A police complaint will be filed against a religious fatwa issued this week on social media by controversial imam Adil Charkaoui regarding the dismantling of the pro-Palestinian camp at McGill, according to information obtained by our Investigation Bureau.
“Fatwa on the dismantling of the pro-Palestinian camp at McGill University […] “McGill’s administration hired a private security service to forcibly expel its own students,” Charkaoui wrote, including in a message on the X platform on Thursday.
“I remind Muslims who work as security guards that it is haram to participate in the dismantling of anti-genocide camps,” he continued.
Message published in X by Adil Charkaoui, where he pronounces a fatwa on the dismantling of the pro-Palestinian camp at McGill University. Photo credit: screenshot from Adil Charkaoui’s X account.
taken from X
According to a well-informed source, a complaint to the Montreal police is about to be filed in connection with this message, which may be open to interpretation due to the use of the word fatwaThe SPVM hate crimes unit should be responsible for handling the complaint.
According to Larousse, a fatwa is, in the Islamic religion, a “legal consultation given by a religious authority regarding a doubtful case or a new question”. It can also be a “decision or decree resulting from it”.
Basement Fatwa
“This is what the intelligence agencies call a basement fatwa. He says […] it in the air to reach out to marginalized elements who will feel legitimized [de réagir]”, explained this source. Experts have already analyzed these remarks made by Charkaoui, according to this same source.
Charkaoui’s tweet itself followed a message from the SPHR McGill group published the day before, where the name of the security firm Sirco which carried out the dismantling was mentioned, along with those of the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).
It encouraged people to support the students present on the site to defend the camp.
Message from SPHR McGill, in relation to the dismantling of the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill. The name of the firm Sirco is mentioned. Photo credit: screenshot from the SPHR McGill account.
taken from X
The dismantling of the McGill encampment took place in a relatively peaceful context on Wednesday, but a demonstration in protest of the dismantling degenerated Thursday evening.
This is not Adil Charkaoui’s first controversial statement. Last fall, he declared at a demonstration: “O God, take care of the Zionist aggressors. Take care of the enemies of Gaza. Count them one by one and kill them in the long term and do not exclude any of them.” The speech in Arabic was available on his TikTok account.
Adil Charkaoui in front of a crowd, during a pro-Palestine demonstration in Montreal. Photo credit: screenshot from Adil Charkaoui’s X account.
screenshot taken from X
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had opened an investigation, but the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DCPP) ultimately decided not to lay charges.
Contacted on Friday, Adil Charkaoui did not respond to our messages.