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Following are excerpts from an interview with the Sheik of Al-Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, which aired on Dream1 TV on August 27 and September 3, 2010:
Ahmad Al-Tayyeb: There is no doubt that the Western Church, at a certain point in time, was paving the way for colonialism, or was being used by colonialism, to accomplish the goal of colonialism in the East. Therefore, the phenomenon of proselytism – or even the phenomenon of orientalism into which it later developed – followed in the footsteps of colonialism.
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If you turn to Islam, you will not find such a thing. Throughout history, no Muslims ever set out to a country and forced its people [to convert], or enticed them to do so, by means of money, gifts, jobs, and so on, in preparation for the Islamic army to occupy that country. The reason is that in Islamic teachings, law, and jurisprudence, there is no such thing as forcing a country to covert.
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Why were the Crusades waged against the Muslims? They claimed that the Muslims were infidels, and that Jesus had appeared to them, telling them to save the grave from which he had been resurrected from the infidels. Jesus did not say this, God forbid. The truth is that there were interests involved. At the time, Europe was more barbaric than anything else. They said that they had benefited from the Crusades: “We learned from the East when we colonized these countries.”
They embarked on colonialism in our region at that period. They captured 3,000 Muslims in Acre. The Muslims surrendered, and it is well known that when a prisoner surrenders – that’s it. Even though they promised the Muslims not to kill them if they surrendered, they killed them, down to the very last one, in a single day. Some historians say that the horses’ legs were submerged in Muslim blood. Nevertheless, that period ended when the Crusaders were vanquished. This happened only when the Islamic nation in the East was unified by Saladin.
I draw a comparison between this and modern history – how Muslim disunity enables the Western armies to colonized Muslim countries, and how unity can vanquish them within a very short period of time.
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The meaning of Jihad for the sake of Allah is defense. Are you familiar with the Ministry of Defense? That is the Jihad. You will not find mention of initiating the fighting in any Koranic verse. What you will find is fighting to confront fighting.
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If an enemy enters the country, everybody must confront him. Other than that, Jihad should be a collective duty, not an individual one. Collective duty means that the Ministry of Defense is in charge, and it assembles the country’s army. The issue of war is not left up to individuals. This is one of the things that are not left up to individuals, and if a person is involved in this, it is forbidden and he should be confronted.
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The weapons that are manufactured are not used in the West. They are not used in America or Europe. Markets and centers of tension are created in order to put these weapons to use. If you think that what I say is strange, show me a single war zone in America, Europe, or even Japan or Australia, which can be compared to the war raging for 50 years in Palestine, and the wars in Afghanistan, Somalia, and, of course, Iraq, and only God knows where the next war zone will be. All this is happening...
Reporter: We have turned into Dar Al-Harb [“House of War”].
Ahmad Al-Tayyeb: Yes, this Dar Al-Harb was imposed upon us. They imposed upon us wars that we have nothing to do with. They determine which areas will go up in flames, so that they can export their weapons and take our money. They sell us death.
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It is my claim that if not for Islam and the culture of Islam, Europe would have remained in total darkness to this day. It is [Islam] that awakened it. Our culture can be found in Andalusia and in Rome. All that art was brought by the Muslims. If not for Muslims' civilization, Europe would not be Europe and, consequently, America would not be America.
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Today, there are clear and tangible calls for the Shiitization of Sunni youth.
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Today, there is a kind of... I call it [Shiite] invasion.
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