Friday Sermon in Sudan following Calls for Normalization of Ties with Israel: The Jews Are the Evil Head of the Serpent

Sudanese cleric Sheikh Muhammad Hassan Tanoun delivered a Friday sermon in which he said that "ever since [the Jews] existed on the face of the Earth, they have been the head of the serpent" and that "all things evil and all the tragedies on Earth are caused by their schemes, their deception, and their wickedness." He was responding to statements made by Sudanese Investment Minister Mubarak Al-Fadil Al-Mahdi on August 21 in favor of normalizing ties with Israel (https://www.memri.org/tv/sudanese-investment-minister-normalization-israel-no-big-deal-arabs-peddled-palestinian-cause). Sheikh Tanoun said that "the Jews are your enemies" and that "the natural state of affairs between us is enmity." The sermon was delivered at the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque in Khartoum, Sudan, on August 25 and was broadcast by Sudan TV.

Muhammad Hassan Tanoun: "[The Jews] were insolent toward Allah. [The Quran says]: 'They said: Allah is poor, and we are rich. They said: The hands of Allah are shackled. May their hands be shackled, and may they be cursed for what they said. No, His hands are outstretched and He expends as He pleases.' They were insolent toward their prophets, slayed them, and caused them harm. Ever since they appeared on the face of the Earth, they have been the head of the serpent. All things evil and all the tragedies on Earth are caused by their schemes, their deception, and their wickedness.

"How can the movement for normalization [of ties with Israel] be spreading in Muslim countries, even though those Jews are your worst enemies, oh Muslims? This is not the declaration of a politician, a leader, a thinker, or a philosopher. It is the Quran – which will be recited until Judgment Day – that states: 'You shall find the Jews and the polytheists to be the most hostile toward the believers.' The Jews... They never convert to Islam. Very few have converted to Islam.

"To this day, these people do not accept anyone into their religion and they do not like to convert [to Islam], unless they penetrate it in order to shake its tenets of faith, as is happening today. Enmity is the natural relationship between us and them. The Jews are your enemies. All the tragedies, all the bloodshed, all we reap from their 'creative chaos,' and so on, are the result of their deception, wickedness, and schemes. The natural state of affairs between us is enmity. Their nature has not changed since they were created on this Earth, and will not change until Judgment Day."