Last Week's Friday Sermon on PA Television

The Friday sermon [1] of March 12, 2004 in the Sheikh 'Ijlin Mosque in Gaza was delivered by Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris , an employee of the Awqaf (Religious Affairs) ministry of the Palestinian Authority. The following are excerpts from the sermon : [2]

The Battle of Truth & Falsehood

" … Ever since Allah created this life, it is a conflict between Truth and Falsehood, a continuous battle between good and evil, and a constant struggle between those who are good and those who are evil. On this holy land, we witness one of the chapters of this holy battle, the battle between Truth and Falsehood. We are the good, people of Truth, who defend it with our blood and souls. We defend our rights, we defend our land, and our holy places. On the other hand, our enemies are evil, people of Falsehood who fight using the sword of Falsehood. We will beat them, because victory will be that of Truth, Allah willing."

Jews Had to be Destroyed

"Oh servants of Allah, history repeats itself. When the Prophet [Muhammad] entered Al-Madina, he entered it in order to establish the Islamic state. But he found serpents there, disseminating their venom among the Arabian tribes, in order to destroy their kinship and spark war between the Arabs and the brothers [i.e. The Muslims].

"When the Prophet saw the situation of the Arabs, he found that they were not capable of establishing the Islamic state… He looked around and saw the flame of civil strife raging through the Arabian tribes. Brother fighting brother, and tribe fighting tribe.

"When he investigated the cause of these civil wars, he found that the Jews were behind them. The most grave thing the Prophet saw was the war raging between the Aws and Khazraj tribes. When he investigated the cause of this great war between the two largest tribes, he found a Jew behind it. A Jew named Shas sparked the fire of civil strife between the Aws and Khazraj.

"The prophet had to have a good plan in order to establish his Islamic state. He based his plan on two elements. The first of them was to make peace between the Arabs and brotherhood among the Muslims… The second element the Prophet had to deal with was the Jewish existence in Al-Madina, with which no Islamic state could ever be established.

"The Prophet received an instruction from the Lord of heaven and earth, Who knows the nature of the Jews, who forever live off the fire of civil strife and disseminating their venom among the brothers, Muslims, and friends. Allah ordered him to forge his plan to take care of the Jewish existence in Al-Madina.

"The prophet could not fight the Jews immediately following his emigration to Al-Madina, because his security, military, political, and economic situation did not permit him to wage war against the Jews, at that time.

"The Prophet had three stages in taking care of the Jewish existence: The first was political. One should deal with the Jews politically to defend oneself from their evil. The Prophet dealt with them politically and signed pacts with them, even though he knew they treat the Muslims ruthlessly, but this was an unavoidable stage. Oh Allah's servants, it was an unavoidable political stage in order to strengthen the Muslims, because wars weaken the Muslims if they are not strong enough to begin with. The second stage was harder for the Muslims: The stage of tolerating the damage caused by the Jews, who again, began violating the pacts and spreading their poison among the Muslims…

"Then came the great battle of Badr, where the Muslims grew stronger. This brought the third stage of dealing with the Jewish existence in Al-Madina. We have tolerated you for a long time - you offspring of apes and pigs! We have tolerated you for a long time. After the battle of Badr verses came down, ordering the Prophet to fight the Jews… The Jews lived in fortresses and in various tribes. The Prophet said: 'By Allah, I fear the Qaynuq'a tribe.' Meaning, 'I fear the civil strife they spark.' We must first teach the Qaynuq'a tribe a lesson that will deter those behind them…

"Mixing with the Arabs gave the Jews an Arab trait – courage. Praise Allah. Imagine – the Qaynuq'a Jews were the bravest Jews in Al-Madina because they mixed with the Arabs. They won this courage from their neighboring Arabs. Thus, there was no choice but to begin with the strongest among the Jews so they will serve as a lesson to those who follow them – the Jews of Khaybar, the [Banu] Nadhir tribe, and the rest of the Al-Madina Jews."

The Jews' Evil Deeds Led to Their Downfall

"Then an incident took place that was a turning point regarding the Jewish existence in Al-Madina. They started! And they bear the responsibility for their bad deeds and for the venom they spread in the heart of Al-Madina. A Muslim woman went to the Qaynuq'a tribe to sell something. They asked her to uncover her face but she refused. The Muslim woman refused to uncover her face in front of Jews. When finished with the sale, she sat down next to a Jewish jeweler, and this jeweler tied the edge of her garment in the back, so when she rose up, some say her face and others say her legs were revealed. She screamed and cried for help. Then, a noble Muslim came, who could not bear the humiliation of this woman. He rose to defend the Muslim woman's honor, drew his sword and struck that Jew, the lowly jeweler. He struck and killed him. The Qaynuq'a tribe turned against this Muslim and killed him. They killed this Muslim who defended a Muslim woman's honor.

"[The Prophet] prepared his army and went to the Qaynuq'a [tribe]. He laid siege to them for 15 days until they came out and surrendered. The Prophet rejected [their surrender] unless all their men were killed, and only the women and children be allowed to leave Al-Madina.

