Decision

Khatme Nubuwwat Centre

Published 21 March 2019

This decision was withdrawn on 18 January 2022

This Inquiry report has been archived as it is over 2 years old.

A statement of the results of an inquiry into Khatme Nubuwwat Centre (registered charity number 328715).

The charity

Khatme Nubuwwat Centre (‘the charity’) was previously known as Aalami Majlise Tahaffuze Khatme Nubuwwat, also known as Stockwell Green Mosque. The charity was entered onto the register of charities (‘the register’) on 19 July 1990 and its governing document was a trust deed dated 15 June 1990. On 2 February 2018 the Commission issued a scheme which replaced the former trust deed of the charity.

The charity’s objects are:

• to advance the Islamic religion by the provision of a mosque
• to advance Islamic education for both children and adults
• to promote religious harmony by fostering better relations between Muslims and other communities

Background

Prior to the opening of the inquiry the Commission first engaged with the charity on 12 May 2016, when it undertook a compliance visit at the charity’s premises. A subsequent visit also took place on 19 July 2016. The charity was identified for a visit following a BBC News article, dated 10 April 2016, that alleged that literature calling for the killing of members of the Ahmadi community was displayed at the charity’s premises, which is the mosque. The BBC’s article led to further adverse media coverage regarding the charity.

The Ahmadis are a minority religious sect which was founded in the late 19th century. The Ahmadi sect is widely considered to hold a non-orthodox interpretation of Islam; this includes their belief that the Prophet Mohammad is not the last and final messenger. There is significant open source material relating to the persecution of the Ahmadi community due to their religious views.

During the visits it transpired that the charity had an identical name to that of Aalami Majlise Tahaffuze Khatme Nubuwwat (‘the Pakistani organisation’) which has its headquarters in the city of Multan, Pakistan. During the visits the trustees explained that the charity’s name signifies the “protection of the belief of the finality of prophet hood”. Open source material shows that the Pakistani organisation has been subject to negative reporting, alleging connections with terrorist and extremist groups and activity in Pakistan and elsewhere. The Pakistani organisation’s website contains literature in both English and Urdu which is dominated by subjects relating to the Ahmadi community and is concerning due to the inferences readers may draw concerning violence promoted against this minority sect. The website also listed the charity’s address as a point of contact. The charity’s association with the Pakistani organisation could lead beneficiaries and the public, more generally, to infer that the charity supports the views of the Pakistani organisation as expressed on its website.

During the May 2016 visit, the Commission obtained a letter dated 17 August 2014, which enabled three leaders of the Pakistani organisation the ability to authorise the charity’s Imam to have delegated responsibility over the charity’s premises, appointment of employees, payment of bills and the collection of funds. Despite the letter also being signed by three of the charity’s (then) trustees – of which two resigned and only one remains in post, the letter appeared to give control of the charity to the Pakistani organisation. The Commission was provided with information suggesting that the aforementioned Imam was in regular contact with the Pakistani organisation and would only take instruction from them. The trustees informed the Commission that the charity had never been under the control nor direction of the Pakistani organisation, but leaders of the Pakistani organisation had attended the charity’s conferences (in the UK) and that the charity had sought advice from the Pakistani organisation for academic purposes.

The trustees also stated that the charity’s UK address, 35 Stockwell Green Road, London, SW9 9HZ had previously been removed from the Pakistani organisation’s website’s ‘contact us’ section. However, the Commission noted that the charity’s address was visible in other sections of the Pakistani organisation’s website such as the ‘pamphlets’ section. The trustees informed the inquiry that the charity’s address had been included on the website without their permission.

The Commission informed the trustees that they should not associate with any organisation or individual over which there are concerns as to conduct and activities which could negatively impact on the charity and its reputation. The trustees were reminded that they are legally responsible and accountable for the management and administration of the charity and that they cannot give control to another individual or organisation. The concern here was not limited to only sharing the same name as the Pakistani organisation, but also whether any association was appropriate for the charity and, if not the trustees needed to take steps to separate themselves from the Pakistani organisation.

The charity’s objects, as set out in clause 2 of the charity’s (then) trust deed dated 15 June 1990, did not include any reference to the provision of a place of worship. Despite this, the charity’s main activity, for a number of years, had been the running of a mosque. The Commission saw no evidence that the charity was actually undertaking activities in furtherance of its stated objects. Consequently there was evidence of a breach of the duty to comply with the charity’s governing document, by the then trustees i.e. their failure to undertake activities which furthered the charity’s stated objects for the public benefit. This breach of duty also constituted evidence of misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity by the charity’s then trustees.

