by Giovanni Giacalone
On May 26th, 2024, the Pakistani Tablighi preacher of the Bologna-based Iqraa Islamic Center made a public statement, during a sermon, glorifying Hamas:
“This little warrior, a group of people called Hamas. They made it clear to the world that these are cowards (Israel, Zionists), they can’t do anything against men, they can only go against children, against women, against civilians.” (12.58)
“We have seen, so many brothers are afraid to say that Hamas is a sincere group, mujahideen, because they had bombed all the Muslims in Europe that I must necessarily say that Hamas is a terrorist organization. They tried with me even from 7/10 onwards, we always had this position that Hamas is not a terrorist organization. They are defending their territory.” (32:47)
“We thank Allah sws through these Hamas mujahideen warriors who have discovered this reality, this truth, that these (Israelis, Americans) are terrorists, they are murderers…” (53:54)
This is indeed not the first time that Khan expresses such viewpoints. For instance, on April 19th he had already stated that “Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran and Yemen, do not want to kill, do not want to harm civilians” and subsequently invoked: “That punishment which we are waiting for it to come from Allah, with the hands of Hamas and Hezbollah…”
Khan even admitted being an extremist: “If someone says to me ‘you are an Islamic extremist’ I say yes because extremism means following the fundamentals…”.
Moreover, during the popular TV broadcast “Dritto e Rovescio“, in November 2023, Khan made antisemite statements such as: “deception with the aim of interest is part of the Jewish faith“: Additionally, in May 2021, during a rally in Bologna in Piazza Maggiore, he stated that ” Jews are cruel because they use their intelligence to harm others.”
In Italy, antisemitism is punished by the law under the (Legge Mancino, 1993) and Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU.
Many individuals have been expelled by the Italian authorities for similar pro-ISIS statements. As for Khan, his case is far more serious since he is a religious leader, and his sermons are published on Facebook every week.
It is therefore incomprehensible why he is still free to spread such views. Aren’t Hamas and ISIS both terrorist organization? Therefore, why the double standards?
In another sermon entitled “The pedophiles in the American government and the Zionist role”, Khan accuses Joe Biden of “forcing his underage daughter to take a shower with him at midnight”:
“What can we say when a father. Without the desire of his 6 year old or 7 year old or 8 year old daughter he forces her to take a shower at midnight with him and then he becomes the president of the country, it’s a shame for the whole world, this is the face of Joe Biden that he he didn’t even spare his daughter. Her diary has already been discovered and released where she wrote that my father took a shower with me at night.” And again: “The videos can be seen, on the mass media, on social media, where this disgusting, crazy, pedophile, his eyes look like his daughter…”
Khan went as far as generating a DNA theory on who is Semite and who is not, while, at the same time, contradicting himself by claiming that “Semitism doesn’t exist”:
“True Jews know that they have no right to have an established government on earth… This land of Palestine belongs to Muslims.” And again: “Semitism does not exist. No book talks about anti-Semitic Semitism.” Yet it would have been enough to do an online search to find them. Khan then states that the Zionists “have canceled that they wanted to bring a law, a regulation, which must make DNA of all those who live on the land of Israel. When they realized that DNA won’t turn out the way they wanted.” After stating that “Semitism does not exist“, Khan says the exact opposite and that is that “the true Semites are Arabs, Palestinians, not Europeans“.
It is unbelievable how Khan can continue with utterances like these, from the pulpit of an Islamic center, with videos publicly posted on Facebook, all under the eyes of the Italian authorities. It must be said that Khan himself said in November 2023: “…In Italy, thanks to Allah, we are safe, and we have the right to speak.” Who knows what he meant?