Petition From Muslim Group Calls For Immediate Firing Of Anti-Semitic Imam

On Wednesday, a petition was launched by Shireen Qudosi, the Director of Muslim Matters at America Matters, calling for the Islamic Center of Davis, California, to immediately fire Imam Ammar Shahin, the imam who had delivered a hateful anti-Semitic sermon on July 21 in which he said, “the last hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews … O Allah, liberate the Al-Aqsa mosque from the filth of the Jews.”

The petition also called for the Islamic Center to publicly apologize for its “shameless prostitution of faith to attack the Jewish community, the gross abuse of power and manipulation of innocent worshippers attending the Friday sermon, and for further alienating and endangering American Muslims who will suffer backlash and suspicion for the Imam’s sermon.

The petition states:

If a synagogue or church has a member of the clergy use the pulpit to declare “the last hour will not come until the Christians/Jews fight the Muslims” and “O God liberate the Temple Mount from the filth of the Muslims,” there would rightly be uproar. Yet instead of apologizing, the Islamic Center of Davis issued a statement supporting Imam Ammar Shahin and accusing those who called out his bigotry as “Islamomophobia.” This is unacceptable.

Whether we are Muslims, Americans, or part of a larger interfaith community and as people interested in the global drive toward peace and compassion for our neighbors, the alienating and hostile rhetoric coming from the Islamic Center of Davis betrays American values and it betrays a world of people in our striving to honor human dignity.

The petition urged people to contact the Islamic Center of Davis and local Congressman John Garamendi to have their voices heard, then gave the contact information for each.

The Huffington Post said of Qudosi, “She was named one of the top ten North American Muslim Reformers in 2011. For over a decade, Shireen has furthered the cause of progressivism in Islam.”