The Commission also identified other aspects of the charity’s governing document which were not being complied with, such as the requirement for the trustees to hold regular meetings. This was attributed to an internal dispute which had resulted in a breakdown in the charity’s governance and an inability on the part of the trustees to act collectively and in the best interest of the charity.

As a consequence of the internal dispute between the trustees, during the July 2016 visit, the trustees demonstrated behaviour which was unacceptable and fell below the standard expected of them and resulted in the Commission being unable to adequately complete its enquires and resolve its regulatory concerns.

As a result of the Commission’s regulatory engagement with the charity, and in addition to the adverse media coverage, the Commission identified serious regulatory concerns in respect of:

• the ongoing dispute between the trustees
• whether the trustees of the charity had acted and continued to act as trustees of the charity
• the trustees failure to comply with the provisions of the charity’s governing document, which includes carrying out activities outside of its stated objects
• serious allegations and counter-allegations being made against the trustees and staff of the charity
• failure on the part of the trustees to file statutory returns to the Commission in accordance with charity law
• the financial management of the Charity by the trustees

Issues under investigation

On 1 September 2016, a statutory inquiry (‘the inquiry’) was opened into the charity, under section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

The scope of the inquiry was to examine a number of issues including:

• the administration, governance and management of the charity by the trustees – including its relationship with the Pakistani organisation
• the conduct of the trustees
• the financial controls and management of the charity
• whether or not the trustees have and continued to comply with and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities as trustees under charity law

The inquiry’s role and remit did not extend to any determination on whether the literature constituted a criminal offence under UK law.

The inquiry did conduct a review of the literature, which was obtained from the BBC (see ‘regulatory action taken’), which showed that offensive and disparaging remarks were made against the Ahmadi community. This included, but not limited to, calling Ahmadis - “the enemies of Islam”, “a cancer for the Muslim Ummah”, “wicked”, and “apostates”. It also included calling for the use of capital punishment against them (meaning death) if they failed, of their own volition, to “return to the Islamic fold” within 3 days. The literature also stated that “an organization (sic) called Aalami Majlise Tahaffuze Khatme Nubuwwat has been set up, specifically aiming to pursue Qadianis to whatever part of the world they go and expose them by ALLAH’s help…”

The inquiry could not determine whether the literature referred to by the BBC was ever available from the charity’s premises. However, the alleged presence of the literature gave rise to regulatory concerns as it called into question whether the trustees were discharging their legal duties in relation to the administration and management of the charity and whether they were carrying out activities that were in furtherance of the charity’s objects for the public benefit. There were also concerns about the reputation of the charity and how this was being managed by the trustees following the BBC news article and other adverse media coverage.

After opening the inquiry, on 23 December 2016 the inquiry exercised the Commission’s legal powers under section 84 of the Act by directing the trustees to take specified action within set timeframes – further information is provided under ‘regulatory action taken’.

Findings

The administration, governance and management of the charity by the trustees – including its relationship with the Pakistani organisation

The inquiry found that the charity was poorly managed and had little to no governance infrastructure in place or other policies or controls to assist the trustees to manage the charity. The trustees failed to demonstrate that they were acting in accordance with provisions in the charity’s governing document, including its stated charitable objects, and that the charity was otherwise being properly managed and administered.

Following the Commission’s regulatory engagement with the charity, three (then) trustees of the charity resigned from their positions. Following this the trustees informed the inquiry that the internal dispute had been resolved and that three new trustees had been appointed to enhance the effectives of the charity’s administration and governance.

The inquiry found that the charity had no framework or controls in place in relation to the distribution of literature and/or the hosting of speakers at the charity’s events. This was a regulatory concern as trustees must be vigilant to ensure that a charity’s premises, assets, staff, volunteers and other resources cannot be used for activities that may, or appear to, support inappropriate, illegal and/or offensive views, which glorify terrorism or incite racial violence. Should such views be associated with a charity this can have a damaging effect on its reputation and affect public trust and confidence in charities generally. In response to the adverse media reporting surrounding the anti-Ahmadi literature, the trustees installed CCTV within the mosque and removed the shelf the literature was alleged to have been left on.

The trustees informed the inquiry that the literature had not been produced by the charity (nor the Pakistani organisation) and was left at the premises without the charity’s permission. In response to questions put to the trustees regarding the Ahmadi community, the trustees stated that the charity condemns all forms of extremism, including the calling of Ahmadis to be killed. In addition, when asked about the views and opinions expressed in the literature the trustees stated that they are “absolutely clear” that “no violence will be supported against Ahmadiyyas, nor any other religion, in any shape or form whether in the UK or abroad.”

