The following are excerpts from a speech delivered by Egyptian cleric Hazem Shuman, which aired on Al-Rahma TV on February 6, 2009.
Hazem Shuman: In a few days something very important and dangerous will take place in the world of the youth – perhaps even more important than tonight’s Al-Ahli soccer match. People will follow this event everywhere. I am talking about the global Valentine’s Day, the global holiday of love.
In a few days time, planet Earth will turn red. We will become the reddest planet in the universe. Everything red will become more expensive. Red teddy bears, red candles, red pens – they will all become more expensive. Only one red thing will become cheaper: The blood of Muslims. All this is the result of the sins committed by Muslim youth.
In a few days time, a very dangerous virus will attack the body of the nation. What virus? Is it AIDS? No, something more dangerous. Something more dangerous than Ebola, which dissolves the human body, more dangerous than cholera, which killed half of Europe a few centuries ago. I am talking about the Valentine virus, people. I have come tonight to warn all boys and girls about an extremely dangerous virus, which is about to attack the hearts of the nation’s youth, and to destroy our relations with God. We must confront this Valentine virus?
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Imagine that the Prophet Muhammad is standing before you, and so are the Jews and the Christians. The more you celebrate Valentine’s Day, the more the Jews and Christians are happy, and the more the Prophet Muhammad is sad. The more you do this, the more the Jews and the Christians gloat at us, while tears flow from the Prophet’s eyes. Do you want to make the Prophet sad and the Jews and Christians happy?!
People, if Muhammad Ahmad Ibrahim holds a party, and George Mikhail whatever holds a different party, [Muhammad the Muslim] will wear the same clothes as [George the Christian], both will buy dresses for their wives from the same shop, both will sit their wives on the stage for all the people to see, both will book a hall in the same club, both will invite single men and women and have them intermingle, both will hire a band, musicians, and female singers and dancers, and both will have crowds intermingling outside the club. If you are invited to Muhammad’s party, how would you distinguish it from George’s party?
You can’t tell the difference between a Fatima and a Mary anymore. Fatima wears the same clothes as Mary, listens to the same songs, she loves the same singers, and she watches the same TV channels. For how long will we go on living this lie?
This is simply fear-mongering. Valentine's Day is not a Jewish holiday. The origin of the holiday is Christian, but it has become a national holiday in America where people exchange cards and candy in class. I hope readers in the Arab world recognize that this religious cleric is silly in the extreme in his assessment. He is needlessly bringing up his contempt for Jews and Christians.
I could visit Monsey, Boro Park, Crown Heights, Lakewood, or Williamsburg and hear pretty much the exact same lecture with the obvious substitutions.
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I am a journalist and researcher, and have written numerous research and investigative pieces. My work has been published with several notable organizations, including CAMERA on Campus, the Jewish Policy Center, Pajamas Media, and the Investigative Project on Terror.
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This seems to be a every year occurrence.
I could visit Monsey, Boro Park, Crown Heights, Lakewood, or Williamsburg and hear pretty much the exact same lecture with the obvious substitutions.
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Comments and feedback are welcome and appreciated. Please stay on topic and avoid profanities unless it is relevant to the discussion. By commenting on the site, you agree that you are not impersonating anyone else and that you are solely responsible for the content you post. In commenting on the website you agree that you are not violating copyright or intellectual property rights of others. Spam and commercial posts are not permitted and will not be published. Disagreement and debates are welcome, but comments which are slanderous, demeaning, obscene, resort to ad hominem, and/or are of a threatening nature will not be published. Opinions expressed in the comments section do not necessarily reflect the views of the website’s author. The author of the website reserves the right to reject or remove comments at any time and for any reason.