Head Of Qatar-Funded IUMS Describes Perpetrator Of Terror Attack At Jordan-Israel Border Crossing As 'Hero' Whose Action Reflects The Sentiments And Ideas Of The Muslim Nation

In a September 10, 2024 statement, Dr. Ali Al-Qaradaghi, the head of the Internation Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), which is based in and funded by Qatar, praises Maher Al-Jazi, the Jordanian who carried out the September 8 terror attack at the Israel-Jordan border-crossing, in which three Israelis were killed. Posted on the official website of the IUMS, the statement is titled "The Crimes of the Zionists Will Not Go Unpunished, and the Will of the People Is Undefeatable.” In it, Al-Qaradaghi describes Al-Jazi as a hero whose action represents the feelings and ideas of the entire Muslim nation. Commending him for acting on his own without waiting for a religious ruling or for instructions, Al-Qaradaghi also states that “the silence of the Islamic nation is due to the chains and shackles placed on it by the tyrant” (hinting at the Arab regimes). He warns the “Zionists” that “the brutal massacres and genocide will not bring them security and safety” but are “the beginning of their end."

The next day, on September 11, 2023, the IUMS published a statement titled "Urgent appeal from the IUMS to states, nations and individuals to engage in supporting Palestine and stopping the genocide by all available means." In it, the IUMS addressed all Muslim political leaders, scholars, armies and the general public and stressed that it is necessary for "the nations and those who are able to take part in defending the Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and elsewhere, and the obligation of waging jihad to liberate Palestine, [to] restore Al-Aqsa Mosque, and reclaim all the stolen rights of the Palestinian people." The statement also stressed the importance of praising "those who are resisting" whose "jihad is the relied-upon path for liberating the homeland and restoring the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Supporting them with all possible means is a religious duty and a humanitarian necessity, permitted by all international and human laws." The statement concludes that “all Muslims including states, organizations, and individuals must provide all means of support and reinforcement for the mujiahideen and for the Palestinian people by all means."[1]

It should be noted that, since the beginning of the Gaza war, members of the IUMS, headed by Ali Al-Qaradaghi, have been inciting to fight against Israel and fomenting rebellion against the Jordanian regime.[2] On October 31, 2023, the IUMS even issued a fatwa calling on the Palestinian resistance factions in the West Bank and Israel, the countries bordering Israel including Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, and all other Arab and Muslim countries to intervene militarily to assist Hamas against Israel.[3]  

The following are translated excerpts from Al-Qaradaghi’s  statement in praise of Maher Al-Jazi:[4]

"Is our blood like cold water, while the blood of the Zionists is like pure gold? And is the feeling of our nation dead and scattered, while the feelings of the Zionists and their followers are alive and strong? Absolutely not! A thousand times no! Reality attests to this.

“Our nation is alive and aware, and feels like a single body [composed of different] organs, which suffers sleeplessness and fever whenever any part of it is in pain. Anyone who fails to feel the pain of his brothers is not part of the Islamic nation, as the beloved Prophet Muhammad said…

“Let the Zionists know that the Islamic nation, two billion people strong, is bubbling like boiling water over their crimes, which exceed all imagination, have crossed all of the boundaries and red lines, violate all true laws, international and humanitarian, and contradict all values of humanity and mercy, and even the values of animals. So how can the Islamic nation not rise up when all the free nations and peoples of the world have already done so?!!!

“The Zionists should know that the silence of the Islamic nation is due to the chains and shackles placed [on it] by tyrants. Given the chance, the nation would rise in a great revolution and stand united against the genocide and daily massacres witnessed by all, which tear hearts and make the skin crawl.

“The action of the Jordanian hero, the martyr Maher Al-Jazi, reflects the sentiments and ideas of the nation and serves as a powerful reminder that the will of the people cannot be suppressed, subdued or killed, no matter how governments conspire or use fallacies as evidence.

“The Jordanian hero, the martyr Maher Al-Jazi, had no need for threats or shows of force; he relied only on his strong faith and the justice of his cause. He acted alone without waiting for a fatwa [religious ruling] or an instruction, reminding the world that the resistance of the people is not merely slogans but is action that stems from within. He sent a clear message that this land [Palestine] will not be forgotten, that the truth does not die with the passage of time, and that the story is not yet over.

“The Zionists should know that brutal massacres and genocide will not bring them security and safety; rather, it is the beginning of their end, and their faces may be darkened in the eyes of the world…”