Did Wikipedia remove the word "hostage" from the Shakeel Begg article?

Yes. "hostage" appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 3. We saved the article's opening paragraph at 3 moments between 2020 and 2025, and the counts come from those saved copies.

When did the Shakeel Begg article stop using the word "hostage"?

The word appeared 1 times in the opening at its peak in 2020. It is absent from today's opening, the part search engines quote and AI systems train on, checked against the live article on 2026-08-02.

How can I verify what Wikipedia's Shakeel Begg article used to say?

Each snapshot on this page links the Wikipedia revision it came from, so you can open their own history and compare. We also keep our own copy of the text, which stays readable if the article changes again.

What did Wikipedia remove from the Shakeel Begg article?

The opening as it read in 2020

Shakeel Begg is a prominent British Muslim , notable for losing a court case in which he challenged the BBC's description of him as an extremist. He has been imam of the Lewisham Islamic Centre in London since 1998. He has played a role in the British Muslim community, has been invited to speak at mosques and Islamic events, and has been a spokesman for the Muslim community at events and in press releases. Begg was instrumental in attempting to secure the release by ISIS of British hostage Alan Henning .¹ He lost a court case on 28 October 2016 in which he sued the BBC for libel for calling him an extremist. The ruling was notable for the level of the court, the prominence of the defendant, the fact that a representative of the British Muslim community was the plaintiff and its probable precedence for future cases.²

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 940920189.

The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Shakeel Begg is a prominent British Muslim , notable for losing a court case in which he challenged the BBC 's description of him as an extremist. He has been imam of the Lewisham Islamic Centre in London since 1998. He has played a role in the British Muslim community, has been invited to speak at mosques and Islamic events, and has been a spokesman for the Muslim community at events and in press releases. He lost a court case on 28 October 2016 in which he sued the BBC for libel for calling him an extremist. The ruling was notable for the level of the court, the prominence of the defendant, the fact that a representative of the British Muslim community was the plaintiff and its probable precedence for future cases.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178718598.

The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Prominent British Muslim who lost a significant libel case against the BBC Shakeel Begg is a prominent British Muslim , notable for losing a court case in which he challenged the BBC 's description of him as an extremist. He has been imam of the Lewisham Islamic Centre in London since 1998. He has played a role in the British Muslim community, has been invited to speak at mosques and Islamic events, and has been a spokesman for the Muslim community at events and in press releases. He lost a court case on 28 October 2016 in which he sued the BBC for libel for calling him an extremist.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1283561081. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.