Brooklyn Friday Sermon By Raja Abdulhaq, Who Previously Spoke At Columbia University Encampment: Since 9/11, Muslims In America Have Been Viewed As A Threat To The Empire; We Cannot Be Loyal To The Security Forces Of An Empire That Is Destroying The World; The Prophet's Companions Expanded The Muslim Empire In Order To Create Justice – Not To Occupy Or Rule Like Colonial Western Powers

In his December 27, 2024 Friday sermon at the Muslim American Society (MAS) youth center in Brooklyn, activist Raja Abdulhaq stated that Muslims in America and the West have been seen as a security threat to "the empire" since 9/11. He argued that the only way to prove their "Americanism" is by demonstrating loyalty to the American government’s security forces. Abdulhaq emphasized that Muslims should remain loyal to a "healthy society," not to an empire that has invaded Iraq, Afghanistan, and is orchestrating genocide in Gaza. He said, "We can’t be loyal to that," adding that if Muslims are loyal to such an "empire," they are betraying their religion. He further explained that while the Prophet expanded the Muslim empire, it was not for colonization but to create justice. He concluded by asking, "Are we loyal to Allah and His message, or are we loyal to the empire that is destroying the world?"

Abdulhaq's comments came in response to an Islamic event aimed at Muslim NYPD officers at the MCC Muslim Community Center in Brooklyn, where, Hassan Akbar had praised Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, as well as Egypt’s deposed Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammad Morsi in his December 20, 2024 Friday sermon.

Raja Abdulhaq, co-founder of the Quds News Network and former executive Director of Islamic Leadership Council of New York, previously delivered a Friday sermon at the Columbia University encampment in April 2024. He also participated in the People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit in May 2024, on a panel titled "Palestinian Resistance and the Path to Liberation," where participants praised the October 7 attack. In a September lecture at Muslim American Society (MAS) Staten Island Center, he said that the resistance in Gaza exemplifies Jihad.

Raja Abdulhaq: "We as Muslims in America and in the West, especially after September 11, we are seen as a security threat to the empire, and the only way for us to prove our American-ism is to prove that we are loyal to the security forces of this government, of this country.

Now, this doesn't mean we should not be good citizens. This is part of our Islam, to be loyal citizens, but loyal citizens to a healthy society. Not loyal citizens to an empire that has invaded Iraq, killing one million people. Invading Afghanistan, killing thousands and hundreds of thousands of people. And today funding and orchestrating a genocide in Gaza. We can't be loyal to that. If you are loyal to that, then, I'm sorry, you're betraying your religion. You're betraying the understanding of the religion that is about justice.

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"We can't be claiming that we are worshipping Allah, the praised and exalted, so we can please him. But at the same time... Or we claim that we want to make this world a better place because that is what we are supposed to do. That's why the prophets, the praised and exalted, expanded the Muslim empire. This is why his companions opened up a lot of countries. And as we know, they opened up these countries not to occupy them, because as we know in Islamic history Muslims did not rule in the sense of empire, like colonial, Western colonial powers. They opened them to create justice and allow people to deal with themselves the way they see fit.

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"As I mentioned, we want to prove that we are loyal to their empire, but the empire will never be happy with us until we became servants to the empire.

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"Are we loyal to Allah, the praised and exalted, his message? Or are we loyal to the empire that is destroying the world? There is no easy way around it."