PRESS RELEASE
American Islamic Forum for Democracy

Contact: Mischel Yosick
480 225 7473 mischel@zliberty.com

January 12, 2018

AIFD calls on American Muslim communities and mosque leadership to confront the anti-Semitism of some mainstream Hadith

At the American Islamic Forum for Democracy we have been dedicated to reform against Islamism and its domestic and global political movement since our founding in 2003. Today, we call on all media, government, academic and activist leaders of conscience to demand that the organized American Muslim community and particularly its mosque leadership directly confront some of the anti-Semitic underpinnings of Islamist theology specifically as exposed in various quoted Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Mohammed) used globally and domestically by Islamist preachers (Imams).

We laud the recent report today in by Michael Edison Hayden of Newsweek who called out a concerning rising spate of recent Islamist sermons across the country which were virulently anti-Semitic. These sermons came after President Trump simply called for the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel- a long overdue simple acknowledgement of existing policy. While we welcomed Newsweek’s long overdue transparent report about hateful sermons in our mosques, it was sadly bolstered by apologetics by selected Muslim leaders who deceptively called them “isolated examples”. This response is typical for many leaders of the Muslim community heaped in pathological denial. They ignore the grim reality that these anti-Semitic sermons are not only related to the deep anti-Semitism of the sermonizers (imams) but also directly related to the endemic acceptance of specific anti-Semitic Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) which are pervasive in mainstream Muslim teachings and texts.
This must change now and be addressed immediately.We at the American Islamic Forum for Democracy call for and demand that mosques and Islamic leaders be confronted by people of conscience in their communities and in the media about whether they will fully reject the quoted attributions to the Prophet Mohammed of hate against the Jews which specifically include for example the following passages quoted by most of these sermons in question:

Excerpt from Hadith: The Prophet Muhammad gave us the glad tidings that…Judgment Day will not come before the Muslims fight the Jews and those Jews will hide behind the rocks and the trees but the rocks and the trees will say, ‘Oh Muslim this is a Jew behind me, come and kill him’. We fully believe that the future of this land lies with Islam and the Muslims” -(Sahih Muslim Book 41, No.6985, featured also in Hamas Covenant article 7)

Yet, there are sadly many more passages in the Hadith often associated in mainstream Muslim theological teachings with authentic scripture (as sourced above) which need to be addressed. But a perfect place to start for reform and expunging is the passage above. We at the AIFD believe this passage is false, contradicted by the Qur’an and this so-called Hadith needs to be reformed through expunging.

We call upon media and the general American public to demand that if their local mosques and Islamic leaders are to continue to be respected as peaceful neighbors that share American values that they expunge the frankly genocidal anti-semitism of Hadith like this one carried on the shelves of their mosques and reject the specific anti-Semitic passages like the one noted above.

Moreover, we at the American Islamic Forum for Democracy believe that these anti-Semitic sayings often attributed to the Prophet Muhammad are fabricated over centuries and generations by Islamists and by militants and are not part of the authentic tradition of the Prophet Mohammed. But it saddens us that the vast majority of Hadith anthologies accept these particular anti-Semitic sayings as correct attributions to the Prophet Mohammed.

We call upon the Muslim community to immediately reject all anti-Semitic attributions to the prophet Mohammed and begin a long overdue process of modern Islamic reform rather than their chronic blind Islamist revivalism and apologia.

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About AIFD
The American Islamic Forum for Democracy is a non-profit organization based in Phoenix, Ariz. dedicated to providing an American Muslim voice advocating genuine Muslim reform against Islamism and the ideologies which fuel global Muslim radicalization. AIFD’s mission is to advocate for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. In December 2015, AIFD convened and helped launch the Muslim Reform Movement, a coalition of over 12 Muslim organizations and leaders dedicated to reform for values of peace, human rights and secular governance.

About M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D.
Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser is the president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a think tank dedicated to protecting American national security against the global threat of Islamism. AIFD promotes reform-minded Muslim voices for liberty, and is shaking the hold which Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have upon Muslim leadership. Dr. Jasser is the author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith”. He is also a Co-Founder of the Muslim Reform Movement.