An imam in California decided to use his pulpit to call for the genocide of Jews.
Imam Ammar Shahin's call for genocide appears to be in response to Israeli security officials placing metal detectors in front of the Temple Mount upon which the Al-Aqsa mosque sits. This action was taken after two Israeli police offers were killed on the Temple Mount by Palestinians.
The Temple Mount is the holiest religious site for Jews and the third holiest for Muslims.
The Middle East Media Research Institute, a press monitoring non-profit, translated the Arabic part of the imam's prayer/speech which calls for the annihilation of Jews.
During his plea to his congregants, the imam paraphrased a passage from the hadith about killing Jews. According to MEMRI's transcript, he said:
The Prophet Muhammad said: 'Judgment Day will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Jews hide behind stones and trees, and the stones and the trees say: Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah...' They will not say: Oh Egyptian, oh Palestinian, oh Jordanian, oh Syrian, oh Afghan, oh Pakistani. The Prophet Muhammad says that they time will come, the Last Hour will not take place until the Muslims fight the Jews. We don't say if it is in Palestine or another place. Until they fight... When that war breaks out, they will run and hide behind every rock, and house, and wall, and trees. The house, the wall, and the tress will call upon the Muslims. It will say: Oh Muslim... It will not say: Oh Palestinian, oh Egyptian, oh Syrian, oh Afghan, oh Pakistani, oh Indian... No, it will say: Oh Muslim. Muslim. When Muslims come back... 'Come, there is someone behind me – except for the Gharqad tree, which is the tree of the Jews. Except for a certain tree that they are growing today in Palestine, in that area, except this form of tree, which they are growing today... That's the tree that will not speak to the Muslims.
The Virtual Jewish Library reports the Hamas Charter similarly reads:
The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, [...] would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.
Watch the video for yourself below.
The Islamic Center Of Davis (ICD) claims the video only shows several minutes edited from a nearly 50 minute sermon.
The center has responded with a statement:
"It was clear to all those who listened to the entire sermon that Imam Shahin was not calling towards anti-Semitism nor towards violence against any religion. Rather, he is known for his stance against extremism and his condemnation of un-Islamic groups which promote such views. This has always been the position of the Imam and the ICD."
"Never has Imam Shahin called for discrimination or harm of any group of people," the statement says.
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