The trustees explained that a complaint had been submitted to Ofcom in response to the BBC’s investigation due to the accuracy and methodology of the reporting. However, the complaint was not upheld.

As set out above, in December 2016 the inquiry issued the trustees with an order, under section 84 of the Act, which directed the trustees to complete a series of actions within specific timescales. These actions related to improving the administration and governance of the charity.

The order also required the trustees to review the charity’s relationship with the Pakistani organisation, including whether it was in the best interests of the charity (including the charity’s reputation which is an asset of the charity) to retain an identical name to the Pakistani organisation, in light of open source material linking the Pakistani organisation to terrorism and extremism. The trustees were directed, if they were unable to make an independent decision free from conflict regarding the charity’s relationship with the Pakistani organisation, to appoint a separate individual or organisation to conduct the review. In this regard the trustees appointed a separate organisation to be the independent reviewer.

Following a review of the steps taken by the trustees to comply with the order, the inquiry found that the trustees had not fully complied with what was required of them. The inquiry considered that the trustees had fully complied with 4 of the required actions; whilst the remaining 2 actions were only partially complied with. Further information regarding these actions is provided under ‘regulatory action taken’.

As part of the inquiry, the trustees provided correspondence (dated 26 December 2016) which was sent to the Pakistani organisation requiring that the charity’s address be removed from their website. Follow-up correspondence was also provided by the organisation confirming that this had been actioned. The charity also submitted an application to change its name from Aalami Majlise Tahaffuze Khatme Nubuwwat to Khatme Nubuwwat Centre, which was accepted by the Commission on 5 April 2017.

Although these were positive steps taken by the charity’s trustees, the independent report commissioned by the trustees simply assessed that there was no relationship with the Pakistani organisation. This was misleading and contradicted by accounts and information provided to the Commission by some of the trustees.

Although the trustees asserted that there was no (current) relationship between the charity and the Pakistani organisation, the review failed to address any historic relationship that may have existed and whether or not this was appropriate. For example, the independent reviewer (who was acting on the scope set by the trustees) failed to take into consideration the 17 August 2014 letter, the situation with the charity’s Imam and the fact that the charity would seek advice from the Pakistani organisation for academic purposes, therefore demonstrating a relationship between the charity and the Pakistani organisation. The inquiry therefore questioned the adequacy and rigour of the assessment undertaken by the independent reviewer on behalf of the trustees regarding the relationship between the charity and the Pakistani organisation.

On 15 November 2018, the inquiry further met with the trustees who agreed that the review should have included the charity’s relationship with the Pakistani organisation in its entirety. The trustees reiterated that the Pakistani organisation is a separate entity and had no control over the charity’s administration. The trustees also stated that there had never been any financial relationship between the charity and the Pakistani organisation.

On 18 March 2017, as part of the inquiry, the trustees provided a copy of the charity’s speakers and literature policy, which was adopted in January 2017. Although the policy made appropriate reference to the fact that speakers should not be designated persons or belong to a proscribed organisation, the inquiry considered that the policy should include further steps to be taken to obtain a greater understanding of an individual/organisation and the views they represent.

It was the inquiry’s view that the policy had not been tailored to the charity and its activities and contained a number of inconsistencies and irrelevant provisions – equally, it offered limited practical guidance for staff who may be required to undertake due diligence on behalf of the charity – for example (i) what the purpose of the event/topic is and how it relates to/furthers the charity’s purposes, (ii) whether the individual/organisation is suitably qualified to speak/attend such an event or deliver such a topic, (iii) the conduct of the individual/organisation and what they may have said or done and whether this is in line with the charity’s ethos and values or whether it could undermine or bring the charity into disrepute.

As a result the trustees were advised that the policy was deficient and needed to be amended to reflect the charity’s current practices. An amended copy, taking into consideration the inquiry’s concerns, was provided on 11 September 2017. On 16 November 2018, the trustees provided evidence to the inquiry which showed that they were complying with their new due diligence policy in relation to hosting speaker events.

The trustees’ failure in respect of the above contributed to the trustees’ overall failure to fully comply with the order. The trustees’ failure to fully comply with an order or direction of the Commission is considered misconduct and/or mismanagement by the charity’s trustees. This provision was introduced to section 76(1)(a) of the Act, following the enactment of the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016.

The financial controls and management of the charity

The inquiry found that the charity did not have adequate financial controls or policies in place.

