Fake news not exposing hate speech

ayman-elkasrawy.jpg.size-custom-crop.0x650 — Imam Ayman Elkasrawy, Toronto Masjid

This story is far too important for Canadians to not report on. This came to our attention today, it is not our investigation, but is very much worth a re-post.

This is concerning the prayers of Imam Ayman Elkasrawy of the Toronto Masjid. He came under fire last in 2016 for his invocations that included “O Allah, whoever wishes ill for us and wishes ill for Islam and the Muslims, make his plot tied around his neck. O Allah, turn fate against them and annihilate them as you annihilated the peoples of Aad and Thamud.”

Hate preaching in Canadian mosques is nothing new. It has been documented many times. In this case, it made main stream media. As a result, the prayers in question, namely “Count their number; slay them one by one and spare not one of them. O Allah! Do not defer [it] from them”; and “O Allah, purify Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews.” were apparently ‘interpreted’ by five different sources because of public outcry. The question here is the authenticity of the interpretations.

This is extremely important and misleading to the general public. Following are some points to consider. Credit: Diane Bederman at The Bederman Blog. Read the full article here

“Their four page article which includes opinions by 5 experts refuting Halevi’s translation. One of the “experts” appears to have no credentials. And it seems the Star has chosen to ignore the fact that the translation by leading Islamic organizations and scholars, including Canadian, of the lines in question, as well as official translations of the Quran, Arabic dictionaries and grammar, support Halevi’s translation.”

Yang, the reporter, quoted the experts as describing it as “mistranslated,” “decontextualized”, “disingenuous”, “slanted” and “propaganda translation.”

Yet, the Toronto Star had previously published an article, October 18, 2011, that discussed a prayer by Abdullah Hakim Quick, Canadian Imam and scholar (and today’s Vice President of the Canadian Council of Imams) in which he recited the same prayer (originally in English):

“May Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, clean and purify al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Yahood [Jews]”.

The prayer was also widely reported by other Canadian media outlets including the The Globe and Mail, Maclean’s Magazine, Brampton Guardian, Xtra, Canadian Jews News (CJN), The Muslim Times.

A year earlier the Star had reported the Iranian President’s statement that uses the word “filth” in a similar context:

“Occupied Palestine will be liberated from the filth of occupation by the strength of resistance and through the faith of the resistance.”

“The Toronto Star asserted that all five experts “analyzed the prayers” and the “the initial, widely circulated translation” while in fact, according to the expert, these statements are not true. Moreover, The Toronto Star tried to create the impression that the experts’ translation was objective and unbiased while concealing from its readers the fact that the Star provided this statement to one expert”

The concern here is not only what this Imam is preaching/praying in his mosque, but also the duplicity of a main stream media source. They both need to be called to account, the Imam and the Toronto Star.