Top PA official: Israel will come to an end – “the occupation’s filth will pass”
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: “‘And they will continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they are able’ [Quran, Sura 2:217, Sahih International translation]. If they were able, [the Israelis] would tell you: ‘Leave Islam, leave your religion, and worship the gods that we worship.’ This is what they want. This exploitation, the oppression and tyranny that they are imposing on us, and the aggression that the occupation state is implementing against the Palestinian people – its purpose is to exile us from our place…
The greatest problem is with colonialism. Colonialism is what planted the occupation in our land. Yes brothers, we must understand this truth. However our patience has a limit, and the fact that we have connections with the international community, international law, and international legitimacy does not mean that we will accept the facts that are being imposed on the ground and submit to them, and that we will accept what the occupation is dictating and say: ‘We can get nothing better than this.’ No, that is not our path… humiliation is far from us! We are the nation of [Prophet] Muhammad, who does not accept humiliation and banned the state of humiliation for his nation…
At the end of this Sura [3], the Al-Imran Sura, our Almighty Lord says: ‘O you who have believed,’ and it is addressing you… What does Allah say? ‘[O you who have believed,] persevere and endure and remain stationed and fear Allah that you may be successful’ [Quran, Sura 3:200, Sahih International translation]. You want success, victory, the goodness of this world and the next? ‘Persevere and endure and remain stationed (Ribat in Arabic –Ed.).’ Where is Ribat (i.e., religious conflict over land claimed to be Islamic –Ed.) today, where? Perhaps the headline of Ribat on the entire planet now is in Palestine. It is the land of Ribat, of which Allah’s Messenger [Muhammad] said [in a Hadith]: ‘Their men and women from Arish to the Euphrates [River] are in Ribat until Resurrection Day.’ …
One day, soon, the occupation will pass from this land, and the occupation’s filth will pass from it, and it will again be radiant, precious, honored, Palestinian, Arab, Islamic, as it has been throughout history. ‘Then when the final promise came, [We sent your enemies] to sadden your faces and to enter the temple in Jerusalem, as they entered it the first time, and to destroy what they had taken over with [total] destruction’ [Quran, Sura 17:7, Sahih International translation] (see note below –Ed.).”
The final (other) promise - The second half of Sura 17:7 of the Quran - “Then when the final promise came, [We sent your enemies] to sadden your faces and to enter the temple [in Jerusalem], as they entered it the first time, and to destroy what they had taken over with [total] destruction.” [Sahih International translation] - can be understood as either past or future tense due to the ambiguity of the Arabic "idha ja'a" referring to “the promise” that can be understood as “when it came” or “when it comes,” and the Arabic “al-ahera,” also referring to the promise, which can mean “other” or “final.” Many religious scholars understand it as past tense referring back to the destruction of the Second Temple. But some understand it as future tense, prophesizing some future destruction befalling the Jews. Al-Habbash presents it as prophesizing a final war in which Israel will be destroyed.