Now, Mida magazine translated the entire interview that the sheikh gave that caused this uproar. Here are some excerpts:
Honorable Sheikh, could you tell us a little about your past and yourself? How do you see your place in the Kingdom of Jordan?
I was born and raised in the city of Amman in 1952. After I finished high school I continued on to Islamic Sharia studies at the College for Islamic studies in Amman. During my studies I worked in the Jordanian post office in a number of positions, until I resigned from my official position there in 1997. Since then I have dedicated myself to the book of God may He be praised (the Koran), and I expanded my knowledge of the Islamic religion and the life of the Islamic Ummah.
God may he be praised and blessed rewarded me with knowledge of His holy book and chose me to renew the knowledge of God and religion among the Islamic Ummah, and interpret that which needs interpreting in its verses, which most Islamic scholars misinterpret. Among these are the verses which deal with the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) and their rights in particular. There are a hundred holy verses in the Koran which contemporary scholars did not properly interpret. These are verses where there is no connection between their plain meaning and the meaning given by the latter. These verses prove and express God’s will and his intentions: the will and desire for peace and harmony and His instructions for people to ensure them.
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In response to our request to conduct an interview with you on our website, you quoted a verse form the Koran and called the Jewish People “cousins”. What did you mean?
The Jews are our cousins and therefore we must pray for them and visit them, live alongside them, grant them respect and cooperate with them at the highest levels of esteem and appreciation. This, because we are not more God-fearing, smarter, or better than the Prophet Muhammad may he rest in peace, who lived alongside them and behaved honorably, mercifully and amicably with them. Let us state that it was permitted for Muslims to marry them.
Did your openness towards the People of Israel lead you to recognize their sovereignty of their historic land?
Indeed, I recognize their sovereignty over their land. I believe in the Holy Koran, and this fact is stated many times in the book. For instance “O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you,” [Koran 5:21], “We made the Children of Israel inheritors of such things.” [Koran 26:59] and additional verses in the Holy Book.
And there are additional reasons: this people (Israel) is peaceful and peace-loving, is not hostile or aggressive; [they are] a people that defends itself only when necessary, while trying to minimally harm its enemies. In addition, I recognize the fact that God may He be praised gave preference to these people over humans and demons until the end of days. God does not give preference for nothing but grants all that which they deserve. God may He be praised never turned to any [other] people by name and grant them this honor, aside from the People of Israel, who are named for their ancestor Israel (Jacob), may he rest in peace, as it says in the Koran “O Children of Israel”. In contrast, in approaching others it is said “O Believers” or “O people”, which is a more general greeting.
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In your opinion, how can we finally put an end to anti-Semitism among Arab and Muslim nations, who feel loathing and hostility to the Jews and refuse to recognize them and live alongside them?
In my opinion the way to end anti-Semitism is to concentrate efforts and call for peace, spreading knowledge and forthrightly educate people of the values of justice and truth in accordance with what appears in the books of God – the Torah, Tehillim, the Ingil [the Gospel] and the Koran, which admired the Israelites, clarified their rights, gave preference to them and bequeathed to them the Holy Land and their direction of prayer – to Jerusalem. The books testify that this is a peace-loving and peace-calling nation, and it is the first people for whom the Creator designated a role in order to serve as its messenger on this earth until the Day of Resurrection.
In the Koran, it is written “Those who have faith and do righteous deeds, they are the best of creatures.” [Koran 98:7]. The intent in the word best is “the best among people”, but regarding the Umma of the Koran – that is the Arabs and those who preach Islam – they have no recourse but to return to the straight and true voice as appears in the Koran that many of its scholars interpreted in a mistaken and deviant manner. They distorted the true will of God may He be praised, as it is expressed in the verses, in a false and fallacious manner to say that murder of Jews is part of the commandment of Jihad for Allah and that this land is not the Land of [the People of] Israel.
They continue to hold this villainous interpretation towards others, and there will be no true peace but with the return of the Ummah of the Koran to the book of the Koran, as God bequeathed to his adherents. My religious education allowed me to strengthen what I say, and I have merited much honor in succeeding in interpreting verses which scholars did not properly interpret. These are verses which spell out the obligations and rights of people and that which is required so that peoples not be hostile to one another.
Why do Jordanian media outlets tend to describe Israelis in a racist and negative manner which does not reflect reality?
...Anyone who calls them by names which Allah did not use is a sinner and a falsifier of the verses of the Koran. It was already said “Those who pervert the Truth in Our Signs are not hidden from Us.” [Koran 41:40], and Ibn Abbas said in his commentary to this verse “the reference is to those who distort and replace and change the verses of God and stray from the truth”. ...
Therefore, anyone who calls Israelis by names which Allah did not use is a villain for the following reasons:
1. He violated religious law, denied the verses of the Koran.
2. He disobeyed Allah’s command, who commanded not to curse or call negative names.
3. If he does not repent and stop his crimes he is a criminal and a wicked man in every sense of the religion of Islam.
4. He acts against the efforts of His Majesty the King of Jordan and his initiative for harmony between religions and his call for peace.
5. He takes an active part in hindering the peace process and increasing hostility before other people.
Media outlets in Jordan, and in the Arab world in general, need to act in a God-fearing manner and call Israelis with names Allah used, and the name he gave to their land. They must stop acting like the five criminals we mentioned above, who bring the wrath of God upon themselves and their people.
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As a man of religion, do you believe that those who call themselves “Palestinians” have a right to establish a state on the Jews’ historic land?
Allah may He be praised wrote in the Torah that this is the land of the sons of Israel, he bequeathed the Holy Land to the sons of Israel and called the land by this name (the Land of Israel) and so it is stated by the Holy Koran: “O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin.” [Koran 5:21]. This holy verse is a “Kushan” (deed) which confirms that this land is granted to the Jews. It is also said “We made the Children of Israel inheritors of such things.” [Koran 26:59], and in the following verse “And We said thereafter to the Children of Israel, "Dwell securely in the land (of promise)"” [Koran 17:104] and there are many additional holy verses which prove and confirm this.
So in an answer to your question, how can they (the Palestinians) have the right to establish a State on the Jewish Land of Israel, which Allah granted and bequeathed to the Jews? More than that, even if all the inhabitants of the land forgot their right, or went crazy and collaborated with those who call themselves “Palestinians” to establish a state for the latter, they won’t succeed, and Allah will not allow this until the Day of Judgment, this because Allah Himself willed and specifically wrote in His book that this land will be the land of the People of Israel under Israeli sovereignty so that no-one would later dispute it.
Read the whole thing.