The British government deemed his Facebook post "incompatible with the government's advisory role".
On Saturday, he dismissed Qari Asim, a Muslim official, from his duties at the head of an official working group, in the midst of a controversy over the film "La Dame du Paradis" ("The Lady of Heaven").
Deprogrammed by the Cineworld cinema chain, this feature film, released in theaters in early June, is the first to address the character of Fatima Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and wife of Ali, the first Shiite imam.
It had generated, in front of the rooms of the group, many demonstrations of Muslims judging the work "blasphemous".
Incitement to religious hatred
Qari Asim, an imam and lawyer in Leeds, in the north of England, had himself posted a comment on Facebook on Monday accusing the film of "deeply hurting Muslims" and published the coordinates of a demonstration in Leeds planned for the same evening.
Alerted, the British authorities put an end by mail and "with immediate effect" to his functions, considering that the campaign against the film "had led to demonstrations inciting religious hatred".
“This involvement in a campaign limiting freedom of expression is incompatible with the government's advisory role”, justified the authorities, for whom the campaign against the film also encouraged animosity between Shiite and Sunni communities.
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