In a Friday, May 19, 2023 sermon at the Islamic Center of Detroit, Michigan, Imam Imran Salha warned Muslims against forging alliances with pro-Palestine activists who endorse LGBTQ principles and who are "at war with Allah", such as the Democratic Party. Salha also condemned Israel's Jerusalem Day Flag March, in which the "sick disgusting Zionist regime - may Allah eradicate them," took their "disgusting flags [and] entered the purified land of Al-Aqsa." He warned the Islamic leaders and scholars "who have sold out on Palestine," saying: "You will be dragged by the chains of Hellfire with the people that you want to make peace with." Imam Salha was born in New Jersey and is of Palestinian origin. The sermon was posted on the YouTube channel of ICD - the Islamic Center of Detroit.
Imran Salha: "If somebody loves Palestine, but they don't worship Allah, then I don't want your activism for Palestine. What is your activism for Palestine going to help me, if you are at war with Allah? This is one of the mistakes that, unfortunately, here in America, we have made politically. We want to work for the sake of Palestine, but then shake hands with people who endorse things like the LGBTQ principles.
"So you will say that the Democrats will support the Palestinians, but they are at war with Allah. Do you think that someone who is at war with Allah will help you achieve freedom for Palestine?
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"You know Paradise, you know Hell, you know the Day of Judgement, you know the Purgatory. You know that if you are patient, you have something to look forward to, whereas those [non-believers], the only thing they know about death is that they will become fertilizer for cows.
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"There was the Flag March in Palestine, where the sick, disgusting Zionist regime – may Allah eradicate them from existence, say: 'Amen' – they took their disgusting flags, the flags of occupation and oppression, and entered into the purified land of Al-Aqsa, walking around as if they had a claim to that land.
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"The most confused youth are the white-washed youth. You are not white. You are not European. You are an Arab. And you are... Be as [Arab] as they see you can possibly be.
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"Do not try to appease the White Man. We have been stuck under the colonized way of thinking.
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"Those who don't want us to succeed, want us to erase [our identity], and all come to America, in the melting pot, and listen to Justin Bieber. No. We don't need this, and we reject that. We have our culture and we have our things that we return to.
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"And we say, inshallah, to those who have sold out on Palestine, whether they are a sheikh, a leader, or call themselves an [Islamic] scholar – you are a sell-out, nothing but a sell-out, you are a dishonorable human being, and there is a problem with your faith, and you will be inshallah dragged by the chains of Hellfire, with the people you want to make peace with.
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"May Allah grant us, in our lifetime, the ability to see a free Muslim nation, liberated from the shackles of colonization, Allah willing."