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Usama Abdul Ghani, an American Shi'ite Islamic scholar, was featured in a two-hour-long tribute to the leader of Iran's Revolution, Imam Khomeini, in honor of the 31st anniversary of Khomeini's death. The tribute was streamed live on June 6, 2020 on the AIM Islam YouTube channel, which belongs to the U.K.-based AhlulBayt Islamic Mission (AIM). Abdul Ghani said that after the U.S. killing of IRGC Qods Force Commander General Qasem Soleimani and PMU Deputy Commander Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, whom he referred to as martyrs, the world started to change rapidly, and he said that after the death of George Floyd, things have been "really picking up." He elaborated that the death of George Floyd was "the straw that broke camel's back" and said that it has brought the people of the world out to protest and riot against systemic racism. Abdul Ghani said that the response to these protests in America has been more police brutality and savagery, and that the time has come for the oppressed to demand their rights from the tyrants. In addition, he said that Imam Khomeini's mission had been to liberate the oppressed in the entire world, and not only in Iran, and he added that Soleimani and Al-Muhandis had been murdered for carrying out this mission. Quoting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khameni, he said that the goal of the IRGC's Qods Force is to "protect the dignity of the oppressed." Abdul Ghani further said that this is why it is important for Iran to send oil tankers to Venezuela and to aid the Syrian people. Referring to his viewers and himself as Imam Khomeini's "students," he asked how Khomeini would want his students to address systemic racism around the world.
The AhlulBayt Islamic Mission (AIM) is a Shi'ite Islamic organization based in the United Kingdom, and it is endorsed by Khamenei's representatives in the U.K. and the Red Crescent. Abdul Ghani was born in Washington, D.C. and studied in Qom, Iran for many years. He currently resides in Dearborn, Michigan. In May 2019, Abdul Ghani spoke at a Qods Day rally in Dearborn, at which he said that Israel is the "head of the snake" behind all the oppression in the world. For more information about this speech, see MEMRI TV clip no. 7284.
Usama Abdul Ghani: "After the deaths of the martyr Qasem Soleimani and the martyr Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, things started to change very rapidly in the world. You could feel it. You could see it. You are watching events, after events, after events... And now after the murder of George Floyd, again, you are seeing that things are really picking up.
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"After that happened - it was the straw that broke the camel's back - people started protesting, they started rioting. Not only that, the world got upset.
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"People marching globally. Here, in America - America [is] on fire. When that happened, what happened? More police brutality. You are seeing what a police state is like. What is a police state like? People brave bullets, rubber bullets, beatings, savagery, and they say: 'No, enough is enough!' They came out to the streets. After that, the police still didn't stop. You see them shooting reporters, blinding reporters, and arresting reporters on TV! This is the savagery of America.
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"The masses have realized you can't beg a tyrant for your lawful rights - that's what George Floyd did. Begging the tyrant doesn't work, you have to demand your rights from that tyrant. Now, knowing a little bit about what systemic racism is, what can we learn about the life of Imam Khomeini that will empower us to do this mission that we have and restore dignity to the oppressed? Not only to the oppressed here, brothers and sisters - to liberate the globe.
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"Imam Khomeini's mission was not only to give dignity to Iran, or just to the Muslims, but to the oppressed on the Earth.
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"The students of Imam Khomeini - people like the martyr Qasem Soleimani or Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis - they died trying to realize this goal of giving dignity to the oppressed. Do you remember what Khamenei said after the martyr Soleimani was murdered? He said that the mission of the Qods Force is to protect the dignity of the oppressed. [This is] why is it so important that oil tankers go from Iran to Venezuela, that the Syrians not be left alone, when the tyrants say openly: 'We are there to secure the oil.'
"How would Imam Khomeini want you and I - as his students - to look at this opportunity to take on global systemic racism, here in America - towards the African-American community - but [also] all over the world? The rest of the world... The cries of 'I can't breathe' - the people in America are saying this. The rest of the world, that's their words. The knee is still on their neck."
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