Pakistani media is reporting that the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JEI) has told madrassa students that the goal of Western civilization is domination and occupatoin of the entire world. According to a MEMRI translation of Pakistani newspaper report:
Syed Munawwar Hasan, the Emir of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, has said that the Western civilization of today wants its military domination on the world and the occupation of the whole world is its goal, according to an Urdu-language daily. Addressing a meeting of madrassa students in Karachi, the Jamaat-e-Islami chief said, “The Western civilization of today wants to dominate the world by military means. But the NATO alliance and armies of 37 countries are facing defeat in Afghanistan.” Hasan described the belief of Muslims in Allah as the reason for the defeat of the infidels in Afghanistan and elsewhere, according to a report in the Urdu-language daily Roznama Jang. Claiming that the Taliban and other Islamic militants are symbols of Muslims’ belief in Allah, he said, “The Taliban, Hizbul Mujahidin, Hizbullah, Hizb-e-Islami and Hamas, through their courage, have told the occupiers and imperialist forces that the latest weapons cannot defeat the mujahideen who are strengthened by their belief and their fervor for jihad.” The Jamaat-e-Islami chief also said that the U.S. and its allies are fighting their last battle in Pakistan and that the terrorism in Pakistan is a result of this battle. He claimed that the people of Pakistan will fight against the U.S. presence in Pakistan under the leadership of religious parties till their last breath.
Source: Roznama Jang, Pakistan, July 7, 2010
Previous posts have discussed statements by Mr. Hasan in which he blamed terrorism on “U.S. tyranny” and where he accused the West of being the “real terrorists”, complaining that Western societies will not allow Muslims to practice Islam in their daily lives by labeling practices such as jihad as terrorism.
The JEI was founded in 1941 and is Pakistan’s oldest religious party. The party had its origins in the thought of Maulana Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi (1903-79), the most important Islamist intellectual in the history of Southeast Asia. Maududi was also a major influence on the global Muslim Brotherhood with whom the JEI has long enjoyed close relations. In the United States, the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) is generally considered to represent the JEI. ICNA has a particularly close relationship with the Muslim American Society (MAS), a part of the U.S. Brotherhood, and the two organizations have been holding joint conferences in recent years. In addition, many past and present leaders of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), also part of the U.S. Brotherhood, have backgrounds that are strongly associated with JEI. One notable example is India-born Muzammil Siddiqi, a past ISNA president and leader of the Fiqh Council of North America. A previous post has discussed a recent speaking invitation by ISNA to another JEI leader.