A Muslim cleric who previously called for a death sentence for gay people has left Australia following a public outcry at his entry into the country for a speaking tour.
British-born Farrokh Sekaleshfar boarded a flight at Sydney Airport on Tuesday night after it emerged his visa was under review, the ABC reported.
His Sydney tour came under fire in the wake of the Orlando massacre at gay nightclub Pulse after a video emerged of the Muslim leader preaching death as a compassionate sentence for homosexuals.
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Mr Sekaleshfar said he made the ‘voluntary decision’ to leave Australia and his visa, which had been under review by the immigration department, had not been cancelled.
‘All I want to say, because I know this got caught up in the political area and everything, that never have I incited hatred or violence against human beings,’ he told the ABC at Sydney Airport.
The cleric had been slated to give a talk at the Imam Husian Islamic Centre in Earlwood, in Sydney’s south-west, but he said they asked him to leave.
‘It is a decision that IHIC thought it was in my best interests and for the best interests of the community and I didn’t want to go against the committee’s decision,’ Mr Sekaleshfar said.
Mr Sekaleshfar told the ABC he condemned the Orlando attack, where 49 people were killed and more than 50 others injured by a gunman.
He said the death penalty should only apply in Islamic countries when homosexual sex was committed in public view.
In a 2013 YouTube video titled ‘Islam and Homosexuality’, the cleric delivered a talk at the University of Michigan where he said if homosexuals died they would sin less.
‘Out of compassion let’s get rid of them now, because he’s contaminating society… his eternal life will be saved to some degree rather than if we were to let him continue with his ways,’ he said in the video.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier said he had zero tolerance for hate preachers wanting to come to Australia.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the man was not welcome in Australia with his abhorrent views.
‘I don’t know how on earth that fellow got a visa,’ he told reporters in Perth.
Mr Sekaleshfar also delivered a speech titled ‘How To Deal With The Phenomenon Of Homosexuality’ to the Husseini Islamic Center in Orlando earlier this year.
Two months later, Omar Mateen, 29, killed 49 people and wounded 53 by opening fire on a LGBT club in the same city.
The shooter’s father has suggested he was motivated by homophobia.
Seddique Mateen said his son was enraged after seeing two men kissing in front of his wife and son during a visit to Miami a couple of months ago.
Speaking to NBC, Mr Mateen condemned his son’s shooting but shocked many as he said: ‘God himself will punish those involved in homosexuality. This [killing] is not for the servants.’
It is not clear whether Port St Lucie-based Mateen attended Mr Sekaleshfar’s event in Orlando.
Mr Sekaleshfar has not been linked to the Pulse nightclub massacre.
Previous versions of Mr Sekaleshfar’s speech have been posted online, showing him saying gay people should die.
Earlier this week, Mr Sekaleshfar posted a statement on his Facebook page offering his ‘sincere condolences to the friends and families of those massacred’.
‘The killing of innocent life is never justified by religion,’ he said.
‘The perpetrator of this shooting has directly violated this holy commandment and displayed a complete disregard for the sanctity of human life and divine values.’
The sheikh went on to address claims he has been the subject of abuse since the shooting, and that he has received death threats by people attempting to link his sermon with the shooter’s motives.
‘Such a connection is impossible, because had the shooter listened to my lecture, he would have clearly heard me condemn hate and violence multiple times and endorse compassion towards all humankind,’ the statement read.
‘I invite my friends to help in supporting the humanitarian needs of the families of the victims of the shooting during such a period and share with their grief.
‘This is an Islamic value in all cases where people are being oppressed – whoever they are.’
Mr Sekaleshfar arrived in Sydney on June 7 and was scheduled to speak at the Imam Husain Islamic Centre at Earlwood, according to the centre’s website.
‘His Eminence Sheikh Dr Farrokh Sekaleshfar. Speaking the entire month of the topic of: Stories of the Quran and testaments of the Mystics,’ it read.
The centre did not return a request for comment.
Source: Daily Mail
