Canadian imam held in Philippines under suspicion of recruiting people to commit terrorism

Canadian imam held in Philippines under suspicion of recruiting people to commit terrorism. (SunNewsNetwork).

A Canadian Islamic preacher banned from several countries due to his views has been detained in the Philippines under suspicion he incited and recruited people to commit terrorism.

Bilal Philips, a Jamaican-born preacher who grew up in Toronto and is a Canadian citizen, will be deported within days, according to Siegfred Mison, the head of the Philippines immigration bureau.

"Based on various sources of information, he was supposed to be inciting and recruiting people to conduct terrorist activities," Mison told reporters, but gave no details of the sources.

Germany expelled Philips in 2011 for reportedly giving a speech in Frankfurt claiming homosexuals should be killed. Britain, Australia and the United States have also reportedly banned Philips.

However, two Toronto-based friends of Philips told QMI Agency Wednesday that despite his controversial interpretations of Islamic teaching, they never heard Philips incite or condone terrorism.
"It's utterly ridiculous, preposterous," said Ibrahim Downey, president of a Toronto-based company that offers "inspirational counselling" who said he is Philips' family friend and has known him for years.

"I've never seen anything (violent) from him," Downey said. "He explains the (texts from the Qur'an) as they are supposed to be understood, does that make him Conservative? What's that got to do with terrorism?"

Downey heard about Philips' detention Sunday night and Philips' family said the preacher was on a speaking tour in the Philippines.

Philips is an internationally known imam. He founded an online, free Islamic studies university and has written scores of books on Islam.

Mubin Shaikh, a former undercover police agent who said he's known Philips for more than 20 years, said he was surprised by Philips' detention.Shaikh said he never heard Philips incite violence or condone terrorist activity.

However, Shaikh admitted that Philips was controversial."He's a strict conservative," Shaikh said. "He ran into trouble for stating the traditional Islamic position on homosexuality. But he's never had any connection to (inciting terrorism).

While Philips is reportedly currently based in Doha, Qatar, it is unclear to what country he will be deported. Hmmmm....Purely coincidentally he's based in Qatar the Muslim Brotherhood Den.