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He said the issue raised questions about sovereignty, the role of foreign funding in aiding those intent on breaching liberal democratic values, and whether mechanisms were needed to ensure that Western freedoms were not exploited to advance illiberal ideas.

Another issue is that, despite their willingness to finance Imam Hindy’s centre in Canada, neither Saudi Arabia nor Qatar allows religions other than Islam to be preached in their own countries.

“This has always been the argument against: If we are going to let charities accept outside money, it should only come from countries that would allow us to do likewise, basically on the principle of reciprocity.”

Imam Hindy said his centre was “not so dependent on foreign revenues.” He said it was simply going through an expansion phase that cost more than he was able to raise in Canada.

“We have purchased a building in Mississauga for $1.7-million and renovated by about $150K. We expanded our building in Scarborough so far by $1.5-million. We have now a full time elementary and secondary School up to Grade 12.

“We have built an additional 10 classrooms, science lab, computer lab and building a gym with the most updated equipments for the school and local community. Also we have built a travel centre, washing facility for the deceased and in the process of building a new commercial kitchen to serve a banquet hall use at the gym.”

Tahir Gora, secretary general of the Muslim Canadian Congress, said he was not impressed when he attended Imam Hindy’s recent sermon. He said the imam had made “humiliating remarks” about homosexuals, and had tried to make the case that it didn’t matter if Canada accepted homosexuals because Islam did not.