Hamas Leaders: Our Goal Is Establishment Of Global Islamic Caliphate, Not Just Liberation Of Palestine

While Hamas presents itself as a Palestinian movement whose goal is to eliminate Israel and establish an independent Palestinian state stretching from the River to the Sea, this movement is also part of the global Muslim Brotherhood (MB), whose ultimate goal and vision is the establishment of a worldwide Islamic caliphate. Hamas leaders and spokesmen repeatedly express that their movement will not liberate only Palestine, but aims to bring all the Islamic countries, and eventually the entire world, under Islamic rule. The  liberation of Palestine, they stress, is just a prelude to the establishment of a worldwide caliphate: Rome will be conquered by Islam as Constantinople was once conquered, and then the rest of the world will be overtaken as well, including America and Eastern Europe.

Arab writers have in fact slammed Hamas for this aspect of its ideology and rhetoric. In a recent article,  published in the wake of Hamas' October 7 massacre in southern Israel, Egyptian author Dr. Mouna Al-Hilmi wrote that Hamas purports to be fighting for the liberation of Palestine, but its ultimate goal, like that of the MB, is the restoration of the caliphate. Yemeni journalist Hani Salem Mashour made similar remarks in a recent article in the Emirati daily Al-Arab.

The following are translated statements by Hamas officials and clerics published by MEMRI over the years in which they articulate the movement's vision of reestablishing the Islamic caliphate. Also below are excerpts from the articles of the two journalists who criticized Hamas for this.

Hamas Official Fathi Hammad: "We Shall Liberate Our Al-Aqsa Mosque, And Our Cities And Villages, As A Prelude To The Establishment Of The Future Islamic Caliphate"

Hamas Political Bureau member and former Minister of the Interior Fathi Hammad declared on a December 1, 2023 show on Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas – Gaza) that the Palestinians are preparing to establish an Islamic caliphate with Jerusalem as its capital. He said: "The [Palestinian] people have been soldiers throughout history. They are now preparing to liberate Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and I am saying this loud and clear: [The Palestinian people] are preparing to establish the Caliphate, with Jerusalem as its capital city, Inshallah. Jerusalem will not only be the capital city of Palestine as an independent state – it will be the capital city of the Islamic Caliphate…

Fathi Hammad made similar remarks in a November 13, 2013 public address in Gaza, when he was serving as Minister of the Interior. He said: "We shall liberate our Al-Aqsa Mosque, and our cities and villages, as a prelude to the establishment of the future Islamic Caliphate. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are at the threshold of a global Islamic civilization era. The fuel and spearhead of this era will be Gaza, and its mujahideen and leaders will be from Gaza, Allah willing."

Senior Hamas Official Mahmoud Al-Zahar: The Army Of Jerusalem Will Not Liberate Only Palestine; The Whole World Will Come Under An Islamic System "With No Zionism, No Treacherous Christianity"

In a December 12, 2022 show on Al-Masirah TV, affiliated with the Yemeni Houthis, Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahar said: "When we speak about the Army of Jerusalem and the Battle of the Promise of the Hereafter, we are not talking about liberating our land alone – but we believe in what our Prophet Muhammad said: 'Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake, and I have seen its eastern and western ends. The dominion of my nation would reach those ends that have been drawn near me.' The entire 510 million square kilometers of Planet Earth will come under [a system] where there is no injustice, no oppression, no treachery, no Zionism, no treacherous Christianity, and no killings and crimes, like those being committed against the Palestinians, and against the Arabs in all the Arab countries – in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and other countries."

In a speech aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV on September 5, 2010, Al-Zahhar made similar remarks, saying: "Our enterprise extends far beyond Palestine: Palestine in its entirety, the Arab nation in its entirety, the Islamic nation in its entirety, and the entire world."

Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al: The Nation of Islam Will Sit at the Throne of the World

In an address he gave at the Al-Murabit Mosque in Damascus, which was aired on Al-Jazeera TV on February 3, 2006, Hamas leader Khaled Mash'al stated that the Islamic nation will regain the leadership of the world, and then the West will be full of remorse when it is too late. He said: "Wherever the [Islamic] nation is targeted, its enemies will be defeated, Allah willing. The nation of Muhammad is gaining victory in Palestine. The nation of Muhammad is gaining victory in Iraq, and it will be victorious in all Arab and Muslim lands. 'Their multitudes will be defeated and turn their backs [and flee].' These fools will be defeated, the wheel of time will turn, and times of victory and glory will be upon our nation, and the West will be full of remorse, when it is too late…

"Today, the Arab and Islamic nation is rising and awakening, and it will reach its peak, Allah willing. It will be victorious. It will link the present to the past. It will open up the horizons of the future. It will regain the leadership of the world. Allah willing, the day is not far off…

"I say to the [European countries]: Hurry up and apologize to our nation, because if you do not, you will regret it. This is because our nation is progressing and is victorious. Do not leave a black mark in the collective memory of the nation, because our nation will not forgive you.

"Tomorrow, our nation will sit on the throne of the world. This is not a figment of the imagination, but a fact. Tomorrow we will lead the world, Allah willing. Apologize today, before remorse will do you no good. Our nation is moving forwards, and it is in your interest to respect a victorious nation...

"Our nation will be victorious. When it reaches the leadership of the world, and controls its own will decisions, then it will prevent this overt interference [in our affairs], and its pillaging of natural resources, and will prevent these recurring offenses against our land, against our nation, and against our holy places – then you will regret it."

