Hamas Cleric Predicts ‘Rome Will Be Conquered by Islam’
Click here to view al-Astal’s sermon on MEMRITV.org
FOX: A sermon last Friday by a prominent Muslim cleric and Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament openly declared that “the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital,” would soon be conquered by Islam.
The fiery sermon, delivered by Yunis al-Astal and aired on Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV, predicted that Rome would become “an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread though Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, even Eastern Europe.”
“Allah has chosen you for Himself and for His religion,” al-Astal preached, “so that you will serve as the engine pulling this nation to the phase of succession, security and consolidation of power, and even to conquests through da’wa and military conquests of the capitals of the entire world.
“Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our prophet Muhammad,” he added.
Al-Astal last June preached how it was the duty of Palestinian women to martyr themselves by becoming homicide bombers.
“The most exalted form of jihad is fighting for the sake of Allah, which means sacrificing one’s soul by fighting the enemies head-on, even if it leads to martyrdom,” he said in a June 23, 2007 interview.
“When jihad becomes an individual duty, it applies to women too, because women do not differ from men when it comes to individual duties,” he said, calling Jews “the brothers of apes and pigs” who should “taste the bitterness of death.”
Friday’s rant repeated that theme: “Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam, and has planted the brothers of apes and pigs in Palestine in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam.
“I believe that our children, or our grandchildren, will inherit our jihad and our sacrifices, and, Allah willing, the commanders of the conquest will come from among them.
“Today, we instill these good tidings in their souls – and by means of the mosques and the Koran books, and the history of our Prophets, his companions, and the great leaders, we prepare them for the mission of saving humanity from the hellfire at whose brink they stand.”
April 14th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
LOL - How timely. Right after my comments from a very recent post where I said I thought Islam (the Beast) would turn on, and destroy, the woman/prostitute (symbolized by the RCC or apostate Christianity in general), this article comes out. A few more incidents like this and I’ll have to start writing books like Joel Rosenberg about events that start coming to pass ; )
However, an earlier post by Vince P. now has me rethinking who Mystery Babylon might be : )
April 15th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Not sure if you’re advocating that the woman/prostitute is the Roman Catholic Church or not. Either way, this is a view that has long been put forward, especially since the time of Luther, and popularized in modern times by people like Hal Lindsey (who’s articles I generally like to read). However, I think the time to put this theory to bed is long since passed. No, the Catholic Church is not the Woman and the EU is not the beast…. These theories are frankly laughable today and as Joel and others have pointed out, completely wrong. As a Roman Catholic myself I am more than happy to go through scripture and the early church fathers to substantiate that the essential teachings of the Catholic faith were there from the beginning.
Obviously Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, etc.. must be united now more than ever, so our true issues are not with each other. However, I do find it ironic that some Protestant denominations attack the Catholic Church in exactly the same way that Muslims do (the religions of the beast), by insinuating that Catholics altered the Bible and altered the faith and altered teachings of Christ. Something I think should give pause and reason to ponder…. Have Protestants inadvertently supported the Mahdi and `Isa’s ground game when they arrive?
Pope Benedict has been a great force of courage against Islamic totalitarianism so far in his papacy. Quoting Manuel II Paleologus’ critique of Muhammad, baptizing a former Muslim over Easter, etc. This testing of “Islamic tolerance” has obviously inflamed a lot of the hatred in the Muslim world towards Rome and Catholics, which I’m sure led to this Imam’s comments…
April 15th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Here here Brian. I totally agree with your views on this issue. Time and time again we constantly hear of muslims declaring a type of over throw of the Rome/Christian empire. Protestants/Catholics/Orthodox etc…..wake up to the fact that Islam is the threat NOT our denominational malarky. We either unite now, or get un pleasantly surprised by the coming Islamic Mahdi who will be backed up by the Islamic Isa ( no way, your kidding right..?)
April 15th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
We need to keep in mind the outcome given to us in the bible. We are not destined to win this one until Jesus returns to defeat Islam. But I do agree we should be better brethren to each other.
Peace,
Seeker
April 15th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
That’s RIGHT. PRAY AND…..PASS THE AMMO!
April 15th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Brian: Right on.
I’m a 33 y/o Italian-American raised in Chicago as a Catholic (though I switched to being non-denominational in my late teens).
In the 80s I thought it could be plausible that the A/C would have some connection to the RCC and Europe, but today that view is clearly absurd.
now that we see the face of pure murderious evil in the Islamic world, it’s almost farcical to believe that Catholics and/or Europeans could ever work up the muster to be even more violent than Muslims and also to vanquish them as an Euoprean Antichirst would have to
plus considering the demographic collapse in Europe it’s highly unlikely that Europeans will even be able to defend thier own capital cities let alone go one a world conquest for satan.
Folks like the ones behind the Left Behind series look more silly as time goes on.
April 15th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Given that I posted on a site advocating that the woman/prostitute is other than the RCC, I expected the above comments, but I’m not yet totally convinced it’s not the RCC and will never be convinced that the RCC, based on its history, is not up to evil. But that’s just an opinion (mine) as are the conclusions of others here with a contrary view, unless we have a prophet in our midst ; )
God Bless
April 15th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
The double standard is incredible. The pope baptizes Magdi Allam and is seen as provocative and insulting toward Islam. Yunus al-Astal says Rome will fall to Islam, and the world just sees this as part of Islam’s posture that needs to be tolerated.
Words fail me.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Robert, get used to the double-standards, they are only going to get worse in the years to come. I’ve stopped allowing myself to be surprised and upset by the way these people behave, it’s keeps me much happier and healthier.
About Catholicism, yes, I disagree with a few of their traditions. However, I also disagree with a few Protestant denominations over some of their beliefs and traditions.
There are many Protestants who don’t believe the gifts of the Spirit, such as prophesy, tongues, healing, etc are for today. I completely disagree with that. However, I don’t see those that don’t believe in the gifts as non-Christian, they just disagree with me on something.
I believe both Catholics and Protestants agree on the important doctrine of grace and salvation. That is the most important thing. I think we should be focusing on those things instead of the few differences. In the coming hour the church (Catholic and Protestant) is going to have to become one for us to be strong.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Completely agree… in Islamic theology we’re all Dar al-harb.. of course if current immigration trends are allowed to continue, parts of europe may very well be Islamicized. Not to mention that anti-semitism and anti-Israel bias is alive and well in Europe. One of the most distressing currents in modern europe is the loss of faith, loss of identity and loss of will to defend itself against an aggressive religion (which it fought successively against for a millennium and half). Who knows exactly what the future holds for Europe. if current trends persist though, Muslims may very well take over parts of europe.. Which makes pope benedict’s actions all the more important to stand up to Islamic totalitarianism..
April 17th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Armageddon, you need to compare the characteristics of the woman/prostitute with the RCC, and then with Islam, particularly Mecca/Medina. Revelation 18 talks about the woman/prostitute importing gold and silver, fine linen, iron and marble, spices, horses, slaves — the RCC isn’t importing this stuff, but this stuff is among the largest imports into Saudi Arabia.
Not to mention Revelation 20:4b, where it talks about the saints having been beheaded for their witness. Here’s a question for you: who does more beheadings each year, the RCC or Islam?