THE trustee convicted of an assault at his mosque is at the centre of a tug of war with one side claiming he is the chairman and the other wishing to banish him.

Abdul Sahid, 54, of Northfield Street, Worcester, was found guilty of assaulting Saiful Islam at a meeting at Worcester Central Mosque on Lowesmoor in September.

Sahid was fined £311, ordered to pay £100 compensation, a victim surcharge of £34 and £500 court costs at Kidderminster Magistrates Court on June 1.

After the case, Saiful Islam said he had felt unable to return to a place of worship that he had helped to launch, fund and run since the assault in September, 2020.

READ MORE: "Fear" stops man going to Worcester mosque after assault by trustee

Ruhal Hussain, who was introduced as chairman by two people including trustee Ali Ahmed, then stated Sahid would be banned “if all the trustees agree”.

But Worcester News was then contacted by Nazrul Islam who claims to have been acting general secretary “for a few years” and said Sahid has been acting chairman “for months”.

Nazrul Islam said the executive committee of Worcester Islamic Association had met on Friday (June 11) and "approved Abdul Sahid to remain as a chairman and trustee”.

He added that Sahid is “an honest, reliable, professional man who takes matters very seriously in terms of running our organisation throughout difficult times”.

Worcester News: CONVICTED: Abdul Sahid

READ MORE: Worcester mosque set to ban trustee over assault conviction

“He is the pillar of our community, he gets on well with all sections of the community,” he said.

Nazrul Islam, who is not one of the mosque’s six trustees, declined to comment on Sahid's conviction but confirmed both he and Mr Hussain had been present at a meeting open to all members on the day of the assault in September 2020.

When the prospect of banning Sahid was put to him, Nazrul Islam said “there is no way they can ban him”, that he had “looked at the guidelines” and that Sahid could still be a trustee.

Further confusion centres around a Facebook post by Nazrul Islam which lauds Sahid as chairman on June 2 – the day after his conviction – with 19 messages offering congratulations in the comments.

Mr Hussain rejected the validity of Sahid’s position but did not wish to comment further before speaking with trustees.

Sahid confirmed: “I am acting chairman and a trustee, that is all I can say.”

Asked whether there had been a meeting regarding his membership, Mr Sahid replied: “We have had no meeting like that.”

Asked if there would be such a meeting, Sahid said: “I do not know about that.” He declined to comment on his conviction.