The Message of Jihad on Trial at Old Bailey

The trial of Abu Hamza in London is a subject that is riveting the English press, but amazingly is largely ignored back here in the United States. Hamza is an imam at London’s Finsbury Park mosque who is accused of encouraging terrorism, death, and murder of non-Muslims. He is on trial for 15 charges, including nine counts for soliciting murder, four counts for words or deeds that stir up racial hatred, and one count for possessing material useful in committing acts of terror.

The BBC is doing an outstanding job of covering the trial, with dozens of stories that provide a fascinating glimpse of Hamza’s venomous preaching. If you read the stories or watch the video, it is clear that Hamza has utter disdain for non-Muslims and openly advocates violence against them. A few of Hamza’s sermons were recorded so we have full text transcripts of his vitriole. Here are themes outlined in his sermons:

1. Allah Sent Hitler to Kill Jews. “They [Jews] are enemies to one another and Allah has cursed them … This is why he send [sic] Hitler for them. Jews they have nowhere to go, they are going to be buried in Palestine all of them.” (Link).

2. Jews are Blackmailing the West. “Now all these dogs of the West they have to go now, none of them have condemned what Israel has done to the Muslims and the Palestinians…. Why they act like sugar daddy for Israel? Because they love the Israelis? No way! Because they hate them very much, but the Israelis know how to deal with them. They got a file for each one of these politicians, how much homosexual you are, how many money he has taken as bribe, whom his wife goes with, which child he has been abusing and they got all this against them. Jews know how to control people. This is how they know how to control our leaders. (Link) .

3. Killing Infidels Without Cause is Acceptable. “Killing a Kafir [infidel] for any reason you can say it is OK even if there is no reason for it….Make sure that the person who gave him the licence for that wine shop doesn’t exist anymore on the earth. Finish him up. Give him Dawa. If he doesn’t respect Dawa, kill him.” (Link).

4. Israel Will Become a Graveyard. “The Jews will be destroyed, the state will be destroyed and some of the Jews will be running around hiding behind the trees and the stones and then they got cursed by the earth until there is not one of them left…. The Jews will never leave Palestine. The Jews will be buried there…. It is decreed that it will be the biggest Jewish graveyard in the world…. We do not want the Jews to pull away from Palestine, but we want them to be buried there. This is God’s decree…” (Link).

5. All Sinners are Targets. “Every place of iniquity, every brothel, every video shop which is selling naked, for the victorious party is a target…. If anybody protect these kufr (unbeliever) places and these fisq (sinful) places is a target… Anybody who propagate these kind of thing among Muslims is a target.” (Link).

6. Suicide Bombers are Martyrs. “It is not called suicide, this is called martyrdom…. If we do not use terrorism or torture what are we going to use?” (Link).

7. We Must Bleed the Enemy. “You have to bleed the enemy. Then, after you have done that, obviously you will be on the run.” (Link).

8. You Must Kill Them With Mice Poison, Not WMDs. “There is no real need to go and train for tanks and aeroplanes… where are you going to find these… you can’t buy these in the market… you cannot make them yourselves… You cannot do it by chemical weapons, you have to do it by mice poison.” (Link).

9. Allah Loves Blood. “There is no drop of liquid loved by Allah more than the liquid of blood.” (Link).

It is difficult to fathom that two Underground stops from King’s Cross Station we have an imam at a mosque in North London who is preaching such violent hatred. American and English sensibilities give a very wide berth for the freedom of speech. But these words, if proven to be uttered by Hamza, are criminal. They directly incite terrorism, murder, and death of non-Muslims. They are antithetical to a free and civil society and are deserving of criminal punishment.