A local mosque has distanced itself from a music video that was shot at its premises.

The Habibia Soofie Masjid in Athlone says no permission had been sought or given for this filming.

In the 51 second video doing the rounds on social media artist Riyadh Roberts, aka “YoungstaCPT” is seen rapping in front of the place of worship.

Habibia Mosque says the act of posing as an Imam and rapping in front of a masjid, and at the same time, distorting the praise of Allah, undermines its sanctity and is a direct insult to the House of Allah and to the Islamic faith.

The mosque board of trustees is set to pursue legal measures to have the video removed from social media and to prevent the full music video from being released.