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On March 15, 2019, the Al-Azhar Mosque in Belmore, a suburb of Sydney, Australia hosted an emergency panel discussion following the massacre at the mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. One of the speakers, Sheikh Jamil El-Biza, suggested that attack was the result of governments' and politicians' defense of freedom of speech. Sheikh Jalal Chami, another one of the panel members, said that it is an honor for the victims of the shooting to have died for Islam and that Muslims should be happy for them and pray that they are accepted as martyrs. He said: "We give our life freely for the sake of Allah and His religion." Another panel member, Sheikh Omar Najjarine, said that people in Australia and New Zealand have thoughts of harming Muslims like the Christchurch shooter did. He also said that he felt jealousy towards the victims of the shooting because they entered Paradise, and he said that it is sad that most people would be thankful if they escaped or survived such a shooting, when they would have lost out on the blessing of dying as a martyr. Sheikh Najjarine added: "Who would ever think that a person in a non-Muslim country [who is not waging] Jihad could attain martyrdom. That's not special?" The panel was streamed live on Al-Azhar Mosque's Facebook page and was aired on Al-Jazeera TV with Arabic voice over. Sheikh Zoheir Abouhamza Issa, Sheikh Mohammad Anwar Sahib, and Sheikh Nassim Abdi also participated in the panel. Al-Azhar Mosque is part of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'ah Association Australia (ASWJ Australia), which has been the subject of media criticism in the past. ASWJ Australia's YouTube channels have recently shut down. For sermons by ASWJ's Sheikh Nassim Abdi, see MEMRI TV Clips No. 6790 and No. 6504.
Following are excerpts:
Sheikh Jamil El-Biza: When we hear governments, politicians, and even the police force – who are expected to be those of the first line of defense… When they use rhetoric that puts the blame on you because you are a Muslim and lifts the blame off of others because of freedom of speech, it is only natural that this was going to happen.
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We all knew that what was happening in New Zealand and Australia… Politicians, from their head to their toe… From the Prime Minister, to the smallest politician – their defense of the freedom of speech… Don't give us these crocodile tears, and don't offer us these condolences that don't go further than the camera that you are looking at.
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Sheikh Jalal Chami: By Allah, this is an honor for [the victims] – to die because of their religion. And we pray that they are [accepted as] martyrs.
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We should be happy for them.
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If this was to come to any one of us, we would be happy to welcome it.
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We ask Allah to give us the death of the martyrs.
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We give our life freely for the sake of Allah and His religion. What else do we live for?
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Sheikh Omar Najjarine: What you saw today was the putting into action of many thoughts that exist in [the minds of] people that look at you on a day-to-day basis.
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[These people] might think they want to do harm, and they have some form of intention to do something, but they don't carry it out. Today, what happened – someone did [carry it out].
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The brothers were telling me that as soon as [the shooter] walked through the door, there was a brother that was praying and he shot that brother in his head. And I thought to myself… Sometimes, you know, you wish you were that brother. A bit of jealousy comes to your heart. A bit of jealousy, you know? You get jealous that he just got his ticket to Paradise while he was praying. All he knew was that he said takbir, and the next thing, he finds himself flying in Paradise.
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Don’t you get jealous of that? And we're stuck here paying rent, paying bills, running around, dealing with people's problems, trying to make people happy… And he's already in Paradise.
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And the sad thing is that some brothers… By Allah, if we were there, in the mosque, in that situation, or we were on our way, and we heard there was a shooting, and we did a U-turn and went back… We would have said: "Thank God we were late to the mosque." Many of us would think that way. [We would say:] "Thank God we were late to the mosque, because [since] we were late, we weren't killed – we should be happy with ourselves." If we got held up, we would thank the person that held us up. [We would say:] "Thank you, if I came to the mosque earlier, I probably would have been killed." No, you [would have] lost out on the reward. You [would have] lost out on the blessing. Even the ones that survived [lost out].
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Who would ever think that a person in a non-Muslim country, with no weapons – he's not in Jihad, he's not fighting – could attain martyrdom. That's not special?
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