Habbash: Israel will cease to exist, Palestine will be liberated
Official PA TV, Friday sermon by Supreme Shari’ah Judge, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs, and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice Mahmoud Al-Habbash at a mosque in Ramallah
Supreme Shari’ah Judge, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs, and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice Mahmoud Al-Habbash: "This [hadith condemning Muslims who accept a life without honor] wants… the Muslims to be liberated from bowing under the weight of reality, this world, and their small desires –
'And you were satisfied with seeding and harvesting, and you walked behind the cattle's tails'…
If this is the purpose and this is the goal – then this opens for us all the gates of humiliation. Prophet [Muhammad] says: If you do this Allah will bring down humiliation upon you, and you will not escape it until you return to your religion. It is as if he is says that these things are not a part of the religion. The religion wants us to be honorable men, men who snatch victory even out of the fire, and out of the suffering. Why have we now become [a people] the enemy can do with as they please? Why do they dare [to look down] upon us, why? Why does the Israeli Minister of [Public] Security [Gilad Erdan] come out two days ago [Aug. 14, 2019] and state: We want to allow Jews to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque (see note below –Ed.) – with all of the arrogance and humiliation, why does he dare [to look down upon] a nation that fills the entire world, why? Why does America dare to say: Jerusalem is the capital of Israel (see note below –Ed.) – while the Arabs and Muslims are numerous and wealthy and have money, human wealth, natural resources, weapons, and power – but they are 'satisfied with seeding,' with this world's affairs, preferring life in this world over the Hereafter…
This is humiliation that is caused by the adherence to this world, to life under the yoke of the burden of this world. 'O you who have believed, what is [the matter] with you that, when you are told to go forth in the cause of Allah, you adhere heavily to the earth? Are you satisfied with the life of this world rather than the Hereafter?' [Quran, Sura 9:38, Sahih International translation] Are you satisfied with the inferior life in this world more than the Hereafter? …
This courage that comes to our enemies today – the reason is us, our behavior, our division. The occupation is not overpowering us just because it is stronger than us in numbers and preparedness… but rather overpowering us because we are divided, scattered, weak within ourselves… We feel defeated…
We are not defeated – but we must hold onto the elements of victory, hold onto the factors of success… until we can realize it. Our enemy's courage regarding the Al-Aqsa Mosque – yesterday they closed it (in response to the stabbing of an Israeli police officer; see note below –Ed.) and today they announced that they will not allow anyone under the age of 50 to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque. All of this is because the nation has sat down. I am not talking about the Palestinian people. We the Palestinians – perhaps on behalf of the entire nation, let them all hear it: We are the bravest. We are the most heroic. We are the ones who are carrying out Ribat (i.e., religious conflict over land claimed to be Islamic) the most. And we are the ones who most adhere to the truth. However, Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque are not the responsibility of us alone. We are not shirking the responsibility, [but] it is the responsibility of 1.5 billion Muslims. Where are they, where are they? They have even refrained from making a peaceful pilgrimage to Jerusalem… Jerusalem will not return through slogans alone, and Jerusalem will not be liberated by only expressing empathy, crying, and writing slogans. O nation of Islam, Jerusalem will be liberated when we break free of the weight of this world, from the weight of desires, from the weight of division, from the selfishness and regionalism… When every Arab and Islamic state breaks free of the lie of the borders between them, when the peoples break free of the lie of nations, countries, permits, borders, and visas between the Arabs and Muslims – when they break free, Jerusalem will be liberated. This situation cannot continue – it cannot. If we do not act, then Allah will transfer us. The world and death will transfer us, and Allah 'will bring forth [in place of them] a people He will love and who will love Him [who are] humble toward the believers, powerful against the disbelievers; they strive in the cause of Allah and do not fear… That is the favor of Allah; He bestows it upon whom He wills' [Quran, Sura 5:54, Sahih International translation]. This is Allah's favor – we can take it and achieve it ourselves, or we will pass from this life, and others will come and achieve this honor. We ask of Allah that we will achieve this honor…
There are among us… those who think and imagine that the keys to the world lie in America's hands, and that we must bow down… that we must beg America and Israel so that they will give us some of our rights… We will not beg, and America is not predestined, and the occupation and Israel are not predestined. Only Allah determines fate. Today there is an existing situation of colonialism. Let me- search all of human history [for] a colonialist situation that remains forever, a state that is established on a colonialist basis that remains forever. Where is the Byzantine [Empire], the empire that filled the entire world? Where is the Persian Empire? …They have all passed. The passage of history does not lie nor change, but rather works according to the laws of the universe, according to the law that Almighty Allah established in the passage of life… Nobody can transgress Allah's laws… They are existential laws: Laws of force, laws of justice, laws of equality, laws of welfare, and laws of freedom. The existing colonialist situation can perhaps not exist longer than the colonialist situation of the Crusaders, - who occupied Jerusalem for more than 90 years, and then it ended and disappeared… As long as someone comes from among the people of the country, someone who will adhere to and reveal the elements of the law of change in this situation, in order to change it. The Muslims revealed this in the time of Saladin Al-Ayyubi (i.e., the founder of the 12th-13th century Ayyubid dynasty), and the situation changed, and the Crusader state passed… We must now reveal ourselves anew; in light of what, brothers? On the basis of Allah's book [the Quran] and the Prophet's Sunna (i.e., Islamic tradition) … If we adhere to the book and the Sunna, we will be strong and we will be the masters of the world; and if we act in contradiction of the book and the Sunna, we will be defeated and humiliated… This situation can change overnight…
Palestine will be liberated – this is an absolute fact, but- either by us or by a future generation. Let us begin at least, let us begin so that we will spare the future generations suffering and hardships…
Allah, forgive our sins and excesses, strengthen our resolve, and grant us victory over the infidel people."
The mention of Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan’s statements refer to comments he made in an interview with Radio 90FM on Aug. 13, 2019, in which he said: “I think that there is an injustice in the status quo that has existed [on the Temple Mount] since 1967, and that it is necessary to work to change it so that Jews in the future will be able God willing to also pray on the Temple Mount, which is the holiest site for the Jewish people and the third most significant site in Islam.”
US recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel - On Dec. 6, 2017, US President Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Trump added that the final borders of Jerusalem will be determined during negotiations. The US embassy was transferred from Tel Aviv and opened in Jerusalem on May 14, 2018, the anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence in 1948 according to the Gregorian calendar.
Nassim Abu Roumi and Hamouda Al-Sheikh – 14-year-old Palestinian terrorists who stabbed and wounded an Israeli police officer at the Chain Gate of the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem on Aug. 15, 2019. Abu Roumi and Al-Sheikh were shot and killed during the attack; a Waqf guard bystander was wounded by the gunfire.