Speakers at a memorial service held for deposed late Egyptian president Muhammad Morsi in a southern suburb of Chicago stated that his removal from power in 2013 was a Western and Arab conspiracy to throttle democracy and Islamism in the Islamic World.  Palestinian activists emphasized that Israel was the head of the snake, and that repressive Arab regimes could only fall by destroying Israel first.

The memorial service was held at Al Nahda Center, Worth, Illinois (25 miles south west of Chicago) on June 22.

Al Nahda (Arabic for revival) was founded around three years ago by none other than Ghassan Ballut, a well-known supporter of the two Palestinian terrorist organization; HAMAS and Islamic Jihad.

Ballut, also the current Center president,  was arrested and accused in 2003, in a Federal court, along with Sami Al Arian, of leading a terrorist organization’s U.S. operations and helping its members enter the country. Later, he was released on bail.

Ballut said that the issue is bigger than the person of the late Morsi. Egypt is at stake. The destiny of the [Islamic] nation hinges on Egypt, because it is one of the most important Arab and Islamic states. The West was able to drive a wedge [in the Middle East] by invading Iraq. Also the West tried to destroy Syria. Now the West is trying very hard [to do the same] in Egypt.  Morsi tried to revive Egypt, but it proved that the issue is bigger than him [Morsi].”

The Palestinian activist opined that the failure of that experiment in Egypt is not an excuse to give up [on the struggle for Islamist goals] . “We have to seize the opportunity and review our situation, because the Umma is now going through labor,” he added, “We have to keep working with sincere Muslim believers, even if they are a minority until we revive the Umma and achieve victory. In this free country (the U.S.), we can accomplish things that cannot be done somewhere else. I know that this is not easy (..). But we learn lessons from the story of Pharaoh.  Eventually, those who oppose the revival of the Umma will fall down like Pharaoh did, or worse. We have to trust Allah’s promise for the Umma and the future Muslim generations.  Those Arab regimes who bet on the West and Israel should know that they [the West and Israel] will not benefit them. Our will [to persevere] is more important than any weapon. Our priority is to work together until the corrupt [Arab regimes] fall. They will fall by hitting the head of the snake. The head of the snake is in Jerusalem. We have to unite together, whether we are Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood], Salafis, Sunnis, Shiites, Christians, and others. They [the West and Israel] want us to fight each other by disseminating divisions among us. The head of the snake in Tel Aviv and everywhere works in order to keep us backward.”

Also speaking from the podium was Rafeeq Jaber, who said the liberal Palestinian Muslim leaders were deluded when they believed the West had a solution for the Palestinian cause. He added, “the Americans and the Zionists removed Morsi because they are afraid of Islam, because only Islam and Muslims like Morsi could free Palestine. Only Islam and Muslims like Morsi could prevent the West and Israel from taking control of the Arab and Muslim World.”

Jaber is perhaps best known for his role as a founder of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). Prior to helping to form CAIR, Jaber served as a leader of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), an organization founded by the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood to support the Hamas terrorist organization, according to evidence submitted by the government during the Holy Land Foundation trial in 2007 and 2008.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given his background, Jaber took the opportunity of Morsi’s death to criticize the West’s opposition to Palestinian terrorist groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Jaber said the real goal of the West in targeting terror groups is to prevent the imposition of Islamic law:

This is why they resisted Morsi, and resisted Hamas, and resisted [Islamic] Jihad, and they strongly resist anyone who declares that there is no god but Allah and wants Palestine and all of the Arab Nation under the rule of Allah be praised …We want to rule according to what Allah revealed [the Quran and the Hadith]. We want to be ruled by Islam. We want to be ruled according to Allah’s Sharia and the Sunna of the Messenger.

Another speaker, Mohamed El Emam, the Imam of Chicago Islamic Center mosque , eulogized Morsi from the Quran and Hadith and prayed for his soul. El Emam encouraged the Umma to persevere in her fight against Islam’s enemies. El Imam is known for his fiery Friday sermons against the West and Israel. In one of his Friday messages, he said: “Know that ‘Paradise lies beneath the shade of the swords.’ Paradise belongs to you, oh martyrs, oh fighters, oh mujahideen, in our beloved Gaza and wounded Palestine. Stand fast in the face of this enemy.”

Also, the Friday preacher at Al Nahda Center, one day before the memorial service, had eulogized Morsi too.

The unidentified Friday preacher told the crowds in the mosque, that spilled over with the large number of worshipers: “We do not grieve for Morsi because we agree on everything he did, but we do not want Egypt to get out of our control. The Jews are spreading rumors about the death of the Islamic nation (Umma). Israel wanted Iraq and Syria to collapse, and she had what she wanted.”

Islamist imams and activists are spewing the venom of Anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories among thousands of Palestinian and Jordanian immigrants in the Greater Chicago area, and must be confronted. Such Islamists are not only perpetuating the hatred and sense of victimhood in Middle Eastern communities, but they are transferring all the maladies of that region to the West. They should be exposed and discredited

Hesham Shehab

Previous column by Hesham Shehab…  https://xpian.news/2019/06/12/hesham-shehab-promoting-hijab-perpetuates-womens-oppression-betrays-islamic-feminism/

Hesham Shehab

Educator, Journalist, Columnist, Islamic Expert, Muslim Expert, Human Rights Activist, Pastor at Salam Christian Fellowship | Website

Adjunct Faculty at College of DuPage, Formerly Adjunct Faculty at American University of Beirut and Pastor at Peace Lutheran Church Lombard, IL Name pronounciation: HI-shahm SHI-hab  Hebrews 12: 4 & Philippians 1: 29