Antisemitic Hadith: 'The Prophecy Of The Rock And The Tree' – MEMRI Clips And Reports

MEMRI TV recently translated and released excerpts from a Friday sermon delivered on December 15, 2017 by Imam Mohamed Tatai, formerly imam of the Mosquée Ennour in Toulouse and currently imam of the new Grand Mosque of Toulouse, in which he cited an antisemitic hadith.[1]

Over the years MEMRI TV has translated many sermons citing this hadith. The hadith, "The Prophecy of the Rock and the Tree," appears in the Muslim [d. 875 CE], the Al-Tirmidhi [d. 892 CE], and the Ibn Hanbal [d. 855 CE] compilations of hadiths,[2] and a shorter version of the hadith appears in the Bukhari [d. 870 CE] compilation.

The longer version states that on Judgment Day, the Muslims will fight the Jews, and the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees. Then the rocks and the trees will speak, calling upon the Muslims: "Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill them." The hadith goes on to say that all trees will act this way, except for one tree – the gharqad tree, which is therefore defined as "one of the trees of the Jews."[3]

Various imams have claimed that Israel, being aware of the Jews' fate on Judgment Day, plants many gharqad trees as protection,[4] One even suggested that this can be viewed on Google Earth.[5]

In a July 12, 2018 press release, the Great Mosque of Paris called it "a hadith reported by a traditionalist author (Abu Horaira) who was himself rejected by Umayyad Muslim dynasty" and added: "There is no reason for this hadith to have been exhumed from oblivion."[6] This claim is incorrect, as can be seen in the list below of references to the hadith translated by MEMRI in sermons and speeches over the years. Furthermore, not only does Hamas cite this hadith in its charter,[7] but it also appears in official statements of Salafi-jihadi organizations such as Al-Qaeda. Osama bin Laden cited it, for example, in a February 2003 sermon marking 'Eid Al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice).[8]

CLIPS AND REPORTS ON THE HADITH

MEMRI TV Clips

• No. 6668 – On Hamas TV, Islamic Cleric Salah Nour Cites Antisemitic Hadith, Glorifies Jihad: The Muslims Will Rule the Entire Earth – 06/24/18
• No. 6459 – Friday Sermon in Egypt: Dr. Abu Bakr Al-Qadi Calls to Wage Jihad in Infidel Lands until Islam Rules the World – 12/17/17
• No. 6415 – Saudi Imam Abdulwahab Al-Omari Prays for Allah to Hasten Annihilation of Jews, Conversion of Christians to Islam on Judgment Day – 01/28/18
• No. 6326 – Houston Imam Raed Saleh Al-Rousan: 'Good Tidings' – Muslims Will Kill Jews On Judgment Day; 'Do Not Tell Me That Palestine Is The Country Of The Jewish [People]' – 12/08/17
• No. 6260 – Egyptian Government Official: Cowardice, Betrayal, Treachery "Kneaded into the Making" of the Jews; Israel the World Capital of Homosexuality, – 10/26/17
• No. 6226 – Egyptian Preacher Sayed Ahmad Ali Denies the Holocaust, States: There Can Be No Peace with the Jews – 08/04/17
• No. 6162 – Saudi Cleric Mamdouh Al-Harbi: Muslims' War Is with the Jews, Not Just Zionists – 07/26/17
• No. 6013 – Copenhagen Friday Sermon: Imam Cites Antisemitic Hadith, Says: Soon Caliphate Will Uproot Colonialist, Crusader Jewish Entity – 03/31/17
• No. 5846 – Gaza Friday Sermon by Hamas MP Marwan Abu Ras: The Jews Recruit Prostitutes, Girls with AIDS, to Lure Arabs into Their Traps – 01/06/17
• No. 5432 – Egypt Friday Sermon: Moshe Dayan Acknowledged that Stones and Trees Would Urge Muslims to Kill Jews on Judgment Day – 01/30/16
• No. 5158 – ISIS Sinai Threatens to Punish the Egyptian Military for Operation Martyr's Right – 11/10/15
• No. 5037 – NY Imam Tareq Yousef Refutes Hadith about War with Jews before Judgment Day  – 05/01/15
• No. 4981 – Palestinian Cleric at Al-Aqsa Mosque Cites Antisemitic Hadith, Says: The Quran Exposes the True Nature of the Jews – 06/16/15
• No. 4694 – Former Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa: Jews Plant "Gharqad" Trees to Hide from Muslims on Judgment Day – 12/23/14
• No. 4657 – Preacher at Al-Aqsa Mosque Omar Abu Sara to the Jews: "We Shall Slaughter You Without Mercy" – 11/27/14
• No. 4548 – Denmark Sermon: There Can be No Division of Palestine with the Offspring of Apes and Pigs – 09/19/14
• No. 3871 – Antisemitism in Al-Azhar University's Friday Sermon: The Jews Are The Muslims' Worst Enemies – 05/10/13
• No. 3786 – Egyptian Minister of Religious Endowments Tal'at Afifi Cites Antisemitic Hadith: The Muslims Will Kill the Jews on Judgment Day – 03/14/13
• No. 3275 – PA Mufti of Jerusalem Muhammad Hussein: The Muslims Will Kill the Jews before Judgment Day – 01/09/12
• No. 3274 – Egyptian Cleric Hazem Shuman: These Jews Are a Cancer in the Body of Planet Earth, Getting Rid of Them Is a Must  – 09/09/11
• No. 3271 – Egyptian Child Preacher Muhammad Osama Recounts Antisemitic Hadith: Jews Hide Behind the Gharqad Tree When Muslims Come to Kill Them on Judgment Day – 01/14/12
• No. 3227 – Hamas Preacher in Gaza Sermon Cites Antisemitic Hadith and Calls: Death to the Jews and to America – 12/02/11
• No. 3166 – Khodhr Habib, a Member of the Islamic Jihad Leadership in Gaza, Vows: We Will Give You Nothing but Bombs, Spears and Swords, Which Will Slit Your Throats – 10/25/11
• No. 3119 – Egyptian Author and Journalist Muhammad Abbas: "If You Tell Me that 10 Million Egyptians Will Be Martyred in Return for the Destruction of Israel - I Am All For It" – 09/04/11
• No. 2587 – Egyptian Cleric Abdallah Abd Al-Hay: The War with the Jews Is Bound to Come, Whether We Like It or Not – 04/04/10
• No. 2449 – Calls for Jihad at Rally of Kuwaiti Students Union: This Is a War of Religion, Not a War between Israelis and Arabs – 03/29/10
• No. 2367 – Antisemitic Sermon on PA TV: Even If Donkeys Cease to Bray, the Jews Will Not Cease to Be Hostile to the Muslims – 01/29/10
• No. 2261 – Egyptian Cleric Amin Al-Ansari: Hatred of Jews Is Prevalent in Sports and in the Animal Kingdom – 10/12/09
• No. 2106 – Children Indoctrinated with Antisemitism on an Egyptian-Saudi Koran-Memorization Channel – 04/27/09
• No. 2066 – Children Memorize, Recite Antisemitic Messages on Egyptian Islamist Channel – 02/12/09
• No. 2042 – Egyptian Cleric Muhammad Hussein Ya'qoub: The Jews Are the Enemies of Muslims Regardless of the Occupation of Palestine – 01/17/09
• No. 1972 – Egyptian Cleric Safwat Higazi on Hamas TV: Dispatch Those Sons of Apes and Pigs to the Hellfire, on the Wings of Qassam Rockets – 12/31/08
• No. 1965 – Egyptian Clerics Intensify Antisemitic Rants Against Backdrop of the Gaza Fighting – 12/28/08
• No. 1867 – Saudi Cleric Muhammad Al-Arifi: Jews Plant Gharqad Trees to Hide Behind When Muslims Come to Kill Them on Judgment Day – 09/12/08
• No. 1463 – Sheik Muhammad Nimr Zaghmout, Head of Palestinian Islamic Council in Lebanon: If Killing Zionist Jews, Americans, English, and French in Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan Is Considered Terrorism – I Am the No. 1 Terrorist – 05/15/07
• No. 1039 – Egyptian-American Writer Magdi Khalil: None of the Islamic Movements Believe in Democratic Values – 01/31/06
• No. 859 – Former Jordanian Minister of Religious Endowments Explains the Science behind the Annihilation of Jews on Judgment Day – 09/11/05
• No. 820 – Sheik Muhammad Ali , Deputy Head of Palestinian Clerics Association: Muslims Should Liberate Andalusia; The Jews Believe in Prophet Muhammad's Prophecy and Began Planting Gharqad Trees That Will Protect Them on Judgment Day – 08/19/05
• No. 710 – Jordanian Professor Ghazi Rabab'a: Muslims Will Return to Cordoba and Granada – 05/22/05
• No. 670 – Egyptian Imam Sings of Apes, Pigs and Annihilation of Jews on Judgment Day – 05/04/05
• No. 258 – Palestinian Clerics on Jews, Pigs, Apes, and the Liberation of Al-Aqsa Mosque – 09/12/04
• No. 192 – Friday Sermon in Bahrain: Treachery Runs in the Jews' Blood – 07/30/04
• No. 69 – Friday Sermon On Egyptian TV by Sheikh Ahmad 'Omar Hashem – 05/14/04