Hamas Senior Official Ahmad Bahr: The Arab Spring Revolutions Were A Prelude to an Islamic Caliphate

In an April 9, 2011 interview with the Qatari daily Al-Raya, top Hamas official Ahmad Bahr, then deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), said that the Arab Spring uprisings against the dictatorships that the West had installed in the Arab countries heralded the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate. He said: "I would like to say that these [revolutions] are [merely] a prelude to the Islamic Caliphate... [whose establishment] the Prophet [Muhammad] foretold in the hadith: 'You will have the prophecy, according to Allah's will. Then will He put an end to it, according to His will. And then there will be a Caliphate by way of prophecy, according to the will of Allah... And there will be a biting kingdom [i.e., an oppressive rule], according to the will of Allah... [and then] a kingdom of coercion, according to the will of Allah... Then there will be a Caliphate by way of prophecy,' etc. The [term] 'kingdom of coercion,' as the hadith [commentators] explained, refers to the dictatorships that oppressed, cheated, killed, and destroyed. These were [created by] Western and American industry, which paved the way for the plundering of all the [Muslim] ummah's resources – its oil and its agriculture. I hope that this awakening heralds the establishment of a Caliphate by way of prophecy, according to the will of Allah..."[1]

Hamas MP and Cleric Yunis Al-Astal in a Friday Sermon: We Will Conquer Rome, and from There Continue to Conquer the Two Americas and Eastern Europe

In a Friday sermon that aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV on April 11, 2008, Hamas MP and cleric Yunis Al-Astal said: "Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our Prophet Muhammad. Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam, and has planted the brothers of apes and pigs [i.e., the Jews] in Palestine in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam – this capital of theirs will be an advance post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread through Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, and even Eastern Europe.

"I believe that our children or our grandchildren will inherit our Jihad and our sacrifices, and Allah willing, the commanders of the conquest will come from among them. Today, we instill these good tidings in their souls, and by means of the mosques and the Koran books, and the history of our Prophets, his companions, and the great leaders, we prepare them for the mission of saving humanity from the hellfire on the brink of which they stand."

Similar remarks were made In a Friday sermon that aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV on March 5, 2010: "The prophecy of the conquest of Rome remains valid, Allah willing. Just like Constantinople was conquered some 500 years ago, Rome too will be conquered. Our prayers, our fasting, and the charity we give will be to no avail, if we doubt the Prophet Muhammad. How can we proceed along the path of righteousness, if we are not secure in our belief that Rome will be conquered, as promised by the Prophet Muhammad and as proclaimed by Allah?"

Egyptian Writer: Hamas Hides Behind The Slogan Of Liberating Palestine But Is Really Interested In Establishing An Islamic Caliphate

Arab writers have commented on this aspect of Hamas and its ideology. In a recent article in the Egyptian daily Al-Dustour, published in the wake of Hamas' October 7 massacre in southern Israel, Egyptian author, poet and journalist Dr. Mouna Al-Hilmi wrote that Hamas purports to be fighting for the liberation of Palestine, but is not really interested in a Palestinian nation-state. Rather, like its parent movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas's ultimate goal is the restoration of the global caliphate. Al-Hilmi wrote: "Whoever reads Hamas' charter will become convinced that it is a terror organization par excellence, which is why many countries have agreed to designate it as such. As stated in its charter, from 1988, Hamas explicitly seeks to destroy or dismantle Israel, while hiding behind [the slogan] of freeing Palestine, which it regards as 'Muslim' land. Ever since it won the elections to the legislature [in 2006], the power of the terrorist Hamas has grown, and since it is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, it takes part in the [Brotherhood's] jihad to establish a global Islamic caliphate…

"Hamas is not interested in liberating the Palestinian homeland, because, ultimately, it does not recognize the idea of the homeland [i.e., of the nation state] and regards Islam as the homeland. What really interests it is what it regards as the 'sacred religious duty' of every Muslim everywhere, namely, getting rid of the Jews and expelling them from every place, because [according to Hamas] the Jews hate Allah, killed their prophets and denied Allah's signs. Let us beware [this organization], since it is a cruel arm of the Muslim Brotherhood."[2]

Columnist In UAE Daily: Hamas, A Muslim Brotherhood Faction, Seeks To Topple Arab Countries And Revive The Caliphate

Similar arguments were made by Yemeni journalist Hani Salem Mashour. In his October 17, 2023 column in the London-based Emirati daily Al-Arab, he too argued that the aim of Hamas, like that of the Muslim Brotherhood movement to which it belongs and of the other extremist organizations with which it is linked, is to topple the Arab regimes and establish an Islamic Caliphate:

"…The primary goal of the extremist Islamic organizations... is still to crush the nation-state. Thus, the Houthis [i.e. the Houthi Ansar Allah movement in Yemen] emerged, claiming to represent Yemen; Hizbullah [claimed it] represented Lebanon, and Al-Hashd Al-Sha'abi [Popular Mobilization Units, aka PMU] and its allies [claimed] to represent Iraq. These organizations engage in taking peoples and countries hostage and entangling them in wars and conflicts that have no clear objectives besides a desire to abolish the political borders of the Arab nation-state. This is the goal pursued by the religious organizations, in order to establish... what they describe as 'the Caliphate State.'

"The Hamas and PIJ movements have no right to claim that they represent the will of the Palestinian people in order to entangle it a pointless war – just as none of the religious organizations have the right to do so. In light of the siege on the Gaza Strip, and following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, it would be appropriate for the wisdom of the Arab collective to awaken [and recognize] the truth as it is. It is inconceivable for the nation-state to be replaced by a caliphate state... [This is because] such a state cannot exist in the [current] political reality. Although today's reality is drenched in blood, it may indeed turn into an opportunity for an awakening, for reexamination, and for deciding to disengage from the legacies exploited by the extremist organizations in order to destroy all of mankind."[3]