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Monday, October 09, 2017

Islam Question and Answer: Muslim Jew-hatred 101 (Petra Marquardt-Bigman)


I recently came across a report about a Canadian mosque that had removed a link from its website after it was pointed out that the linked site promoted “anti-Semitic content that urges an ‘Islamic jihad’ against Jews, denounces democracy and approves the killing of ex-Muslims.” The offensive site was identified as Islamqa.info, i.e. “Islam Question and Answer” and it was noted that it “is run by a conservative Saudi cleric.”

As it happened, I was somewhat familiar with the site from research I had done for some of my recent writings. The post I first read on Islam QA responded to a questioner wondering about the difference between the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock: “if the Masjid e Aqsa is different from the Doom of the Rock, why do we see its picture representing Masjid e Aqsa at all Islamic places, and I (and many other muslims) were completely inaware of the difference.”

The response claimed that “the name of the mosque was historically applied to the whole plateau,” (i.e. the Temple Mount), but also stated: “The Muslims’ fondness for the picture of the Dome may be because of the beauty of this building, but this does not excuse them from the resulting mistake of not distinguishing between the Mosque and the buildings that surround it.” To my amazement, the apparently widespread Muslim ignorance about the difference between the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque was then explained as a result of nefarious Jewish plots – which of course show how urgent it would be “to cleanse al-Masjid al-Aqsa of the brothers of the monkeys and pigs.”




Since the site prominently declares that Shaykh Muhammad Saalih Al-Munajjid is its “General Supervisor,” I looked him up. According to Wikipedia, he is “an Islamic scholar known for founding the website IslamQA.info, which provides answers to questions in line with the Salafi school of thought.” Even though Salafists are supposedly only a tiny minority of the world’s estimated 1.8 billion Muslims, the entry notes that “IslamQA.info is one of the most popular websites providing the Salafi perspective and is (as of November 2015) according to Alexa.com the world’s most popular website on the topic of Islam generally.” Apparently, the site still holds its number 1 rank, and it seems to be well-funded since it can afford to offer texts in more than a dozen languages. (E.g. the antisemitic post explaining the difference between the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque is available in English, Arabic, Uighur and Spanish).

As noted in the report on the Canadian mosque, Islam QA includes plenty of posts encouraging Jew-hatred and hostility to western values:

 “’The Jews are people of treachery and betrayal; it is not possible to trust them at all,’ reads a post on the formerly-linked site, Islamqa.info […] ‘The hour (the Day of Judgment) will not begin until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them.’ […] another Islamqa.info entry calls democracy ‘a system that is contrary to Islam’ and says ‘the main goal of jihad is to make people worship Allah alone.’ A discussion on ‘why death is the punishment for apostasy’ reads: ‘Whoever changes his religion, kill him.’ As for homosexuals, it says to ‘drive them out of your town.’”

Another article focusing on how Islam QA defines the status of women notes that “the opinions […] read like documents from a time long, long ago;” one of the cited examples is a ruling claiming that “Islam allows a man to have sexual intercourse with a slave, no matter whether the man is married or single.”

It is worthwhile noting that the post (archived) describing Jews as “people of treachery and betrayal” goes back to the early days of IslamQA: it was published already in January 1999 and signed as written by Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid himself; the text is available in English, Arabic, French, Uighur and Indonesian, and it has also been posted on other sites (e.g. here, here,  and here; also documented as inciting hate here). I would urge everyone to read the post in full, because it is a breathtaking example of the depth of Muslim Jew-hatred, which is justified both by invoking Islamic scripture and by inventing Nazi-style fantasies about Jewish evil:

“There cannot be harmony between Jews – who are usurpers and aggressors, who have oppressed and persecuted others, and who are known for their treachery and corruption throughout the world, historically and in the present age – and the purely monotheistic Muslim owners of the land, whose menfolk the Jews have killed, and imprisoned their sons, and destroyed their homes, and taken possession of their lands by force, and prevented them from earning a proper living, and carried out chemical and radiational experiments on their prisoners, and taken organs from them for transplant into Jewish patients… and all other kinds of persecutions and atrocities.”
During an appearance on a Saudi TV program last year, Al-Munajid re-affirmed similar views:


