Author: Linda Lipschitz
Publication:
Date: June 9, 2003
The new Imam of the Grand Mosque
of Rome, the largest in Europe, called for the "victory of Islamic fighters
in Palestine, Cechnya and other areas of the world" in his sermon Friday,
June 6. He called for Allah's help in "the destruction of the homes and
destruction of the enemies of Islam". He called for their "annihilation"
and "the victory everywhere of the Nation of Islam."
In a report by Magdi Allam, the
Italian columnist of Egyptian origin who writes regularly about the Arab
and Muslim world for the national daily, "La Repubblica", 32 year old Imam,
Abdel-Samie Mahmoud Ibrahim Moussa, is quoted as having told the correspondent
that suicide attacks in Israel are religiously legitimate, whereas they
are not in Saudi Arabia, Morocco or Italy.
"From an Islamic viewpoint there
is no doubt that the operations of the mujahidin against the Jews in Palestine
are legitimate. They are missions of martyrdom and those who commit them
are martyrs of Islam because all Palestine is a Dar al-harb, a territory
of war. This is because all of the Jewish society illegally occupies an
Islamic land."
On the other hand, in Saudi Arabia
and Morocco, "Islam condemns attacks against foreigners who are hosted
by the Muslim people. We have an Aqd al-wafa'a - a Covenant of loyalty
with them. We welcomed them and we are responsible for their physical safety."
By the same token, Muslims living
in Italy may not commit terrorist acts against Italians because an Aqd
al-aman - Covenant of Security - binds them to loyalty to the State that
provides for the physical safety of the resident Muslims.
These, together with rigid invocations
against marital infidelity and on the dependent role of women, were some
of the statements made in the sermon and the subsequent interview. During
the sermon, the Imam reportedly also forbade marriage with Jewish women.
He cited three requirements for
marriage with Jewish or Christian women: "1) they must be chaste, 2) they
must be religious, 3) the people of their religion must not fight Muslims."
He concluded, "this is why today marriage with Jewish women is forbidden."
Imam Moussa was selected by the
Egyptian University "Al Azhar", by a tacit agreement with the Saudi Arabian
financed Mosque of Rome. He is described as inexperienced, with no knowledge
of the Italian language.
The Italian Minister of the Interior,
Giuseppe Pisanu, in an interview by Magdi Allam published May 24, said
"Italian mosques must be entirely freed of preachers of violence" adding
"I know from bitter experience that the history of terrorism is a history
of political underestimations that lead right up to the eve of tragedy."
So far there has been no official
reaction by the government. Leaders of Muslim organizations in Italy have
made contrasting comments to this episode, which Magdi Allam, author of
several books on Islam in Italy, considers not an isolated phenomenon of
the preaching of hate.
Very few openly condemned the Imam
for his words, finding "excuse" in the fact that he is foreign and not
used to the Italian mentality tacitly justifying such preaching in an Arab
Islamic context. There are approximately one million Muslims in this country
(mostly immigrants) by far outnumbering the numerically small but historically
important 35.000 member Jewish Community.
He considers the majority of Muslim
immigrants, a very pluralistic lot who come from all over the world, to
be moderate and peaceful. However, the minority of Fundamentalists who
openly espouse anti- US and anti-Israel extremist positions are harbored
in some of the c.250 mosques spread across the country and by the official
organizations of Islam such as the UCOII organ of the Union of Italian
Islamic Communities, connected to the "Muslim Brothers", an international
association of Islamic integralism originating in Egypt and responsible
for the murder of Sadat, among many other acts of terrorism in the past.
The Muslim community in Italy has
been dragging its feet in negotiating an "Agreement" with the Italian Government
modeled on the Catholic Church-State Concordat and other "Agreements" between
the government and other religious minorities including that with the Union
of Italian Jewish Communities.
The main difficulties seem to lie
in the lack of unified views due to the great variety of ethnic origins
of the immigrants, plus the ideologies and vested interests behind official
Islamic organizational structures. Italians, conditioned by the hierarchical
structure of the Catholic Church which embraces about 90 per cent of the
population in Italy, tend to look for hierarchical counterparts or "official
voices" in other religions, which simply do not exist.
Islam in Italy has expanded enormously
in the past ten years. Conversions to Islam have increased but mostly the
growth is mostly due to the great waves of immigrants landing daily on
Italian shores, both legally and illegally. Effective solutions to problems
regarding integration are lagging behind this reality.
