![memri](/sites/default/files/pic/mlogo.jpg)
The Grand Mufti of Oman, Ahmed bin Hamad Al-Khalili said in a June 19, 2022 interview on Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) that the Taliban's "victory" over the United States was a miracle, and he praised the Afghan mujahideen, saying that they won because they combined the Quran with guns. Al-Khalili also said that peace agreements with Israel are "nothing but a waste of time" and that the only way to "take back" Palestine is through resistance. When asked about former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 2018 visit to Oman, Al-Khalili said that the visit had only been political. In addition, Al-Khalili discussed homosexuality, saying that he had warned the world against the "aberration they call 'gay marriage'," and he criticized people, including the Pope, who say that homosexuals are the "children of God." Moreover, Al-Khalili said that democracy came from the pagan Greeks, and pointed out that in a democratic system, the majority has the ability to sanction things that contradict Islamic law.
Ahmed bin Hamad Al-Khalili: "Where does the word democracy come from?
Interviewer: "From the Greeks."
Al-Khalili: "Right. They were pagans. That is democracy. However, we have justice, and we have the principle of the shura.
"In a democracy, if a majority of the people support permitting alcohol, it is permitted, and if the majority of people support allowing gay marriage, God forbid, it becomes permissible. With us, it is not like this. We say that it is determined by the shari'a.
[...]
"With regard to martyrdom-seeking operations, I cannot say that a person who kills himself becomes [a martyr]. If he is killed while waging Jihad, then yes, but if he kills himself by his own hand then no."
Interviewer: "When it is not a car bomb... So, it changed... Well, okay... Is resistance the only way to take Palestine back?"
Al-Khalili: "Inshallah."
Interviewer: "Are other ways unacceptable?"
Al-Khalili: "What other ways?"
Interviewer: "Well, peace, the. Oslo Accords, the Wadi Araba Treaty, Camp David, the agreements [Israel} signed with the UAE and Bahrain... I mean, peace..."
Al-Khalili: "Have they achieved anything or have they been nothing but a waste of time?
[...]
Interviewer: But Netanyahu visited Oman? How did you view that visit?"
Al-Khalili: "Sorry?"
Interviewer: "What about Netanyahu's visit to Oman?"
Ahmed bin Hamad Al-Khalili: "It was a political visit, not a religious one. He did not come to meet with me. In any case, I have reservations about anything that might lead to compromise, and I do not think that Oman has compromised with any regard to the Palestinian cause.
[...]
You may have seen the message I sent to the world, warning about the aberration they call 'gay marriage.'"
Interviewer: "You attacked the Pope, indirectly. You accused him of calling homosexuals 'the children of God.'
Ahmed bin Hamad Al-Khalili: "I criticized that thing, and some idiot from somewhere far in the West said to me in response that the time of [the homosexuals] will come, and people who criticize homosexuality will be viewed like people who approve of slavery. I do not want to go into all the bickering, but I answered him that his response made me happy rather than upset. It made me more optimistic than pessimistic, because his response is an indication of arrogance, and one's arrogance leads to one's destruction."
[…]
Interviewer: "How did you view the Taliban's victory over the U.S., that superpower, after a conflict that had lasted 20 years?"
Al-Khalili: "This is one of the miracles of Allah.
Interviewer: "You called it a 'manifest victory.'"
Al-Khalili: "Indeed. This is one of the miracles of Allah. The American rock shattered when confronted with the faith of the mujahideen who fight to elevate the word of Allah. This is an indication of the path to victory. Let's be realistic. We saw a child from the Taliban learning the Quran with a gun hanging next to him. They combine the Quan with the gun, and this is how they won."