PA Sermon:Jews and Americans are behind all chaos in
Saudi Arabia
[FBIS (US Government service)Report]
[With thnaks to www.mideastweb.org ]

WEST BANK & GAZA STRIP

Gaza Palestine Satellite Channel in Arabic, official
television station of the Palestinian Authority,
carries on 16 July 2004 at 0958 GMT a live sermon from
Shaykh Zayid Al Nuhayyan mosque in Gaza.

Shaykh Ibrahim Mudayris delivers the sermon, which
he devotes to the theme of trust. He recalls anecdotes
from Islamic history on fulfillment of trust. He says
that the prophet fulfilled his trust to the Jewish
tribes of Medina. "Yet," he says, "our people are
being killed in steadfast, besieged Bayt Hanun. Our
people have been under siege in Bayt Hanun for more
than two weeks. They are being killed. Their children
die of hunger. They do not find food to eat."

The imam also says that fulfillment of trust goes
with governing in accordance with the shari'ah. He
cites the Koranic verse that says: "And, when you
govern among people you must do so fairly." He then
says: "Trust was lost when we the rulers stopped
ruling as revealed by God. There are more than 60
Muslim states. How many of them rule as revealed by
God? If the rulers had lost this trust, where is the
trust of the ulema?'

The imam says: "Jews rejoiced the death of the
religious scholar Shaykh Abd-al-Aziz Bin-Baz, may his
soul rest in peace. They rejoiced his death, believing
that the field is now open before them. Here they are
trying to spread chaos in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Indeed, Jews are responsible for that. Jews and
Americans are behind all this chaos in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, because it is the country of the
prophet, may the peace and blessings of God be upon
him, and also because they want to avenge for their
ancestors, who were expelled and killed."

The imam says: "We have strongly warned against
that in a previous sermon. We reject what is taking
place in the country of the prophet and the country of
his night journey. We warn the entire nation against
what is taking place in Saudi Arabia and here in the
country of the night journey. Where is the trust of
the ulema? The enemies know full well the status of
holy Al-Azhar among Muslims. And so here they are in
their media warning of holy Al-Azhar. We warn the
nation that holy Al-Azhar is sacred to all Muslims and
not just our Egyptian kinfolk. It is the one that
exports knowledge and religion to Muslims. Yes, holy
Al-Azhar is currently being fought. There are strong
pressures on the Egyptian Government. Holy Al-Azhar
represents the honor of the nation. If Egypt's economy
is based on the Nile, you must know that its honor is
based on Al-Azhar.

"I regret to say that the Egyptian media have not
conveyed the true picture to our people and kinfolk in
Egypt. We have lived with the Egyptians. They did not
convey the true picture. The people of Egypt are
people of knowledge and Islam. Yes, go there and see
the veiled women and the mosques. By God, we went to
the mosques there and could not find room in them.
This is the picture that the media must convey. The
media have lost their trust in Muslim countries. Yes,
our Egyptian people are righteous, not the dissolution
that you see in decadent TV stations. Egypt, which was
mentioned in the Koran, shall remain the symbol of the
honor of the nation and its Al-Azhar will continue to
hold its head high. We warn against any evil done to
holy Al-Azhar, because to us, Al-Azhar is a sacred
religious edifice. We reject any harm being done to it
by our enemies."

The imam continues with the same theme in the
second sermon. He praises the Egyptian people and
Al-Azhar. He welcomes the new Egyptian Government and
calls for the preservation of Al-Azhar, which, he
says, represents the honor of the entire nation. The
imam praises President Arafat's decision that
considers mosque imams, preachers, muezzins, and other
workers government employees.

The imam concludes with a general prayer to God
for success in the fulfillment of the trust. He prays:
"O God, preserve our country and all Muslim countries
from every evil. O God, preserve the country of the
two holy mosques and the country of the night journey
by the prophet, may the peace and blessings of God be
upon him. O God preserve holy Al-Azhar from the filth
of the Crusaders and Jews."