The Italian government has authorized the deportation of an Islamic extremist imam on the grounds of national security as the country continues to counter extremism and radicalization within its borders.
Zulfiqar Khan, the imam of a mosque in Bologna, was informed of his expulsion from Italy this week, following an order signed by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. He had been living in the country since 1995 having arrived from Pakistan and held a residence permit.
A police statement said Khan had “manifested a fundamentalist vision of the concept of jihad, had contacts with figures of ultra-radical Islam,” and had glorified the “martyrdom” of Hamas terrorists in the attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7 last year.
Zulfiqar Khan has engaged in a litany of hate speech that had ramped up significantly in the past year, including attacks on the United States, Israel and the Jewish community, and homosexuals, and is accused of delivering pro-Hamas propaganda through his sermons on a weekly basis.
Several preventative steps had been taken to address Khan’s reach prior to the deportation order, including the blocking in July of Khan’s personal and professional Facebook profiles to internet users in Italy, however, his messages were still accessible to those outside the country and to residents using a VPN.
In sermons over the past year, Khan claimed that “the day America was born, unbelief was also born, the idea of murder, of genocide was also born, the father of falsehood called Semitism was born.”
He has referred to Hamas terrorists as warriors rising up against the “Zionist cowards” and praised the “Hamas mujahideen warriors” who taught Israeli and American terrorists a lesson on Oct. 7.
In a letter published in July in response to complaints by lawmakers, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said of Khan: “He has often expressed intransigent positions regarding issues on the West, on homosexuality, on the role of women and, after the attacks of 7 October, also on the Palestinian people and the Israeli Government, demonstrating appreciation for the actions carried out by Hamas.”
He has now officially been expelled from Italy following a thorough security assessment, which concluded that his continued presence posed a risk to public safety.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who had publicly called for Khan to be “expelled immediately” back in June, hailed the decision taken by the Italian interior ministry to expel the hate preacher.
“We finally sent him home,” Salvini wrote on social media.
Khan’s lawyer, Francesco Murru, criticized the move, calling it a return to a “police state” and accusing authorities of prosecuting his client for “alleged crimes of opinion.”
It is unclear where the 54-year-old preacher will now turn, whether he will return to his homeland of Pakistan, attempt to fight the deportation order in the courts, or seek residence elsewhere in Europe.