As part of the section 84 Order, issued on 18 March 2017, the trustees provided a copy of their financial controls policy which was adopted in January 2017. As with the speakers and literature policy (see above), this policy was not tailored to the charity and its activities and contained a number of inconsistencies and irrelevant provisions. The inquiry questioned if the trustees had read the policies prior to adopting them, as the inquiry was concerned that it appeared as though the policies had been adopted without review or consideration of them. The trustees confirmed that the policies were reviewed but clearly certain issues, as identified by the inquiry, had not been identified by the trustees at the time of adopting the policies.

The trustees were advised to immediately amend the policies to reflect the charity’s current practices and to submit an amended copy of the financial controls policy once it had been finalised. This was provided on 11 September 2017 in which a number of the identified anomalies had been removed.

The charity’s entry on the register shows that the charity’s accounts and annual returns (‘statutory returns’) were filed late between 2013 and 2017. For the Financial Year Ending (‘FYE’) 31 August 2013 the accounts were filed 31 days late, for FYE 31 August 2014 the annual return was filed 35 days late, for FYE 31 August 2015 the accounts were filed 77 days late and the annual return was filed 41 days late and for FYE 31 August 2017 the accounts and annual return were filed 109 days late. The trustees’ repeated failure to ensure the charity’s statutory accounts and annual returns were filed on time is a repeated pattern of behaviour and evidence of their misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity. Failure to file statutory returns on time is a breach of the trustees’ statutory obligations under sections 162, 163, 164 and 169 of the Act. It is also a criminal offence under section 173 of the Act.

In addition, by failing to ensure the charity’s statutory accounts and annual returns were filed on time for FYE 31 August 2017, the trustees breached the charity’s new governing document which came into effect on 2 February 2018. This is also considered misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees.

The inquiry acknowledges that the charity’s statutory accounts and annual return for FYE 31 August 2018 were filed on time on 1 February 2019.

The conduct of the trustees

The inquiry found that the conduct of the trustees fell below that which the Commission expects of trustees and that there had been misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity. This includes, but is not limited to, the behaviour of the trustees during the meeting with the Commission prior to the opening of the inquiry on 19 July 2016, failure to comply fully with an order of the Commission, failure to comply with provisions of the charity’s governing document and the failure to file statutory returns with the Commission on time.

Whether or not the trustees have complied with and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities as trustees under charity law

The inquiry found that the trustees did not fulfil their duties and responsibilities as trustees under charity law.

However, the inquiry notes that following the Commission’s regulatory engagement with the charity, changes and improvements were made by the trustees which include:

• resolving the internal dispute, including the holding of regular trustee meetings. The inquiry was provided with minutes of these meetings which showed that decisions were being deliberated and taken by the trustees
• implementing and adopting a new governing document, which includes altering the charity’s purposes
• changing the charity’s name
• writing to the organisation to have the charity’s details removed from the organisation’s website
• implementing and adopting new policies
• resignation and appointment of 3 new trustees, including the replacement of the charity’s two (then) Imams
• installing CCTV within the mosque
• removing the shelf where the leaflets were allegedly placed to prevent any literature being placed there

Conclusions

The Commission concluded that there was evidence of poor financial management and governance in the charity. There was evidence of misconduct and/or mismanagement in the charity’s administration by the trustees.

As set out above, since the Commission’s regulatory engagement with the charity, there have been improvements in the charity’s governance.

Regulatory action taken

The inquiry used its information gathering powers by issuing a direction under section 47 of the Act, on 13 September 2016, to obtain copies of the charity’s bank statements. These were used in connection with the inquiry’s scrutiny of the charity’s financial records.

The Commission also used its information gathering powers to obtain information, answers to questions and copy documents directly from the charity’s trustees and its staff by issuing a section 47 direction on 14 September 2016 and the BBC by issuing a direction under section 47 of the Act on 8 December 2016.

On 23 December 2016, the inquiry issued an order under section 84 of the Act directing the trustees to take specified action within set timeframes, which included:

• adhering to the provisions of the charity’s governing document and only undertaking activities which further the purpose for which the charity was established and if necessary the trustees must seek authority from the Commission to amend the charity’s objects
• carrying out a review the charity’s governing document to ascertain if it was fit for purpose
• demonstrate collective decision making and recording collective decisions
• adhere strictly to the governing document in holding the required amount of meetings and making and recording collective decisions
• draft, approve and implement a financial controls/management policy
• draft, approve, implement and provide a copy of policies relating to speakers, literature and due diligence
• conduct an independent review of the charity’s relationship with the organisation and provide a report to this effect
• draft, approve and implement employment policies; including contracts of employment for the charity’s staff and prospective staff member
• formally investigate matters relating to the conduct of one of the charity’s Imam’s and provide a detailed report to the inquiry setting out the scope of the investigation, its findings and conclusions and any action (if appropriate) taken

On 6 June 2017, as part of the inquiry, the Commission revisited the charity to establish the trustees’ compliance with the section 84 order. A further visit also took place at the charity’s premises on 15 November 2018.

