Monday, October 09, 2017
Elder of Ziyon
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.”