“The Jews are among the enemies of (Islam). In fact, they are at the top of the list. The Jews today are the Jews of the past. This requires no proof. Allah made their traits clear to us, and the Prophet Muhammad clarified that our war with them will continue until the end of time [...] Allah said that 'the Jews are the strongest in enmity to the believers.' He said that the Jews 'strive to spread corruption in the land.' He said: 'They hasten into sin and aggression.' He said: 'Nor did they forbid one another the iniquities which they committed.'” […] “'The Jews are the nation that incurred the wrath of Allah. They are a people of lies, fabrications, treachery, and conspiracies. They are the slayers of prophets, the profiteers from that which is forbidden. They are the filthiest of nations with the basest of character.'”

No wonder the TV host thought it was entirely reasonable to follow up with the question “Is hatred of Jews considered a form of worship in and of itself?” Al-Munajid evaded a direct response, countering instead: “The question should be: Do they hate us? These people believe that anyone who does not adhere to their religion is a filthy pig. This is written in their distorted Torah. Jews have the right to rape non-Jewish women. This is also written in their books.”

How is that from a man who refers to Jews as “the brothers of the monkeys and pigs” and insists that Islamic scripture gives Muslim men the right to rape female slaves? Looks like Al-Munajid could greatly benefit from reading a bit of Freud and learning about projection…

However, as already noted, even though Al-Munajid’s  IslamQA is apparently the most popular website on Islam, it supposedly reflects Salafist doctrine and therefore only the beliefs of a small minority of Muslims. So it might be useful to look for some comparable material on Jews from other sites. I noticed on one discussion board that some Muslims who considered Al-Munajid’s  IslamQA as too rigid and intolerant recommended instead another IslamQA (which has the extension .org instead of .info). One particularly fascinating example is provided by two posts from the two sites (here and here) that address the notorious hadith that predicts an end-time battle in which Muslims will slaughter the Jews. In both cases, the person asking the question is wondering how this violent hadith can be squared with Islam’s claim to be “a religion of love and peace.”

On Al-Munajid’s  IslamQA, the response (also available in Arabic) includes extensive quotes from Islamic scripture explaining and justifying the hadith; the conclusion is that

“Allah, may He be exalted, will honour the Muslims in this battle with this miracle, which is that rocks and trees will speak and call the Muslims to come and kill the Jews who will be hiding behind them. 
All of this indicates that it will be a just battle that Allah approves of, as was the case with all the Islamic battles in which the aim was to make the word of Allah supreme on earth. ‘Whoever fights so that the word of Allah will be supreme is fighting in the way of Allah.’”

On the supposedly more moderate IslamQA site, the response – provided by a South-African mufti who studied in India – is rather laconic (and can also be found here): “This will happen around the time of Isa (alaihis salaam). The ones that are not bad will accept the truth and hence will be Muslims.”

In other words: all the Jews “that are not bad” will eventually convert to Islam, and the Jews who stubbornly remain Jews are obviously so bad that they deserve to be slaughtered…

Here are a few more gems from the supposedly more moderate IslamQA:

Are Muslims supposed to hate Jews?” Well… yes, they are, because the “Qur’aan is replete with the descriptions of the Jews” showing them as greedy, ungrateful and murderous. So the post offers “just a few [examples] from an infinite list of their disobediences and violations of Allah’s orders. Due to their disobedience, Allah Ta’ala said, ‘Disgrace and need has been set on them.’ Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, ‘Verily this (the Jews) are a dirty nation. We do not need them.’”

Why Islam or Muslims are against Jews (in general)?” Well, naturally, this is the fault of the Jews: “The holy Qur?aan declares them to harbour the most enmity against us Muslims. This is one of the reasons the Muslims don?t get along with them. The main reason for this enmity stems from jealousy.” (It’s a bit ambiguous here who is jealous, isn’t it…)


Why are the Jews hated so much throughout the world?” Well, again – the Jews deserve to be hated, of course: “Allah Ta’ala has cursed the jews for their repeated disobedience of Allah Ta’ala, and has cursed their offspring for their approval of the sins of their forefathers. This is why they are hated.”




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