"Hypocrisy also played a role. Abdallah bin Ubai, Allah's curse upon him, asked to spare their lives. The Prophet did not want civil strife in the ranks of the Muslims and said, 'I accept, provided they leave Al-Madina.' The Prophet expelled them from Al-Madina, so they would serve as a lesson to those who follow. This was the first lesson of the Jews of Al-Madina. Later, there were many other lessons.

"Time does not permit us to discuss the rest of the Jewish tribes. But we must learn the lesson of the Prophet with regard to the Jews of Al-Madina, whom he expelled. His strategic choice was: 'Fight them, Allah will torture them [at your hands]' and also, 'Make ready against them [all] the force and horsemen that you can.'"

Jews Seek to Conquer Saudi Arabia

"The Jews today – there is no doubt – are avenging their ancient forefathers, the sons of apes and pigs. Some of the extremist Jews are demanding today their property in Al-Madina. There are even those who have requested to be buried at the southern edge of Palestine. When the one-eyed Dayan was on his deathbed, he instructed that he be buried at the southern edge of Palestine. When asked why, he said, 'So that I will be close to Al-Madina.' This is the extremist tendency of the Jews. They are the extremists, they are the terrorists. They deserve death, and we deserve life, because we are the people of Truth.

"They avenge their forefathers, they take revenge on us, the Muslims, by taking our holy places and by taking our lands by force. Only last week, this bloody week, they killed from among the sons of our people, children and women, some 40 Palestinians, in front of the entire world, and no one lifted a finger."

Arab States are Abandoning the Struggle

"In light of these massacres, I tell you, I congratulate our people and brothers in Jordan, and bless them for the ties they are establishing with the Jews, and for laying the cornerstone … on the day of the massacre, at the time the massacre was being carried out on the land of Palestine, in Bureij, Nusseirat, Rafah, and Jenin. At these moments, they lay the cornerstone and inaugurate a science institute in order to normalize relations between Jordanian and Jewish students. Blessings to you, the people of Jordan, blessings for the American supervision of this successful project, and blessings to our people in Libya and blessings to all the Arab peoples, as we are slaughtered here on the land of Palestine."

We will Fight the Jewish Cancer

" … We will fight them with Allah's help. The Jews are the ones of whom Allah, who knows them best, said: 'You strike more fear into their hearts than Allah does.' Oh Muslims, it is Allah who tells you this. And this is what we see and know well. But the Arabs and Muslims must know that this is a Qur'anic truth. We strike more fear into their hearts than their Maker. Who stated this fact? The Lord of heaven and earth. Allah is the one who created them and knows their nature well.

"Allah knows that they love life: 'None preserves life more than them' - life, no matter what kind of life. Even if it is a life of humiliation, disgrace, and submission, they preserve it.

"This preservation of life roots miserliness and cowardice in them. The Jews are disseminating their venom, and history repeats itself. They disseminate their venom in the Arab countries, because they cannot live in the Middle East like a cancer, spreading in this land, unless they spark the fire of civil strife and war among the Arabs and the Muslims. And indeed, they spark this fire.

"Furthermore, they incite the world superpowers against the Arab countries. Israel incites the U.S. against Syria. Syria will face great, heavy pressure and we say to them: Be patient and Allah will be with you. Our people in Syria, our brothers in our struggle and our Jihad against this cancer on this land... Our brothers in Lebanon, in Jordan, in Egypt, in all countries of the world, we will never desert them, as long as they fight this cancer.

"We reach our hand out in peace, as the Prophet reached his hand out in peace, but they act ruthlessly towards the Muslims."

The Palestinian Mother Wishes to Receive Her Son as a Corpse, but Not Butchered

"We, the people of Truth, reach out our hand in peace. But they accuse us of being terrorists. Terrorists, because when the Palestinian mother welcomes her martyred son, she wishes to receive him as a corpse. She does not want him to be alive. But she does not want this corpse butchered. The wish of the Palestinian mother is to see the body of her son the martyr.

"Are we terrorists? We, terrorists?! We face burning rockets that leave the martyr no flesh, bone, head, or foot. When the news of the death of her son reached the martyr's mother, she said to the youths: 'I want to see my son.' They were patient with her and took him to the cemetery to be buried. She learnt of this, and went there, asking: 'Where is my son?' Her son is a pile of flesh in a container, in a small sack. She watched while they buried him, and she said: 'If only a foot remained, I would kiss it.' Allah Akbar, is she a terrorist?! A terrorist, this woman who wants to find the foot of her son so she can kiss it before he is buried?! With these statements, Umm Muhammad broke the hearts of those present. "Where are the hearts of the world?! Where are the hearts of the Arabs? Where are the hearts of the Muslims in light of these sights? By Allah, if they didn't see them, we would say, 'Never mind.' But the entire world saw how our martyrs are burned in their cars on the road. Our children – their heads are cut off. Despite all this, we will be patient, because we are a people that deserves triumph, Allah willing."