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On March 15, Canadian cleric Younus Kathrada delivered a sermon in which he responded to the mosque shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand. He said that candlelight vigils have pagan origins and may not be attended by Muslims. On March 17, Kathrada delivered a lecture titled "New Zealand Shootings – Where Do We Go from Here". He said that Western governments, law enforcement, and media are to blame for the massacre because they fuel the fires of Islamophobia. He criticized Western governments for shedding blood overseas and "expect[ing] that not to come back at them," and he added that he is not justifying terrorism. He also accused law enforcement of being involved in "entrapping" Muslims and said that the Muslim community should not trust them, because it is like "asking a wolf to look over your sheep." He also said that police officials who come to holiday meals at mosques probably come to spy on the mosque members. He added: "Stop [trying to recruit spies] – you are pathetic. You're making us targets and we've done absolutely nothing wrong." Both videos were uploaded to Muslim Youth Victoria's YouTube channel. For more about Sheikh Kathrada, see MEMRI TV Clips No. 6906 and No. 6950, as well as MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 7851.
Following are excerpts:
Younus Kathrada, on March 15: Candlelight vigils have pagan origins, so it is not permissible for one who believes in Allah and the Last Day to take part in those vigils, nor is it permissible for us to invite others to attend those vigils. Let's be realistic and let's be intelligent. Muslims are slaughtered day in and day out by the thousands. For God's sake, how many candles do you want to light? How many vigils are you going to hold?
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Do not take part in those vigils and those gatherings people are arranging. They are of no benefit whatsoever.
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Your supplication and your charity, for example, on their behalf – these are things that will benefit them. As for these other silly matters, they will not benefit them. They have nothing to do with islam.
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On March 17: The very people who are supposed to be protecting us are the ones who started this whole mess to begin with.
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The government, law enforcement, and the media. They are the main culprits. They spread Islamophobia. They fuel the fires of Islamophobia. I say that, not as an assumption, not as… I believe that is probably… No, I say it with certainty. I say that they are to blame. No doubt whatsoever. The governments have all sorts of agendas. Oil… I don't have to get into that, everybody knows. Foreign policies, what they do, the amount of bloodshed that they cause overseas… Then they expect that not to come back at them? We are not justifying terrorism in any way, shape, or form – there is a difference between justifying and finding reasons behind [something].
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Yes, I don't trust law enforcement.
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Their active involvement in entrapping people – Muslims – to carry out… I am not saying that all those crazy things that were done were entrapment. I am not saying all of them were, but we certainly know of some that were. I mean some of the truth always comes out.
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So law enforcement, RCMP [Royal Mounted Canadian Police] – I do not trust you. And the Muslim community should not trust them, because if you are trusting them to look after us – it is like asking a wolf to look over your sheep.
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Give me a break, you are the reason this happened. It is like a person who comes and punches you in the face so hard and then comes [to you] with an ice pack and says: "Would you like an ice pack? I am here for you." Seriously? You bomb the you-know-what out of Muslim countries, and then you send them planeloads of aid. They wouldn't have needed it if you didn't bomb them to kingdom come to begin with. Let's be intelligent. Let's open our minds and see things as they are. And you know what? We live in a free country, we can say these things.
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Almost 15 or 14 years ago, I was misquoted [saying that the Jews were apes and pigs], and the media tried to make a big deal of something that was not a big deal.
Audience Member: The Christmas thing…
Younus Kathrada: No, 14 years ago, buddy, that was not what it was. Anyway, they tried to make a big deal of things and tried to make me look like this huge criminal, and so on and so forth. He made me lose my train of thought… Anyways, after that, a Jewish group contacted me, and they wanted to meet.
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I wrote to them again and I said: "Yes, I would like to confirm that the meeting will be for such and such a day, at such and such a time, at this location, but no media is invited." [I told them] no media should be brought into it, because I don't do things for photo ops. I don't do things to earn a name.
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Guess what happened – the meeting was canceled.
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[Muslim community leaders say:] "Oh, but [police officials] come and share iftar with us. They eat with us and break fast with us." Well, first of all, they weren't fasting, so I don't know how they broke their fast. But anyway, they came to share food with us. Okay, guess what? They probable came in [to the mosque] because they wanted to spy on you.
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The spies that you keep sending, the ones you keep trying to recruit – stop it, you are pathetic. You are making us targets and we have done absolutely nothing wrong.
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