Author:
Publication: Memri
Date: December 6, 2002
URL: http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Area=jihad&ID=SP44702
In articles written by Islamic clerics,
the clerics herald the imminent conquest of Rome by Islam, in
accordance with the prophecy of
Muhammad. The issue is also discussed in Friday sermons. Sheikh Yousef
Al-Qaradhawi, one of the most influential clerics in Sunni Islam, often
makes this claim in his religious rulings and on his television programs.
The following are remarks made by Al- Qaradhawi and other Muslim clerics:
Al-Qaradhawi: "Islam will Return
to Europe as a Conqueror"
In a fatwa posted on the website
www.islamonline.net,[1] in response to a reader's question, Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi
wrote of the "signs of the victory of Islam," citing a well-known Hadith:
". The Prophet Muhammad was asked: 'What city will be conquered first,
Constantinople or Romiyya?' He answered: 'The city of Hirqil [i.e. the
Byzantine emperor Heraclius] will be conquered first' - that is, Constantinople.
Romiyya is the city called today 'Rome,' the capital of Italy. The city
of Hirqil [that is, Constantinople] was conquered by the young 23-year-old
Ottoman Muhammad bin Morad, known in history as Muhammad the Conqueror,
in 1453. The other city, Romiyya, remains, and we hope and believe [that
it too will be conquered]."
"This means that Islam will return
to Europe as a conqueror and victor, after being expelled from it twice
- once from the South, from Andalusia, and a second time from the East,
when it knocked several times on the door of Athens."
Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi qualified his
statement: "I maintain that the conquest this time will not be by the sword
but by preaching and ideology."[2]
Al-Qaradhawi made similar statements
on other occasions, on his weekly religious program on Al-Jazeera. He declared:
"This means that the friends of the Prophet heard that two cities would
be conquered by Islam, Romiyya and Constantinople, and the Prophet said
that 'Hirqil [i.e. Constantinople] would be conquered first.' Romiyya is
Rome, the capital of Italy, and Constantinople was the capital of the state
of Byzantine Rome, which today is Istanbul. He said that Hirqil which is
Constantinople, would be conquered first and this is what happened."
"All right, Constantinople was conquered,
and the second part of the prophecy remains, that is, the conquest of Romiyya.
This means that Islam will return to Europe. Islam entered Europe twice
and left it. Perhaps the next conquest, Allah willing, will be by means
of preaching and ideology. The conquest need not necessarily be by the
sword. [The conquest of Mecca] was not by the sword or by war, but by a
[Hudabiyya] treaty, and by peace. Perhaps we will conquer these lands without
armies. We want an army of preachers and teachers who will present Islam
in all languages and in all dialects."[3]
Another time, Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi
said, "The Hadith says that the city of Constantinople, the city of Heracles,
will be conquered first. We conquered Constantinople and the second part
of the prophecy remains - the conquest of Romiyya. The conquest of Romiyya
means that Islam will return to Europe. In one of my previous programs,
I said that I think that this conquest would not be by the sword or armies,
but by preaching and ideology. Europe will see that it suffers from materialistic
culture, and will seek an alternative, it will seek a way out, it will
seek a lifeboat. It will find no lifesaver but the message of Islam the
message of the muezzin who gives it religion but does not deny it this
world, brings it to Heaven, but does not uproot it from Earth. Allah willing,
Islam will return to Europe and the Europeans will convert to Islam. Then
they themselves will be able to be the ones to disseminate Islam in the
world, more than we ancient Muslims. This is within Allah's capabilities."[4]
Saudi Sheikh: "We Will Control the
Land of the Vatican"
The Saudi Sheikh Muhammad bin Abd
Al-Rahman Al-'Arifi, imam of the mosque of King Fahd Defense Academy,[5]
discussed this Hadith in an article posted on the Kalemat website. Under
the headline "Don't be sad, Allah is with us," the article read: ". We
will control the land of the Vatican; we will control Rome and introduce
Islam in it. Yes, the Christians, who carve crosses on the breasts of the
Muslims in Kosovo - and before then in Bosnia, and before then in many
places in the world - will yet pay us the Jiziya [poll tax paid by non-Muslims
under Muslim rule], in humiliation, or they will convert to Islam."[6]
In a sermon at the Al-Nour Mosque
in Khobar, Sheikh Naser Muhammad Al-Naser quoted the sage Al-Albani, who
said: "The first conquest was carried out, as is known, by Muhammad the
Ottoman conqueror, 800 years after the Prophet told of it, and the second
conquest [that of Rome] will be carried out, Allah willing, and it is inevitable."[7]
In another sermon, Sheikh Al-Naser
said: "This Hadith predicts that the two cities will be conquered. The
first was already conquered, remained under the control of the Muslims
for a time, and then was again stolen [by Ataturk]. There are signs that
it will again be conquered and will return to the hands of the Islamic
state. Rome also will be conquered."[8]
PA Deputy Minister: When Islam Reaches
Its End, the Sun and Stars will Extinguish
In a sermon at the Al-Aqsa Mosque,
the Palestinian Authority's Deputy Minister of Awqaf, Sheikh Yousef Juma'a
Salameh said: "Romiyya is Rome, the capital of Italy, and Constantinople
is today Istanbul, known in Islamic history by the name of Islam-Boul.
The great conquest [of Constantinople] was carried out two centuries after
the Tatars entered Baghdad and after the fall of the Caliphate. The people
thought that Islam had reached its lowest point. and forgot that Islam
had not reached its end in the world, because on the day it reaches its
end, there will be no world: the sun will be extinguished, the stars will
go out."[9]
Sudanese Sheikh: "Rome Will be Conquered"
In a sermon at a mosque in Khartoum,
Sudan, Sheikh Muhammad Abd Al-Karim said: ".The Prophet said that the Muslims
would take India, saying: 'Allah saved two groups of my nation from the
fire of Hell: one group that would attack India and a second group that
would be with Jesus the son of Mary [in the battle of Judgment Day].' The
Prophet Muhammad told us of the conquest of Constantinople, the capital
of the Byzantine state, and of the conquest of Rome, where the Vatican
is situated. Some of what the Prophet said has already come to pass. The
Muslims conquered Persia, the Muslims conquered Byzantium. the Muslims
attacked India and Allah conquered it for us, until they reached the borders
of China. The Muslims conquered Constantinople, where Eastern Christianity
is situated, and in the future, a mighty king will arise for the Muslims;
through him, Islam will spread and Rome will be conquered."[10]
[1] December 2, 2002.
[2] http://www.islamonline.net/fatwa/arabic/FatwaDisplay.asp?hFatwaID=2042
[3] Al-Jazeera Television (Qatar),
January 24, 1999. http://www.aljazeera.net/programs/shareea/articles/ 2001/7/7-6-2.htm.
[4] Al-Jazeera Television (Qatar),
November 30, 2000. http://www.aljazeera.net/programs/shareea/articles/
2000/11/11-30-3.htm
[5] According to http://www.ghran.com/mandobiah/tazkiat7.htm
[6] http://www.kalemat.org/sections.php?so=va&aid=93
[7] http://www.alminbar.net/alkhutab/khutbaa.asp?mediaURL=2772
; Sheikh Al-Nasser said the same in a sermon in April 1992: http://www.alminbar.net/alkhutab/khutbaa.asp?mediaURL=2818
[8] http://www.alminbar.net/alkhutab/khutbaa.asp?mediaURL=2431
[9] http://www.alminbar.net/alkhutab/khutbaa.asp?mediaURL=6345
[10] http://www.alminbar.net.alkhutab/khutbaa.asp?mediaURL=3116