Subscribe Today
Request a Clip
On May 31, 2020, Soleiman Hamed, an American-born Islamic scholar who was educated in Muslim countries, uploaded a video to the Facebook page of Masjid Al-Islam in Atlanta, GA in which he referred to the protests following the death of George Floyd. Hamed said that it is okay to fight and resist evil mentalities. He said that riots have a place in bringing down oppressive systems and explained that when corporate businesses such as Target are burned down the "people engaged in oppression" feel their pockets hurt. Hamed warned rioters against "agents provocateurs" and asked that his words are not to be "twisted". In addition, he criticized cross-training that he said has taken place between Atlanta's police force and Israeli forces.
Soleiman Hamed: "It is okay to fight - listen to my words - and resist and go against that evil mentality of people believing that they are God, presenting themselves as God, being against Allah, polytheism - yes, we fight against that.
[...]
"We are not just 'armchair revolutionaries' and not just talking on the computer. But we are involved and engaged and even being seen. So again, with these uprisings and these events that are happening - it is okay to be there.
[...]
"And be careful again, I will reiterate that. They twist my words up, [saying:] 'You said in the Friday sermon, that we should be out there burning stuff.' I didn't say that, you heard what I said. I said that I was advocating for the establishment of good - and we went over those things - and forbidding the evil. And I said that the engagement in those activities has a place in revolution, in change, and they have a place in bringing down oppressive systems. Yes, and I stand by that statement. But do you know that there are some agents provocateurs and that it is in the midst of these things. You all know who the police is and who the devil is, and don't be involved in that.
[...]
"Everybody has been throwing this quote around from Dr. Martin Luther King that riots are the voice of the voiceless. It has a place. It has a place. When... Let me relax... When people feel their pockets being hurt... When people feel their businesses... I am talking about corporations, Target is a corporation, right? These incorporated... I am just using that one for example because it was in the news... Make sure that you are listening very carefully and not twisting my words. [Saying:] 'There he is condoning this and condoning that.' Be careful, that is malarkey, and I will not go for it myself. But if we are asking the question on the level of understanding strategy in movements... OK, I am answering the question from that perspective. When people take to the streets and are in the streets and are disrupting the norm - it gets the attention of the people who are engage in the oppression, right? It wasn't until those white kids go out there, burning stuff up, that they arrested the officers in Kentucky - excuse me, in Minneapolis.
[...]
"Even using the words 'protests' and 'riots' - those words are loaded words, I said 'uprisings.' People are making themselves seen and making themselves heard and combating - actually combating - the oppressive system. The police department in Atlanta was receiving training and providing training - it may be both ways - with the Zionist regime in Israel, right? So actually, [you should be] engaging your political officials and law enforcement, ensuring that can't be done. You can't be using the same thing that the Zionists are using on our people."
Latest Clips