MEMRI Reports

• Special Dispatch No. 7480 – Turkish Newspaper Prints Antisemitic Cartoons Depicting Jews As Vampires, Vultures, And Butchers – 05/21/18
• Inquiry and Analysis No. 785 – Antisemitic and Anti-Israel Articles on Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Website – 01/13/12
• Special Dispatch No. 4227 – Following a Tour of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Saudi-Born Liberal Mansour Al-Hadj Describes Early Education in Saudi Arabia: 'We Didn't Learn that the Holocaust Was a Crime; Instead, We Learned the Muslims Are Destined to Kill the Jews at the End of Days' – 10/26/11
• Inquiry and Analysis No. 679 – Calls on Facebook for Palestinian Millions to Return to Their Homes in Israel on May 15, 2011 – 03/28/11
• Special Dispatch No. 3539 – Article in Egyptian Government Weekly: Israel's End and the Annihilation of the Jews by the Muslims – All Prophesied in the Koran, Bible – 1/27/11
• Special Dispatch No. 2988 – Muslim Brotherhood Leader: Only Jihad Can Restore the Muslim Ummah to Its Former Glory; 'The Hour is Near when [We Will] Rid the Ummah of this Foreign Body [Israel] that has been Malevolently Planted in Its Midst' – 05/31/10
• Inquiry and Analysis No. 599 – In Advance of the Arab Summit, The Arab 'Resistance Camp' and Iran Campaign For a New Intifada Against Israel, the PA and the Renewal of Peace Negotiations - While the Summit Itself Is Set To Stress a 'Just and Comprehensive Peace' Including Israeli Withdrawal from Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine as the 'Arab Strategic Option' - 03/26/10 – 03/26/10
• Special Dispatch No. 2571 – Liberal Saudi Columnist: With Wahhabism as State Religion, There's No Chance of Reform for Saudi Schools – 10/06/19
• Special Report No. 25 – Contemporary Islamist Ideology Authorizing Genocidal Murder – 01/27/04
• Special Report No. 12 – Preliminary Overview – Saudi Arabia's Education System: Curriculum Spreading Saudi Education to the World and the Official Saudi Position on Education Policy – 12/20/02