Hamas Sermon: We Pledged before the Commanders of the Jihad to Die for the Sake of Allah

In a Friday sermon in Khan Yunis, Sheik Muhammad Abu Rajab, a.k.a. Qa'qa' of Gaza, said, following the killing of three top Hamas commanders: "We pledged before the commanders of the Jihad and resistance to die for the sake of Allah." My toddler has turned his teddy bear into a make-believe captured soldier, he told the congregation of the Imam Al-Shafi' Mosque, concluding: "We are preparing for you an army that you cannot match."

Following are excerpts from the sermon, which was broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV on August 22, 2014:

Sheik Muhammad Abu Rajab: The Zionists gather, from all corners of the world, in Jerusalem and its environs. They occupy and plunder the land so that the promise of Allah will be fulfilled: "We have brought you in droves so that it will be easier to slaughter and kill you."

Oh Zionists, you know this for a fact. You know this because your stay here is temporary. You live here, but your eyes are set on the airports.

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Know that Jihad for the sake of Allah is not dependent upon any individual. Otherwise, the spread of Islam would have ceased with the death of the Prophet. However, after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the light of Islam reached the borders of France and of China. Our Jihad is not dependent upon individual people.

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Oh scoundrels, let me deliver a personal message to you. This is a personal message to the commanders of the cowardly army. I have a boy, two and a half years old. Netanyahu and Yaalon, you have been encouraging this conduct in our children, so expect their wrath.

My boy is two and a half years old, brothers. If you want to see for yourselves, I can show him to you. His favorite toy is his teddy bear. Before the war, he used to hug it and play with it, brothers. But today, the teddy bear has turned into [the enemy]. Every day, my boy says: "Where's the soldier?" He carries it on his back, with a toy gun in his hand. He goes around the house, trying to hide this [kidnapped] soldier.

Can you match that? No, you cannot. We are preparing for you an army that you cannot match, and we await the fulfillment of the promise of Allah.

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We loyal to the vow we made, oh Prophet of Allah. This is a pledge of allegiance to the death, oh Prophet of Allah. We have pledged allegiance to you and to the commanders of the Jihad – to Deif, to Al-Attar, and to Abu Shamalah. We pledged before the commanders of the Jihad and resistance to die for the sake of Allah.

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