Magdi Allam on Anti-Israeli Hate, Al-Azhar, and Imams in Italy

Jihad Watch

I translated this article by Magdi Allam from the Italian original that first appeared in the Corriere della Sera:

The Fatwa of Anti-Israel Hatred that Constrains the "Moderates":

What a grave mistake it is on the part of those who have deluded themselves into believing that the normalization of relations between Islam and Judaism in Italy could conceivably be effected while ignoring the question of Israel. That is to say, avoiding the essential question: the right of Israel to exist. The cancelling of today’s visit [January 21, 2008] by the Imam of the Grand Mosque in Rome to the Synagogue of Rome, because of a decision communicated to him by the Islamic university of Al Azhar, headquartered in Cairo, a kind of “Vatican of Sunni Islam,” confirms that even the so-called Muslim moderates share the ideology of hate, violence and death when it comes to dealing with the Jewish State.

That response by Abdel Fattah Allam, the right-hand man of the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Sehik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, was, in effect, a fatwa, a juridical response based on the Shari’a, the Law of Islam: “The dialogue between Islam and Judaism cannot begin until rights have been restored to those who properly should possess them.” This translates thus: only after the “Palestinians” have acquired the whole of the geographic entity called “Palestine,” therefore only after the elimination of the state of Israel, will it be possible for Muslims to carry on a “dialogue” with Jews in Italy. This is the official, public position of Al Azhar, already expressed in the fatwa of April 4, 2002, by the same Tantawi, the fatwa by which he legitimized “Palestinian” suicide terrorism: “Israeli citizens constitute an occupation force. Therefore “martyrdom operations” are the highest form of Jihad,they are an Islamic duty until the “Palestinians” reconquer their land and push back the cruel Israeli aggression.” And in an explanatory note about this fatwa, broadcast on the Al Azhar website, it is specified that “any “martyrdom operation” against any Israeli, including small children, women, and adolestcents, is a legitimate act according to Islamic law.”

Thus, as it is Al Azhar who names the Imam of the Grand Mosque of Rome, the latter was ordered to renounce the visit to the Rome Synagogue. After all it is not anything new. Already, on June 6, 2003, the then-Imam Abdel-Samie Mahmoud Ibrahim Moussa delivered a sermon in which he delivered hysterical cries: “ O Allah, make the Islamic warriors in Palestine triumphant! O Allah, help us to wipe out the enemies of Islam!.” On March 26, 2004, it was discovered that inside the Grand Mosque of Rome there had been nurtured a group of Islamic extremists, when they decided to recite the “Prayer of Death” to commemorate the recent killing of the Hamas leader, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. And afterwards, to calm things down, it was decided to send back to Egypt the new Imam Abdulwahab Hussein Gomaa. And now, with the new scandal, the prohibiting [by Al Azhar] of a visit by the present Imam to the Synagogue, the reality of the ideological extremism that inspires the spiritual guide of the Grand Mosque of Rome is palpable.

At this point Italy can no longer simply remain an observer. We cannot allow the present and future reality of Islam and of Muslims in Italy to be determined by the negators, the deniers of Israel who live outside Italy, nor by the apologists for Palestinian suicide terrorism. Let it be clearly understood, once and for all, that Al Azhar is a fortress of Muslim extremism and of Muslim terrorism. Let the Minister of the Interior send back to their countries of origin those Imams who are submissive adherents of this ideology. Let the Minister of Foreign Affairs clearly denounce the agreement of cooperation signed on June 15, 2005, between Al Azhar and five Italian universities, signed by Ambassador Antonio Badini with the rector of Al Azhar, Sheikh Ahmad al Tayyeb, who on April 4, 2002 said: “The solution to Israeli terror can be found in suicide attacks that will sow terror in the hearts of the enemies of Islam.”Let everyone stop legitimizing the ideologues of the Muslim Brotherhood, beginning with Tariq Ramadan. Let the state, and local institutions, stop handing over the mosques to UCOII. the lesson we must all learn from the latest scandal emanating from the Grand Mosque of Rome, is that before accrediting any Muslim as an official interlocutor, it is necessary to make him subscribe to a declaration in which he publicly recognizes the right of Israel to exist and condemns unequivocally Palestinian terrorism.

Magdi Allam
[Trans. HF]