Jordan’s ‘Zionist Sheikh’ Cites Quranic Sources for Islam-Jewish Relations

March 7, 2014 

Author:

Joshua Levitt

Tags:

anti-Semitism Muslim children of Israel Day of Resurrection israel Jewish Muslim Jihad for Allah Jordan Israel Jordanian Quranic scholar Muslim world Sheikh Ahmad al-Adwan the Zionist Sheikh

Jordan's 'Zionist Sheikh'. 

A Jordanian Quranic scholar, and former postal worker, cited the Quranic sources that affirm Islam and Judaism should have friendly relations and that ‘Palestine’ should be for Jews, according to an interview published by Israel’s Mida magazine.

Sheikh Ahmad al-Adwan, the ‘Zionist Sheikh,’ said, “God may he be praised and blessed rewarded me with knowledge of His holy book and chose me to renew the knowledge of God and religion among the Islamic Ummah, and interpret that which needs interpreting in its verses, which most Islamic scholars misinterpret.”

“Among these are the verses which deal with the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) and their rights in particular,” he said in the interview. “There are a hundred holy verses in the Koran which contemporary scholars did not properly interpret… These verses prove and express God’s will and his intentions: the will and desire for peace and harmony and His instructions for people to ensure them.”

“The Jews are our cousins and therefore we must pray for them and visit them, live alongside them, grant them respect and cooperate with them at the highest levels of esteem and appreciation,” he said. “This, because we are not more God-fearing, smarter, or better than the Prophet Muhammad may he rest in peace, who lived alongside them and behaved honorably, mercifully and amicably with them. Let us state that it was permitted for Muslims to marry them.”

When asked if his openness towards the People of Israel leads him to recognize Jewish sovereignty of their historic land, he said yes.

“Indeed, I recognize their sovereignty over their land. I believe in the Holy Koran, and this fact is stated many times in the book. For instance ‘O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you,’ [Koran 5:21], ‘We made the Children of Israel inheritors of such things.’ [Koran 26:59] and additional verses in the Holy Book.”

“And there are additional reasons: this people (Israel) is peaceful and peace-loving, is not hostile or aggressive; [they are] a people that defends itself only when necessary, while trying to minimally harm its enemies,” he said. “In addition, I recognize the fact that God may He be praised gave preference to these people over humans and demons until the end of days. God does not give preference for nothing but grants all that which they deserve. God may He be praised never turned to any [other] people by name and grant them this honor, aside from the People of Israel, who are named for their ancestor Israel (Jacob), may he rest in peace, as it says in the Koran ‘O Children of Israel.’ In contrast, in approaching others it is said ‘O Believers’ or ‘O people,’ which is a more general greeting.”

He also answered the magazine’s question on how to end anti-Semitism in the Muslim world:
“In my opinion the way to end anti-Semitism is to concentrate efforts and call for peace, spreading knowledge and forthrightly educate people of the values of justice and truth in accordance with what appears in the books of God – the Torah, Tehillim, the Ingil [the Gospel] and the Koran, which admired the Israelites, clarified their rights, gave preference to them and bequeathed to them the Holy Land and their direction of prayer – to Jerusalem. The books testify that this is a peace-loving and peace-calling nation, and it is the first people for whom the Creator designated a role in order to serve as its messenger on this earth until the Day of Resurrection.”

“In the Koran, it is written ‘Those who have faith and do righteous deeds, they are the best of creatures.’ [Koran 98:7]. The intent in the word best is ‘the best among people,’ but regarding the Umma of the Koran – that is the Arabs and those who preach Islam – they have no recourse but to return to the straight and true voice as appears in the Koran that many of its scholars interpreted in a mistaken and deviant manner. They distorted the true will of God may He be praised, as it is expressed in the verses, in a false and fallacious manner to say that murder of Jews is part of the commandment of Jihad for Allah and that this land is not the Land of [the People of] Israel.”

“They continue to hold this villainous interpretation towards others, and there will be no true peace but with the return of the Ummah of the Koran to the book of the Koran, as God bequeathed to his adherents. My religious education allowed me to strengthen what I say, and I have merited much honor in succeeding in interpreting verses which scholars did not properly interpret. These are verses which spell out the obligations and rights of people and that which is required so that peoples not be hostile to one another.”

He was also asked if Palestinian-Arabs have rights to the land of Israel as well.

“Allah may He be praised wrote in the Torah that this is the land of the sons of Israel, he bequeathed the Holy Land to the sons of Israel and called the land by this name (the Land of Israel) and so it is stated by the Holy Koran: ‘O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin.’ [Koran 5:21]. This holy verse is a ‘Kushan’ (deed) which confirms that this land is granted to the Jews. It is also said ‘We made the Children of Israel inheritors of such things.’ [Koran 26:59], and in the following verse, ‘And We said thereafter to the Children of Israel, ‘Dwell securely in the land (of promise)” [Koran 17:104] and there are many additional holy verses which prove and confirm this.”

“So in an answer to your question, how can they (the Palestinians) have the right to establish a State on the Jewish Land of Israel, which Allah granted and bequeathed to the Jews? More than that, even if all the inhabitants of the land forgot their right, or went crazy and collaborated with those who call themselves ‘Palestinians’ to establish a state for the latter, they won’t succeed, and Allah will not allow this until the Day of Judgment, this because Allah Himself willed and specifically wrote in His book that this land will be the land of the People of Israel under Israeli sovereignty so that no-one would later dispute it.”

At the start of the interview, al-Adwan said he was born in 1952 and raised in Amman, Jordan, where he graduated high school and went on to learn Islamic Sharia studies at the College for Islamic studies, also in Amman. He resigned from the post office in 1997, and has since dedicated himself “to the book of God may He be praised (the Koran), and I expanded my knowledge of the Islamic religion and the life of the Islamic Ummah.”

The interview was flagged on Friday by blogger Elder of Ziyon, who said the original excerpt from the interview was one of the most popular posts in the history of his blog.