Message Foundation, replied: “Allah made [it] that those people taken under a war as captives, who were trying to kill you, [who] you’re now going to support and keep in your house and spend [money] on and treat well, that [they are] like a wife.

“This is somebody who you can have those relationships with. So if Allah made it halal [lawful], then it’s not sinning; that is not adultery because Allah made it.”

Sheikh Uthman ibn Farooq was born in Pakistan and is from the Pashtun tribe, Yusufzai, but grew up in California from a young age.

He began practising and studying Islam in his later teenage years and was inspired to seek Islamic knowledge abroad by Ash-Sheikh Dr Awad al-Garguri.

Within a decade, Sheikh Usman would continue to balance his secular and Islāmic studies, earning a bachelor’s degree in information technology and an executive MBA in technology management while attaining traditional Ijazat (accreditation) in classic Islāmic texts from qualified Islāmic scholars, such as ash-Sheikh Dr Yusuf Mishaʿal (Ph.D. Umm al-Qura) and ash-Sheikh Dr Sadiq al-Manna (Ph.D. Umm al-Qura).

His travels in search of Islamic knowledge would take him to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the UAE.

He has attained multiple Ijāzāt in books of Ḥanbali Fiqh, Uṣūl al-Fiqh, Ḥadith, Muṣṭalaḥ al-Ḥadith and a master’s degree in Ḥadith sciences.

He currently is the Imam of Masjid Al-Ribat in San Diego, California.