We would like to make clear that the bookshop situated near the East London Mosque is a commercial tenant of the Mosque and is situated on different premises. The chairman of the Mosque, Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, has no responsibility for or control over the material that is being sold there. We apologise to Dr Bari for any distress caused.
East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre

It is surprising that so little is known about so much of the literature circulating in British mosques. There have been allegations about extremist material, often focused on imams who do not speak English. So the first academic survey of such literature makes intriguing reading. It finds inflammatory writings in some of the most respected mosques, about half of them in English. These conclusions demand a shift in the way that this problem is perceived.

Muslim researchers working for the think-tank Policy Exchange have visited almost 100 mosques and other sites, and collected books and pamphlets. They found that about a quarter of these sites house either separatist or extremist material. That the problem is confined to a minority may reflect the concerted attempts by many mosques and seminaries to root out inflammatory readings: they should be congratulated. Yet that quarter includes some of the most respected and mainstream Muslim inistitutions in Britain, such as the Regent's Park mosque and the East London mosque.

Religious texts of almost all faiths include material that is both offensive and troubling. The question is how often such material is cited, and to what end. Few Church of England congregations are nowadays treated to the more brutal passages of the Old Testament. But the authors of this report say that the hate literature they have uncovered is of a wholly different order from that which one would expect to find in mainstream religious institutions of other faiths. That is deeply worrying.

Some of the literature emphasises the need to keep separate from the kuffar (infidels). Some is blatant hate material. “You will not find any confusion in which the Jews did not play a role,” says a text found at the King Fahad Academy in West London. “Their attempt at trying to immerse nations in vice and the spread of fornication.” Other writings denigrate Muslims as well as non-believers. The Islamic Verdicts, found at the East London, London Central and Regent's Park mosques, states that “whoever changes his religion, kill him”. Nor are these unpleasant thoughts buried away. There can be no doubt about the message of Women Who Deserve to Go to Hell, found in both East London and High

Wycombe. It states: “In the beginning of the 20th century, a movement for the freedom of women was launched with the basic objective of driving women towards aberrant ways.”

This torrent of medieval bile is abhorrent.

Britain is a tolerant society of many religions, but to incite religious conflict and misogyny is intolerable. Organisations seeking to represent the spread of Muslim opinion, including the Muslim Council of Britain, must not remain silent on this hatred in their supposedly moderate midst.

The bulk of the material featured in this report seems to be connected with Saudi Arabia: either published and distributed by Saudi institutions, or found in Saudi-funded mosques, or written by members of the Wahhabite religious establishment. King Abdullah's state visit to London has got off to a shaky start after his claims that the British ignored Saudi information about terrorists, and the bizarre boycott by publicity-seeking Liberal Democrats. But he has been a friend to Britain, and is in a battle with Islamist extremism. The Prime Minister must ask him to find a way to halt the export and funding of extremist material that has no place in British society.