Al-Quds Day in Frigging Canada

“Ramadan is not a month of laziness but rather a month of activity, of effort, and of hard work, and as it also was in the life of the Prophet, a month of jihad, conquest, and victory.” — Palestinian Authority Supreme Sharia Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash

“Ramadan is a month of holy war and death for Allah. It is a month for fighting the enemies of Allah and God’s messenger, the Jews and their American facilitators.” — Qaedat al-Jihad

“Ramadan is the pious month of ‘Jihad-o-Qital’ (Jihad and killing). Those who attain martyrdom while waging Jihad, doors of heaven remain open.” — Maulana Bashir Ahmad Khaki

“Our fight is Jihad and an obligatory worship. And every obligatory act of worship has 70 times more reward in Ramadan.” — Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid

Raheel Raza might dismiss all these as jihadis who are twisting and hijacking her peaceful Islam, and that’s fine by me. The more Muslims she manages to convince of that, if she convinces any at all, the better. But the reason why she likely has trouble convincing Muslims that “conflict” is forbidden during Ramadan is because these four sources I just quoted are not ignorant of Islam and what it teaches. Habbash is a Sharia judge. Khaki is a maulana, a scholar of Islam. They didn’t draw their views about Ramadan out of thin air. They drew them from Islamic sources such as the hadith I quoted. And other Muslims do as well, which is one reason why there has been not just the abhorrent Al-Quds Day rally this Ramadan, but also 138 jihad attacks with 782 people killed.

Raza rejects the authority of “the ayatollahs and mullahs” and claims that “there is no official clergy in Islam,” but then clouds the point she is trying to make by adding: “Muslims believe in a direct connection with the Almighty, without the need for an intercessor.” That’s true, but it really doesn’t establish whether or not there are religious authorities in Islam, even if they aren’t considered intercessors between Allah and human beings (neither are Christian priests, which she apparently doesn’t know, but that’s beside the point). Generally in Sunni Islam, the ulama of various countries are recognized and respected authorities whose understandings of various issues take precedence over the understanding of the individual believer. In Shi’ite Islam the ayatollahs, to whom Raza refers directly here, have even greater authority. The word “ayatollah” itself means “sign of Allah,” which is the same designation given to verses of the Qur’an, and the ayatollahs are considered to be superior in Islamic learning; their opinions are not to be taken lightly or idly dismissed.

And finally, it must be noted that jihadis do not consider their acts of jihad to be manifestations of “hate” or “revenge” or “anger.” They are, rather, acts of piety and devotion to Allah, performed in the hope of reward from Allah. So when Raza says that there is to be no hate or revenger or anger during Ramadan, that may be true, but to a jihadi, or a participant in Al-Quds Day, that wouldn’t negate screaming “Allahu akbar” to the announcement of an attack on the Jews, whom the Qur’an designates as the worst enemies of the Muslims (5:82).

In light of all this, while Raheel Raza’s piece no doubt comforts those who are ignorant about these issues, her arguments would do nothing to deter a jihadi or change the mind of a participant in Al-Quds Day. And that’s what is really needed.

“Raheel Raza: As a practising Muslim, I find Al-Quds Day abhorrent,” by Raheel Raza, National Post, April 26, 2022

On April 24, there was an anti-Israel rally in downtown Toronto, at which participants could be heard shouting “God is great” after it was announced that Israel had been hit by two rockets. Such hate-filled events are not uncommon in Toronto, as we witness every year at the Al-Quds Day parade. As a practising Muslim observing the sanctity of the holy month of Ramadan — which is about contemplation, reflection and the renewal of our ethics and morals — I feel I must speak out….

First of all, conflict is prohibited during the month of Ramadan, as it is a time when hate, revenge, anger and rage are to be subdued. Thus, orchestrating an event that is nothing but a hate fest is totally against the essence of Ramadan.

Secondly, while some people believe they are following a legal edict by an ayatollah, according to many learned scholars, there is no official clergy in Islam. Muslims believe in a direct connection with the Almighty, without the need for an intercessor.

The ayatollahs and mullahs who take it upon themselves to impose their ideas on the Muslim masses are not divine and neither are they “sanctioned” by Islam. They are not in a position to promote violence and hate against anyone. In fact, Islam promotes knowledge, debate and discussion.

The Prophet Muhammad advised Muslims to attain knowledge even if you have to go to China (China at that time being considered the farthest point). Muslims are also told that if you possess knowledge and do not share it, you are like a donkey carrying a burden of books. The ayatollahs and mullahs who perpetuate Al-Quds Day are like the donkey, because they don’t share knowledge, but only incite divisions….

In May 2021, I wrote an article in this newspaper about violence perpetrated against two young people, warning that the roots of antisemitism are based on hate and if hate-fests are allowed to take place on our streets, then we are headed in the wrong direction. After it was published, I received a message from a member of the Sufi Centre, which I had attended for many years, saying that they were “Not happy at all with your recent article about Israel and Palestine. You are not one of us.” The stench of antisemitism was strong.