"Islam is the religion of tolerance...but also jihad" Syrian Friday sermon
11 October 2002
[FBIS (U.S. government agency) Report] Damascus Syria Arab Republic Radio in Arabic, official station of the Syrian Government, carries on 11 October 2002 at 0944 GMT a live sermon from
Al-Zahra Mosque in Damascus. Shaykh Dr. Muhammad al-Habash delivers the sermon.... Dealing with the subject of jihad, the imam says: "There is a need
today to speak about jihad. Islam is the religion of tolerance, mercy, and
love. But, it is also the religion of justice and jihad, and peace and
power. It is not sound to imagine that the arrogant on earth have suddenly
turned meek and that we could stop Zionist designs against Palestine with
wisdom and good word. The tyranny that the Zionists practice daily on the
land of Palestine, calls upon us to resurrect the message of jihad." God
ordained jihad so this nation would repulse oppression, establish justice,
and deal with life with realism and rationalism, he says, adding: There must
be force to protect justice and deter oppression. "But, this jihad, which God has ordained as a means to achieve justice
on earth," the imam says, "is being distorted in Western circles. They
confuse terrorism with the right to legitimate resistance. The arrogant on
earth are vying with one another in describing jihad as a form of
aggression. Unfortunately, some erroneous Muslim concepts contribute to
spreading this wrong image of jihad." The imam addresses President Bashar al-Asad, saying Arabs and Muslims
"await a new October." This is the people's hope, he says, while they
witness Zionist atrocities in Khan Yunus, Ramallah, Rafah, and Janin. "The
only language that can change the attitude of this arrogant tyrant and war
criminal, who is committing murder daily, is jihad as ordained by Allah and
offered to us by the October War," he adds. The imam says: "The Zionist lobby today is leading the United States,
the master of the world, to an all-out confrontation with the Islamic World.
The United States speaks like a great power to the world, but turns into a
lowly agent for the Zionists when the matter concerns the designs of the
Zionist lobby. The US Congress approved a law recognizing Jerusalem as the
capital of the Hebrew state thereby flouting all international laws."
|