A Canadian Islamic nonprofit organization, i3 Institute, has invited Mohammed Hijab, a controversial U.K.-based Islamist preacher and activist, to speak at its second “Reviving Roots” conference, titled “Reclaiming the Muslim Identity in a Secular World.” The conference is slated to be held in Burlington, roughly 35 miles from Toronto, in late February. Hijab spoke alongside twelve other speakers at a previous i3 conference that took place in Mississauga in 2023.
We don’t care about death, we love death.
A British citizen of Egyptian origin, Hijab is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Birmingham and has multiple degrees in Islamic studies, history, politics, and applied theology. Arguably the most influential advocate of radical Islam on social media, Hijab boasts a combined following of nearly 2.6 million across YouTube, Instagram, and X (formerly known as Twitter).
“Pedophilia is Relative”
Sexual activity appears to be a dominant theme in several of Hijab’s most polemic and viral discussions. He has argued that “pedophilia is relative” and condoned having sex with minors with “huge hips and huge breasts and a huge body.” A video posted on X shows him claiming that according to the Quran, it is “halal” (Arabic for “lawful or permissible under Islamic law”) to have sexual relations with a five-year-old.
Hijab played down the decades-long involvement of Pakistani Muslim men in child rape gangs in the U.K., calling it the “mother of all distractions” and accusing Jews and white people of being the biggest traffickers, groomers, and abusers. He claimed that Muslims were being scapegoated to protect the “political elites” involved in the child porn industry.
Incited Unrest in England
Hijab also has a long history of making antisemitic, pro-terror, anti-LGBT, and anti-Hindu remarks.
In a 2021 rally in central London, Hijab delivered an aggressive speech to dozens of pro-Palestine and Islamist activists, threatening Jews and Israel and declaring “We don’t care about death, we love death,” echoing the eerie words of deceased al-Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden in the wake of the 9/11 attacks: “We love death as you love life.”
In a video montage posted on X, Hijab seemingly justifies fighting Jews and Christians “until they give the jizya (tax)” if they do not convert to Islam. The jizya was imposed on non-Muslims (dhimmis) living in Islamic states during the early Middle Ages in exchange for protection. In his 2010 book, The Third Choice: Islam, Dhimmitude and Freedom, Australian scholar Mark Durie reports that, “The intended result of the jizya ritual is for the dhimmi to lose all sense of his own personhood. In return for this loss, the dhimmi was supposed to feel humility and gratitude towards his Muslim masters.”
The same video shows him referring to Islam as a “warrior religion” that is about expansion and conquest, and therefore “there is no situation or conceivability of peace being made between Muslims and non-Muslims.”
Support for IslamNet
Another video on Hijab’s YouTube channel, titled “A Message to the Jews,” shows him ostensibly glorifying terrorism, asserting that “the concept of martyrdom” is an advantage. The video also features him eliciting funds for IslamNet, a Norway-based Islamist organization whose followers are known to have radicalized and traveled to Syria to join ISIS.
Founded in 2008, IslamNet is inspired by radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who was banned from entering Canada and the United Kingdom on hate speech grounds. Naik fled India following a terrorist attack on a café in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2016, which killed 22 people. He has since been living in Malaysia and is wanted by the Indian government on charges of terrorism, money laundering, and spreading hate.
Role in 2022 Leicester Riots
In a YouTube Shorts video, Hijab derisively refers to the LGBT community as an “advantage” to Muslims. He goes on to call the minority group “a parasite to the Western civilization,” as it aids in the decline and destruction of Western civilization from within, therefore making it “less likely [for Western civilization] to destroy” Muslims.
Alongside fellow British Islamists Ali Dawah and Majid Freeman, Hijab played a key role in inciting violence and hatred between Muslims and Hindus during the 2022 Leicester riots in the U.K. He emboldened Muslims to use violence against “Hindu fascism” and mocked the major Hindu tenet of reincarnation, prompting shouts of “Takbir Allahu Akbar (Arabic for “God is the greatest”)” – a historical war cry that Islamist extremists often use during times of struggle or victory to signify the belief that God is superior to everything else. Hijab is also seen leading a masked mob of Islamists in a photo he posted on his Instagram profile, captioned “Muslim patrol in Leicester.”
