The US hate cleric claimed it is lawful to have sex with female slaves in shocking comments that could be seen to encourage grooming gangs.
Ex-Coronation Street star Qasim Akhtar has sparked outrage after publicly backing a UK-banned pro-rape preacher.
The actor, best known for his role as Zeedan Nazir, stunned fans by associating with extremist Islamic cleric Uthman ibn Farooq, a US-based preacher whose shocking comments condoning sex with female slaves have been widely condemned as encouraging grooming gangs. Farooq was officially banned from entering the UK in May due to his extremist views.
Akhtar met the cleric in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, posing for photos while praising Farooq’s “beautiful reminders.” The move has left fans and colleagues in disbelief. One source said: “Qasim was a much-loved soap star. It’s shocking to see him with such a vile extremist.”
Born in Manchester, Akhtar initially rose to fame playing Chesney Khan in Channel 4’s Shameless before joining Coronation Street in 2014. He left the soap in 2018 but returned for a stint from September 2021 to February 2023.
Following his time on Coronation Street, Akhtar moved to Pakistan, publicly addressed his “degenerate” past, and underwent firearms training — a period that marked a stark departure from his television persona.
San Diego-based cleric Uthman ibn Farooq had planned a speaking tour across London, Manchester, and Birmingham titled “Waking the Dead — Returning from the Darkness”.
However, then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper revoked his permission to enter the UK. A Home Office spokesperson stated: “We will ensure that all available measures are used to refuse entry to those intending to sow hatred and division in our communities.”
In a controversial YouTube video, Farooq was asked why it was considered lawful, rather than adultery, to have “intimacy” with a slave, while intimacy with a non-slave was deemed adulterous. He replied: “Allah made it that those people taken under a war as captives, who you’re now going to support and keep in your house and spend money on and treat well, that they are like a wife. This is somebody who you can have those relationships with.”
The comments drew widespread condemnation. Fiyaz Mughal, founder of Faith Matters and Tell Mama, which supports victims of anti-Muslim hate, described Farooq’s statements as “abhorrent.”