Yunis Al-Astal

CNA STAFF, Apr 14, 2008 / 09:17 pm (CNA).- A high profile Muslim cleric and Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament gave a sermon last Friday in which he declared that soon Rome, “the capital of the Catholics” will be soon overtaken by Islam. 

Yunis al-Astal, the cleric in question, told his listeners that “Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our Prophet Muhammad. Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam…”

The diatribe was aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV and 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 declared, "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.

According to FOX News, Al-Astal preached last June that it was the duty of Palestinian women to martyr themselves by becoming homicide bombers.

"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 in a June 23, 2007 interview. Al-Astal also called Jews "the brothers of apes and pigs" who should "taste the bitterness of death” in the interview.

The parliamentarian returned to this slur on Friday, saying that Rome “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,” Al-Astal said.

"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."

To view video of Yunis Al-Astal go to: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1739.htm

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