Soon after news of Hijab coming to Canada to attend the conference broke out on X, several Canadian Jewish organizations called for the event to be canceled.
In an emailed response to Focus on Western Islamism (FWI), Austin Parcels, manager of research and advocacy at B’nai Brith Canada, condemned the Reviving Roots Conference 2025 for hosting Mohammed Hijab, stating he has a “history of hate speech, incitement to violence, and extremist rhetoric” that threatens minority communities. Parcels accused Hijab of glorifying terrorism, spreading antisemitic rhetoric, dehumanizing Hindus, vilifying LGBTQ+ individuals, and justifying relationships between adult men and underage girls. He warned that “his presence emboldens radical elements, endangers vulnerable communities, and spreads the kind of extremism that has led to real-world violence.”
“B’nai Brith Canada strongly condemns the decision to host Hijab and urges both the venue and Canadian authorities to take decisive action to prevent his influence from taking root in Canada,” Parcles wrote.
i3 Institute Shares Hijab’s Agenda
Hijab’s Canadian hosts, i3 Institute, also appear to share several of his controversial views, particularly those relating to Jews, Israel, and the West.
In a group discussion hosted by i3 Institute in which Sheikh Usta, the organization’s founder, is an active participant, Hijab claims Israel has a “race-based apartheid system.” Another participant, Imam Tom Facchine, refers to Israel as “America’s last colonial outpost in the Middle East.” Usta himself perpetuates the debunked claim that Israel was responsible for bombing al-Ahli hospital in Gaza in October 2023, despite U.S. intelligence confirming it was caused by an errant rocket launched by Palestinian terrorists.
Speaking on i3 Institute’s in-house podcast titled “How Trump Will Change the Muslim World Forever,” Usta pushes the false claim that the Middle East has been “occupied for the last 100 years” by the West because the region is “rich.” He refers to non-Muslims as “kuffars” (a derogatory Arabic term for “unbelievers”, meaning “infidels”)” and denigrates secular Muslims who are U.S. citizens for calling themselves “American Muslims,” suggesting that they should simply identify as “Muslims.” Usta also encourages the Ummah (Arabic for “Muslim community”) to unite to become a powerful voting bloc in politics and other social spheres of influence rather than promoting “small nationalistic, tribal interests.” The i3 Institute did not respond to FWI queries about its decision to host Hijab.
Local Mayor Objects to Conference
Responding to an email inquiry from FWI, the Office of Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward asserted that the city “do(es) not condone or support hate speech or any rhetoric that promotes division, hate, or violence, whether religious, racial, gender-based or otherwise at this or any other event taking place in the city.”
“These types of statements and rhetoric are not welcome in Burlington,” she said.
Mayor Ward clarified that neither her office nor the city of Burlington was involved in booking the event. She added that her office was in contact with local law enforcement authorities regarding the matter and had also shared her concerns with the Burlington Convention Centre, the venue of the controversial conference.
Khilafa Conference Moved to Internet
This is the second time in two months that an Islamic event has come onto the radar of civil society activists in Canada. In January, Hizb ut-Tahrir, a notorious international pan-Salafist group, was forced to cancel its annual Khilafah conference following a wave of public condemnation and fearing being listed as a terrorist entity in Canada.
However, according to the Global Imams Council, the group is now planning to hold the conference virtually on February 9, 2025. The organization, which promotes an understanding of the “Abrahamic ethos as vital to establishing freedom, justice, and peace,” has appealed to the Canadian government to make Hizb ut-Tahrir’s terror designation “an immediate priority.”
It remains to be seen if Canadian authorities will heed the warnings of moderate Muslims to deal with Islamist extremists who pose a clear and present threat when it comes to radicalizing and recruiting vulnerable Muslim youth, especially at a time when Canada is challenged by antisemitism and the threat of Islamist extremism.
