Imam Ayman Elkasrawy from the Masjid Toronto mosque (Dundas and Bay) who is also a Teaching Assistant at Ryerson University, did the right thing by apologizing for the supplications he recited during Ramadan in 2016 in which he asked Allah to give Muslims victory over the infidels, annihilate the enemies of Islam and “purify Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews.”
His words were posted by Masjid Toronto mosque on YouTube (originally in Arabic).
O Allah! We ask you… [to give us] victory over the enemies. O Allah! Raise the standing of Islam and the Muslims. O Allah! Give victory (help) to your oppressed slaves all over the world, east to west. O Allah! Give victory (help) to your slaves who believe in the oneness of Allah, O the Lord of the Worlds! O Allah! Destroy the criminals. O Allah! Destroy anyone who inflicts injustice on your slaves, O the Lord of the Worlds! O Allah! Count their number; slay them one by one and spare not one of them. O Allah! Do not defer [it] from them. O Allah! Seize them with the seizure of One Mighty, Omnipotent [referring to a Quranic verse that deals with the punishment Allah inflicted on Pharaoh and his people].
[O Allah!] Give us victory over the disbelieving people… O Allah! Give victory to Islam and raise the standing the Muslims. And humiliate the polytheism and polytheists. O Allah! Give victory (help) to your slaves who believe in the oneness of Allah, O the Lord of the Worlds!O Allah! Give them victory over the criminal people. O Allah! Destroy anyone who killed Muslims. O Allah! Destroy anyone who displaced the sons of the Muslims. O Allah! Count their number; slay them one by one and spare not one of them. O Allah! Purify Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews! O Allah! Purify Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews!
The videos have now been removed by Masjid Toronto mosque following CIJnews exposé..
On February 20, 2017, Imam Ayman Elkasrawy explained in a tweet that his supplications were misspoken and referred to the Palestinian – Israeli conflict, implicitly meaning that his statement “slay them one by one and spare not one of them” referred only to the Israeli Jews who “occupy Palestine” and not to all Jews.
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- Photo: screenshot Twitter Ayman Elkasrawy
“Neither I, Masjid Toronto or the congregation harbour any form of hate towards Jews. And so I wish to apologize unreservedly for misspeaking during prayer last Ramadan. I firmly believe that all human beings: Muslims, Jews, Christians and people of all and no faith deserve to live a life free of any threat to their safety. In my supplication my intention was to refer to a very specific political situation that is the result of military occupation. I sincerely regret the offence that my words must have caused.”
Let me see if I understand this apology. He means no harm to the seven million or so Jews living outside of Israel. That these Jews “deserve to live a life free of any threat to their safety,” because he “firmly believe(s) that all human beings: Muslims, Jews, Christians and people of all and no faith deserve to live a life free of any threat to their safety.”
But for the 6.4 millions Jews living in their historical and legal homeland of Israel, he stands by his call?
O Allah! Count their number; slay them one by one and spare not one of them. O Allah! Purify Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews! O Allah! Purify Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews!
Is he, and the congregation of Masjid Toronto, by any chance suggesting that it is acceptable to call for the genocide of 6.4 million Jews in Israel, in what he calls “occupied Palestine”?
I think that Ayman Elkasrawy, an imam at Masjid Toronto mosque (Dundas and Bay) and a Teaching Assistant at Ryerson University, should clarify his statements in order to avoid further misunderstanding.
Originally published in cijnews
