As it does every week, Palestinian Authority television broadcast the Friday sermon at the Sheikh 'Ijlin mosque in Gaza.This week, the preacher was Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi, who also lectures on water and ecology at Al-Aqsa University inGaza. Following are excerpts from the sermon, which was interrupted in the middle due to technical problems.
"…Oh beloved of Allah… We must always remember who the Jews are, what they believe regarding Allah, what their position is regarding the prophets and apostles, and what they say about them in their holy books – that is, in the books they claim are holy. [We must always remember] their view of the Prophet Muhammad, and their corruption in the world, particularly in the Arab and Islamic world."
"Oh beloved of Allah, who are the Jews? Regarding their belief about Allah: The Jews have said that the hand of Allah is fettered in chains; [but] it is their hand that is fettered in chains, and they are cursed for their words… According to the Jews' belief, as it is written in some of their holy books, such as the Talmud, Allah divides his time into three parts. One third of the time he weeps. Why? Because his [chosen] people are dispersed in all directions. Another third he spends playing with the whales, and the final third he spends doing nothing in particular. This is their perverted belief about Allah…"
[At this point thee broadcast is interrupted due to technical problems.] "Oh beloved of Allah… One of the Jews' evil deeds is what has come to be called 'the Holocaust,' that is, the slaughter of the Jews by Nazism. However, revisionist [historians] have proven that this crime, carried out against some of the Jews, was planned by the Jews' leaders, and was part of their policy… These are the Jews against whom we fight, oh beloved of Allah."
"On the other hand, [what is our belief] about the Jews? Allah has described them as donkeys who must carry the books of the Torah – but they have not carried them. Our belief, which is true, about the Jews is that Allah is angry at them. They are cursed with the curse of Allah in this world and in the hereafter. Therefore, we say to them out of friendship: 'Oh Jews, come to your senses, return to the true faith; you must convert to Islam…'"
"Our belief is that this war, between us and the Jews, will continue to escalate until we vanquish the Jews and enter Jerusalem as conquerors, [and] enter Jaffa as conquerors. We are not merely expecting a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital; we are heralding [the creation of] an Islamic caliphate with Jerusalem as its capital…"
"Oh beloved of Allah, as we always say: When the battles between the Muslims and infidels begin, the martyrs and the slain Muslims will reach Paradise… in contrast, those who die not for the sake of Islam, after the deliverance of the message of the Prophet Muhammad… will end up in the fires of Hell…"[1]
[1] Palestine Television (PA) September 21, 2001.
