Jordanian Islamic Scholar: Don’t Worry About the Coronavirus, Worry About the Jews

by Hugh Fitzgerald

Every day, much of the world is consumed with stories about the coronavirus. How many new cases in this country or in that? How fast is it spreading, in China, in Iran, in Italy, here at home? How many test kits are available today? How many will we have next week? Next month? Can we “flatten out” the curve of new cases, so as not to overwhelm the health system? Should we practice triage where ICU beds are scarce, and treat/not-treat those who are over 65, or 85, or 100? Should we shut down a whole country, as happened in Italy, or part of one, as the Chinese did in Wuhan? Should we shut down all sports events, all concerts, all gatherings where more than 500/250/100/50 people might congregate? Should we shut down all schools and universities, or only those within 20/10/2 miles of a cluster of cases? And what constitutes a “cluster”? Is it 5 cases? 10? 15? Shall we keep schools closed for another month, two months, till the end of the school year, through the summer vacation? Do we release figures on the worldwide mortality rates, by region, by country, by city? Do we order all restaurant and stores to be closed down, allowing only pharmacies and grocery stores to remain open?

And let’s go through the drill one more time: Wash your hands with soap, for at least 20 seconds, whenever you can. Don’t shake hands. Stay six feet away, if you can, from all others. Keep your distance. Use Purell. Call this number if you have any questions. Go to a website devoted to preventative measures if you have any questions. If you have any questions, contact your primary care physician. And so on and so endlessly forth, as we enter the Age of the Coronavirus.

Not everyone is convinced, however, that the coronavirus must be the main object of our attention. In the world of Islam, one must always make room in one’s thoughts for hatred of the Infidel. Just to bring us up short, and to remind us of what the Islamic world is like, consider the advice of a Jordanian Islamic scholar Ahmad Al-Shahrouri, who said in a March 8 episode of his show on Yarmouk TV – a Jordanian TV channel affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood — that the Jews are more dangerous than coronavirus, AIDS, cholera, and every disease in the world. Every disease. All diseases put together. Most dangerous of all are the Jews, always the Jews.

And Ahmad Al-Shahrouri reminds his audience it is not hand-washing, Purell, social distancing, or a plenitude of test kits and respirators and ICU beds that will save the Muslims from the coronavirus. No — in order to be saved from coronavirus, and all other known illnesses, Muslims must think of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and their supreme duty of Jihad. Engaging in Jihad, helping to save Al-Aqsa from “the Jews,” serves to protect Believers from those illnesses, including coronavirus. And the reverse is also true. If you are able to avoid getting coronavirus altogether, you should recognize that you now have the honor, and the duty, to help “liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque.” Engaging in Jihad will save you from the coronavirus, being saved from the coronavirus will allow you to engage in Jihad.

Of course, there is nothing to liberate Al-Aqsa Mosque from. No non-Muslims are allowed to pray, or sing, or do anything but look on silently, when on the Temple Mount. Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock are not under Israeli jurisdiction at all but, rather, under Jordanian custodianship. Yet many Arabs, like Al-Shahrouri, continue to ignore that reality when they demand, quite unnecessarily, that the Al-Aqsa Mosque be “liberated.”

He insists that to be saved from these illnesses, one should remember the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the context of Jihad, which he explains is a means of purification of a Muslim’s soul and body. Sheikh Al-Shahrouri adds that being saved from coronavirus serves to give one the honor of liberating the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Al-Shahrouri is no lone lunatic; he’s a professor of shari’a at Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, and serves as the imam of the university’s mosque. In short, a distinguished theologian, well-versed in Islamic law.

Here are excerpts from his broadcast on Yarmouk TV:

Ahmad Al-Shahrouri:

Brothers, we are talking about epidemics and diseases that afflict the body, but what about epidemics that afflict the soul and the mind? An epidemic that afflicts the mind… Let me ask you a question: Is it okay for us to talk about the coronavirus because it is ‘hot news’ and forget about the Jews, who are more dangerous than AIDS, coronavirus, cholera, and all the diseases of this world?

Coronavirus is “hot news,” but it will not last, according to Al-Shahrouri. For him, it’s the insect of an hour. Meanwhile, the Jews are the worst illness of all, for they “afflict the soul and the mind” of Muslims, and are far more dangerous than coronavirus or any other disease or condition that afflicts only the body.

If you want to be saved from these deadly diseases, we should all remember Jihad. Jihad is a means of purification. We should all remember Al-Aqsa Mosque. If we attach our souls to Al-Aqsa, they will be purified. Our bodies will be purified. Anyone who remembers Al-Aqsa loves life. He is saved from the coronavirus, but not in order to get married, build, or study – rather, he is saved so that he can have the honor of liberating the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Jihad – the violent Jihad conducted against the Infidels – is the best way for a Muslim to purify himself. It’s a sacred duty. Do not forget the duty of Jihad, Ahmad Al-Shahrouri says, and remember, too, the Al-Aqsa Mosque. If you remember Al-Aqsa, if it is constantly in your heart and mind, you will be saved from coronavirus. How exactly this happens Al-Shahrouri does not divulge, but Allah works in mysterious ways. And the Muslim who is thereby rendered impervious to coronavirus has been saved for one particular purpose: to help liberate Al-Aqsa from the Jews. That becomes their reason for being.

Don’t put all your faith just yet in Ahmad Al-Shahrouri. He’s one more semi-demented Muslim cleric, using the coronavirus pandemic for his own ends, in order to remind Muslims yet again that it is important to fight the Jews, who are “more dangerous” than coronavirus or any other illness, or than all illnesses put together. Let’s see just how impervious to coronavirus the world’s devout Muslims, such as those in Iran, turn out to be. So far, judging by the latest official figures from Teheran, Iran has a total of 12,800 cases and 620 dead – and that number is widely believed to be far below the real totals, thinking about Jihad and Al-Aqsa has not been providing the protection to Believers that Sheikh Ahmad Al-Shahrouri predicted it would. Perhaps it’s time for us to put him and his noxious nostrums aside and listen, instead, to the sane advice of Dr. Anthony Fauci. And keep washing those hands.

First published in Jihad Watch.