On 2 February 2018, a scheme was made by the Commission under section 67 of the Act. The scheme had the effect of altering the purposes of the charity and introducing a new governing document.

On 19 February 2019, the inquiry exercised the Commission’s power to issue the charity’s trustees with an official warning under section 75A(1) of the Act.

The official warning was issued to the charity’s trustees in respect of their failure to ensure that they comply with charity law and the charity’s governing document in respect of the submission of the charity’s statutory accounts and annual returns. The official warning sets out that the trustees must take all reasonable steps to ensure that future statutory accounts and annual returns are submitted on time, in accordance with charity law and the charity’s governing document.

A copy of the official warning can be viewed on the charity’s entry on the register.

Issues for the wider sector

The purpose of this section is to highlight the broader issues arising from the inquiry of the issues raised publicly that may have relevance for other charities. It is not intended as further comment on the charity in addition to the findings and conclusions set out in the earlier sections of this report, but is included because of their wider applicability and interest to the charity sector.

Governance

Trustees are representatives of the charity they govern and of the wider charitable sector in which they operate. Trustees must be aware of and act in accordance with their legal duties and act with integrity. The conduct of trustees can be a key driver of public trust and confidence in charities more widely. When the conduct of trustee(s) falls below the standards expected there can be damage to the reputation of individual’s trustees, the charity and possibly the wider sector.

Principles of trustee decision making

Charity trustees are responsible for governing their charity and making decisions about how it should be run. Making decisions is one of the most important parts of the trustees’ role. Trustees can be confident about decision making if they understand their role and responsibilities, know how to make decisions effectively, are ready to be accountable to people with an interest in their charity, and follow the 7 principles that the courts have developed for reviewing decisions made by trustees.

Trustees must:

• act within their powers
• act in good faith and only in the best interests of the charity
• make sure they are sufficiently informed
• take account of all relevant factors
• ignore any irrelevant factors
• manage conflicts of interest
• make decisions that are within the range of decisions that a reasonable trustee body could make

It is important that charity trustees apply these 7 principles when making significant or strategic decisions, such as those affecting the charity’s beneficiaries, assets or future direction. Trustees’ must be able to show that they have followed these principles and keep adequate records to evidence that their decisions have been properly made, particularly for important or controversial decisions.

Further information can be found in the Commission’s guidance:

The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do (CC3)

It’s your decision: charity trustees and decision making (CC27)

Trustees jointly and equally responsible

Trustees are jointly and equally responsible for the management of their charity. To be effective and to meet their statutory duties as charity trustees they must contribute to the management of the charity and ensure that it is managed in accordance with its governing document and general law. They should be able to devote sufficient time to enable them to play a full role. A charity is entitled to the independent and objective judgment of each of its trustees, acting in the best interests of the charity.

Charity accounting requirements

Trustees of charities with an income of over £25,000 are under a legal duty as charity trustees to submit annual returns, annual reports and accounting documents to the Commission as the regulator of charities. Even if the charity’s annual income is not greater than £25,000 trustees are under a legal duty to prepare annual accounts and reports and should be able to provide these on request. All charities with an income over £10,000 must submit an annual return.

Failure to submit accounts and accompanying documents to the Commission is a criminal offence under section 173 of the Act. The Commission also regards this as misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of a charity.

Financial Controls

Trustees must ensure that their charity has adequate financial controls in place, It is important that the financial activities of charities are properly recorded, and their financial governance is transparent. Charities are accountable to their donors, beneficiaries and the public. Donors to charity are entitled to have confidence that their money is going to legitimate causes and reaches the places that it is intended to, this is key to ensuring public trust and confidence in charities.

The Commission has produced guidance to assist trustees in implementing robust internal financial controls that are appropriate to their charity. Internal Financial Controls for Charities (CC8) is available on the Commission’s website. There is also a self-checklist for trustees which has been produced to enable trustees to evaluate their charity’s performance against the legal requirements and good practice recommendations set out in the guidance.

Risk management and active monitoring

To be effective and to meet their statutory duties as charity trustees they must contribute to the management of the charity and ensure that it is managed in accordance with its governing document and general law. All charities should have appropriately tailored internal policy documents which address the specific risks associated with the kind of activities that are undertaken.

Trustees should ensure that these policies are implemented and reviewed at appropriate junctures. A failure to implement internal policy documents could be evidence of misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity and can put assets, beneficiaries and a charity’s reputation at risk.