In a recent TV interview Salah Sultan, a prominent member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) headed by Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi, called for young people to practice sports in order to prepare themselves for Jihad to liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque. According to a MEMRI translation:
January 17, 2012 Clip No. 3301 Egyptian Cleric Dr. Sallah Sultan, Founder of the Ohio-Based American Center for Islamic Research, Calls Upon Young People to Practice Sports in Preparation for Jihad to Liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque
Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian cleric Dr. Sallah Sultan, founder of the American Center for Islamic Research, based on Columbus, Ohio. The interview aired on Al-Nas TV on January 17, 2012.
Dr. Sallah Sultan: Allah mentions the Israelites in 50 out of the 114 suras of the Koran, even in very short suras. This means that enmity is first and foremost towards the Israelites.
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I call upon young people to practice sports, and to strengthen their bodies in preparation for Jihad. Practice Karate, practice Taekwondo, practice all the sports that make your body extremely strong. Lift weights, and then dream, day and night. Turn your faces towards the heavens. If the young turn their faces to the heavens in a desire to liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque, it will be liberated soon, Allah willing.
A recent post discussed demands by Sultan for violent actions against Israeli by Egyptians, this time issuing a fatwa (religious ruling) calling for the killing of the Israeli ambassador on Alzajeera TV. A post from last week reported that Sultan had said it is permissible for any Egyptian to kill a Zionist met on Egyptian territory. An earlier post reported that Dr. Sultan is one of the featured speakers at a planned camp of new European converts to Islam sponsored by A Dutch organization with ties to the Global Muslim Brotherhood. In April 2010, Dr. Sultan accused Jews of using Christian blood for Matzoh (substitute for bread used during the Jewish holiday of Passover) in an example of what is called “blood libel”, the accusations that Jews use human blood in religious rituals. (Historically these are accusations that the blood of Christian children is especially coveted and date back to the 1st Century .
Dr. Salah Sultan (aka Solah Sultan, Sallah Sultan) had left the U.S. following negative press reports in the U.S. media which led the authorities there to suspend his application for American citizenship and, as discussed in a previous post, relocated to Bahrain in 2007. Dr Sultan’s online CV, now removed from the Internet, indicates that he is or was a member of several important U.S. and European Muslim Brotherhood organizations including the European Council for Fatwa and Research, the Fiqh Council of North America, and the Islamic American University, closely associated with the Muslim American Society (MAS).This resume also expressed Dr. Soltan’s vision “To live happily. To die as a martyr.” Another previous post discussed some of Dr. Sultan statements including an appearance on Saudi TV where Dr. Sultan asserted that the US planned the 9/11 attacks as a pretext for terrorizing the world and praising Osama bin Laden confidante Abd Al-Majid Al-Zindani. A recent MEMRI TV report identified previously virulently anti-Semitic and anti-American comments made by Dr. Sultan on Egyptian TV in late December. Another post discussed a seminar featuring Dr. Sultan sponsored by the European Assembly for Imams and Spiritual Guides, closely associated with the Federation of Islamic Organizations In Europe (FIOE).