Der spätere Konvertit Magdi Allam erklärt in dem Artikel, dass das beileibe kein isolierter Fall ist.
In Rome´s Main Mosque, One Imam Is Calling for Jihad
Incendiary sermons are being preached to the Muslims in the pope´s diocese. And this is no isolated case - the mosques are in the hands of Islamic radicals
by Sandro Magister
by Sandro Magister
ROMA - They´re downplaying it in the Vatican: "In the end, these are only the things being said in one Italian mosque. And giving too much importance to a local occurrence would risk compromising dialogue," said Archbishop Michael L. Fitzgerald, the president of the pontifical commission concerned with Islamic relations.
But the mosque in question is that of Rome, the pope´s diocese - and it´s the largest mosque in Europe. Inaugurated in 1995, it is sponsored by the Italian Islamic Cultural Center and Arab governments, in particular that of Saudi Arabia. The imam who preaches the "khutba" there every Friday was sent by the theologians of the Al Azhar university in Cairo, the most authoritative university in the Muslim world. And the things said in the Rome mosque are no small matter. The sermon of June 6, 2003, culminated with the following invocations, interspersed with the "Amen"s of the congregation:
"O Allah, grant victory to the Islamic fighters in Palestine, Chechnya, and elsewhere in the world! O Allah, destroy the homes of the enemies of Islam! O Allah, help us to annihilate the enemies of Islam! O Allah, make firm everywhere the voice of the nation of Islam!"
The audience for this sermon, which was delivered in Arabic, included Magdi Allam, a correspondent for the newspaper "La Repubblica," an Egyptian by birth and the author of important books on the Muslim world. The next day, June 7, selections from the khutba appeared on the front page of "La Repubblica," together with a statement by the imam, who was interviewed by Allam, on the terrorists who blow themselves up in order to kill Jews:
"From the Islamic point of view, there is no doubt that the operations by the mujahidin against the Jews in Palestine are legitimate. They are acts of martyrdom, and their authors are martyrs for Islam, because all of Palestine is a ´Dar al-Harb,´ a war zone; because all of Jewish society is illegally occupying a Muslim land."
The imam of the Rome mosque is Abdel-Samie Mahmoud Ibrahim Moussa, 32, an Egyptian. He doesn´t understand Italian, and speaks Arabic with a Nile delta accent. Magdi Allam wrote, in a second article for "La Repubblica" on June 8:
"He is the true product of a culture and an ideology that now dominate the Muslim university of Al Azhar, a sort of Vatican of Sunni Islam. But his is by no means an isolated case. Other Muslim spokesmen in Italy, linked with the Muslim Brotherhood and with radical currents of thought, have communicated their understanding and solidarity to the imam of Rome. The real problem is that most mosques are occupied by fundamentalist international networks. [...] The previous imam of the Rome mosque, sheikh Mahmoud Hammad Sheweita, feared for his bodily safety when he condemned the suicide attacks, thereby aligning himself against believers with radical tendencies. [...] The fact that the media are now able to reveal what is happening inside the mosques is due primarily to a renewal within the Islamic community of Italy. Many are uncomfortable and fed up with radical preaching and fundamentalist domination."
Apart from jihad, imam Moussa dedicated the sermon reported on by "La Repubblica" to family morality. He said, among other things:
"The religious man is jealous of his wife. Saad bin Ubaida said: ´If I saw my wife with another man, I would strike him with the sharp edge of my sword.´ And on this the Prophet said to his companions: ´Are you amazed at Saad´s sense of honor? In the name of God, I have a stronger sense of honor than he - and God´s sense of honor is yet greater than mine."
The Vatican engages in dialogue with various Muslim representatives, and signs joint messages of peace. But in the meantime, what is going on in the mosques? If the ideas that animate these Friday sermons are like the ones heard in Rome´s mosque, is it right to ignore them?
In Mecca, the cradle of Islam, a website has for several years been selecting "the best" of the sermons given in the mosques and sending them to imams all over the world as a guide for preaching. Given what the young Egyptian imam says from the pulpit of the main mosque in Rome, he could be one of the recipients of this service.
The ideas are identical: from the defense of crimes of honor to the incitement of jihad against Jews, Christians, and the West. See for yourself:
