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In a January 19 Friday sermon at the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario, in London, Ontario, Canada, Imam Munir Elkassem said that "Jihad is not fighting," but is "a very noble principle where we exert energy to effect goodness." Elkassem complained that MEMRI TV had taken "cuts and pastes" of a previous sermon (see MEMRI TV Clip No. 6336 Friday Sermon In Canada By Imam Munir Elkassem: What Was Taken By Force Will Be Restored By Force Alone; We Should Not Be Running To The "Black House" Or Moscow for the December 15 sermon, in which he said that dignity could not be achieved through negotiations and that "whatever was taken by force... will be restored by force alone"), and said that he would not be surprised if MEMRI TV placed this part of his present sermon on its website. The sermon was posted on the ICSWO YouTube channel.
Munir Elkassem: "How would you feel if you became politically embarrassed to use the word Jihad? By the way, you know that a month ago, when I was talking about Jerusalem... You know, a group that produces something called Middle East Media Research Institute – MEMRI TV – took cuts and pastes of my sermon, and they put it throughout the world, saying... Because I was saying – look at this – that our dignity is not open for negotiation, they wrote underneath it that the imam of the Islamic Centre is saying: No negotiation, but he is calling for violence and he is advocating terrorism. The use of the word Jihad now is something that we should hide from. And the Prophet is saying: 'How would you feel when the time will come when this noble principle will be abandoned?' I won't be surprised if this part of the sermon will be taken and will be placed on that [website], so let it be, Allah be praised. Let the world know that Jihad is not fighting. Jihad is a very noble principle, where we exert energy to effect goodness. This is what Jihad is all about. Why do we have to shy away from sharing our religion with others? Why do we want others to tell us how to speak? We are not going to do that.
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"When we will stop enjoining goodness and forbidding evil, our global community will cease to exist."
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