Why is Canadian imam’s prayer to kill Jews met with silence?

As Canada reportedly inches forward toward criminalizing Islamophobia, why are Trudeau and Islamic groups silent over a Quebec imam’s prayer to annihilate Jews? 

Quebec Imam Sayed Al Ghitawi of the Al Andalous Islamic Center in Montreal, Quebec, recited prayers that include the following supplications:

O Allah, destroy the accursed Jews

O Allah, show us the black day you inflict on them

O Allah, show us the wonders of your power and ability inflicted on them, O the most Merciful

O Allah, show us how you do to them what you did to [the peoples] of ʿĀd and Thamud [ancient peoples that perished by Allah because they didn’t heed the warnings of the prophets]…

O Allah, make their children orphans and their women widows

Where are the leaders of the Muslim communities in Canada? I have not heard a word of condemnation for these prayers, these calls in Canada to murder Jews.

Nothing from Dr. Iqbal Massod Al-Nadvi, the Amir (President) of Islamic Circle of North America – Canada (ICNA, which is the leading Muslim religious group in Canada), who is also serving as Chairperson of Canadian Council of Imams. ICNA Canada’s online syllabus states the following on jihad:

The objective of Jihad. This objective warrants that one must struggle against Kufr (disbelief) and Shirk (polytheism) and the worship of falsehood in all its forms. Jihad has to continue until this objective is achieved. This contention is supported by a Hadith, to the effect that Jihad will continue till the Day of Resurrection.

In this Hadith the word (An-Nas) translated above as “people” stands for the polytheists and idolaters. The reason being that other Nasus (pl. of Nass, meaning `text’) confirm the exemption of Ahl-ul-Kitab (people of the Scriptures) from it subject to the condition that they agree to pay Jizyah (dues imposed by Islam on the people of the Book living under the protection of an Islamic state) and submit to the Muslim rule. The Arab pagans have only the choice to either embrace Islam or face war. In the latter case, it is incumbent on the Mualims to wage Jihad against them to wipe out Kufr and Shirk and raise the banner of Tauhid everywhere.

Islamic Jihad – Not ‘Defensive War Only’

This Hadith strongly refutes the people who distort the Islamic concept of Jihad and hold that Islam preaches defensive war only.

Not a word from Majdi Dridi of the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC).

Nor from Ihsaan Gardee of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) a lobby group.

Or Lal Khan Malik national president of The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama.

Trudeau: ‘Islam is Compatible with the West’

And most importantly, silence from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has said over and over that Islam is compatible with the West.

(November 24, 2015): “Canadians are quick to point out that ISIS is wrong, that Islam is not incompatible with the Western secular democracy, a free place like Canada.”

(January 31, 2016): “But on the other hand, we need to make sure that we’re working with communities like the Muslim community, for example, to demonstrate that Islam is not incompatible with free and open Western societies.”

Is he suggesting that calling for the killing of Jews is compatible with the West?

Where is the angst over these prayers?

Yet all of Canada cried out in dismay when innocent Muslims at prayer were gunned down Sunday January 29. On that day, French Canadian Alexandre Bissonnette, a 27-year-old student at Laval University, entered the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec, a mosque in Quebec City’s Sainte-Foy neighbourhood ,and murdered six innocent people at prayer.

This is No Longer Our Country

The Prime Minister quickly designated it a terrorist attack, even before the police statement.

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Canada, the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), and the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC), strongly condemned the attack.

Majdi Dridi of the Muslim Association of Canada, who knew two of the victims, lamented: “I don’t know what to say.”

The National Council of Canadian Muslims, the leading voice enriching Canadian society through Muslim civic engagement and the promotion of human rights, called on law enforcement agencies around the country to increase security around mosques and Islamic centres.

“We are horrified by this despicable act of violence,” the council’s executive director Ihsaan Gardee said in a statement. “This act of wanton murder must be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama also spoke out against the attack: “We are deeply saddened by the attack that took place in a mosque in Quebec City and we pray for the rapid recovery of the wounded,” said national president Lal Khan Malik.

What is happening in my tolerant, inclusive, accommodating, diverse Canada that we gather around only when Muslims are murdered but remain silent when calls to murder Jews take place in Muslim houses of worship?

By Diane Weber Bederman
This article was first published in Canadian Investigative Journalism (CIJNews).

anti-SemitismIncitementIslamophobiaQuebecRadical IslamSayed Al GhitawiTrudeau