Qari Asim, 44, was removed from his role as an Islamophobia consultant after protests against the film The Lady of Heaven, reports BBC.

Supporting the campaign "to limit free expression" precluded him from continuing, the government was quoted as saying by BBC.

Asim, however, said he did not attend any of the protests or organized them.

In his response to the decision, published on Twitter, he said the government's contention that he had acted to undermine democratic values was "inaccurate", the British media reported.

Cinema chain Cineworld last week cancelled all UK screenings of the film after protests outside a number of cinemas.

Asim, imam of the Makkah Masjid mosque in Leeds, was told his appointment as deputy chair of the government's Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group had to end in a letter from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, reports BBC.

It said: "Your recent support for a campaign to limit free expression - a campaign which has itself encouraged communal tensions - means it is no longer appropriate for you to continue your work with the government in roles designed to promote community harmony."

Not only in the UK, the movie has also been banned in Morocco after it was condemned by the country's religious council.

There have been protests against the film in the UK. Egypt, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq have also denounced it, reports BBC.

What is the film dealing with?

The Lady of Heaven is a 2021 British epic historical drama film written by the Twelver Shia cleric Yasser Al-Habib, the spiritual leader of The Mahdi Servants Union and founder of Fadak TV.

The movie is directed by Eli King.

Produced by Enlightened Kingdom, the film bills itself as the first movie on the life of the historical figure Fatimah during and after the era of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Lady Fatima is the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad.

It has been shown as the first movie to deal with the life of Lady Fatima.

It is written from a Shia perspective of Fatimah's story, which differs substantially from that of the Sunni Muslim majority, reads a page dedicated to the movie on Wikipedia.

Opinions:

Malik Shlibak, The Lady Of Heaven's executive producer, told Sky News that the film tells the story of Lady Fatimah's "life, her struggles, the journey she went through".

He continued: "We believe she is the best figure in history for us today to learn from, to know how to tackle things such as extremism, radicalism and corruption. And we felt it's important to share this story with the world."

He said the issue of the subject matter being provocative "depends on who you ask", and added: "Any religious topic you tackle is going to have disagreements amongst different groups."

"We're not presenting an over-romanticised version of history. We spent a year in pre-production making sure the history is accurate."

However, Shahid Ali, a cleric who organised a protest against the film in Bradford, said the film presents a "false narrative of the early caliphs of Islam… of them being terrorists".

He told Sky News: "These figures are revered throughout the whole Muslim world by the vast majority of 2 billion Muslims across the globe.

"If they are portrayed in this divisive and inflammatory and inciting movie, as terrorists, then Muslims who naturally love and revere these figures, who are founding figures of our religion, this creates an impression in the viewer - especially those who have little or very minimal knowledge of Islam - that the central figures of Islam are indeed terrorists, and all Muslims who revere them and honour them are similar.

"So this is an extremely dangerous and a sectarian narrative, which is very extreme."

In a letter sent to Cineworld and shared on its social media sites, the Bolton Council Of Mosques described the film as "blasphemous" and said it had caused "much distress to Muslims across the globe", reports Sky News.

The letter continued: "It is underpinned with a sectarian ideology and is blasphemous in nature to the Muslim community.

"It grossly disrespects the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in many ways and is deeply disturbing to every Muslim."

Image credit: Qari Asim Instagram page/Wikimedia Commons