In October 2017 the Belgian minister of asylum and migration Theo Francken revoked the residence permit of the Egyptian-trained imam of the mosque , Abdelhadi Sewif . Francken cited his salafist ideology , his conservative stance and the imam being a danger to Belgian society and national security as reasons for the revocation . Sewif denied any connection with extremism and appealed to the country ’s highest migration authority , but Belgium ’s deputy premier , Jan Jambon , has shot down his chance of a successful appeal . A public commission investigating the 2016 Brussels bombings found that 9 participants of courses at the mosque had joined the ranks of foreign fighters of radical groups in the Middle East . Due to these findings , the commission recommended in October 2017 that Saudi control of the mosque be annulled . The commission also stated that the salafi and wahhabist doctrine of the mosque were antithetical to a liberal Islam compatible with European society
2016 Brussels bombings
2016 Brussels bombings
Great Mosque of Brussels