Saying he “let my emotions get the best of me and cloud my better judgment,” the imam of the Islamic Center of Davis apologized today for his fiery sermon last week that’s been widely condemned as an anti-Semitic attack.
“I said things that were hurtful to Jews. This was unacceptable,” Imam Ammar Shahin, flanked by more than three dozen religious and community leaders, said during a press conference at Davis Community Church.
“To the Jewish community here in Davis and beyond, I say this deeply: I am deeply sorry for the pain I have caused,” Shahin said. “The last thing that I would do is intentionally hurt anyone — Muslim, Jewish or otherwise. It’s not in my heart. I do understand now how words were hurtful, and I’m sorry.”
In addition to Shahin, speakers included Davis Mayor Robb Davis, Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor, Rabbi Seth Castleman, Bruce Pomer of the Jewish Community Relations Council, Islamic Center of Davis President Amr Zedan, and representatives of the Davis Christian community and the Sacramento Islamic Center and Mosque (SALAM).
Castleman, chair of the Sacramento Area Council of Rabbis, accepted Shahin’s apology.
“As you know as well as I, apologies are only as worthy as the actions that follow, so I call upon you, I implore you, to follow those words with actions as you spoke of, that your sermons, your teachings, your guidance as a spiritual leader your actions in the world live up to the words that you have spoken,” Castleman said. “And I know that the Muslim community, the Jewish community, the Davis community and beyond will be looking for that and demanding that, and nothing less than that will satisfy the community that you serve and I serve.”
Davis called Shahin’s apology was “genuine and from the heart.”
“It’s not enough, but it’s not supposed to be enough. It can only be a step forward in the restoration of relationships, and it is definitely that,” Davis said. “It was exactly what was needed today, and I’m thankful for that.”
Meanwhile, the institute that brought Imam Ammar Shahin’s comments to light announced it had translated an earlier sermon in which he reportedly made similar remarks. Shahin has denied that his remarks were intended to be discriminatory.
Shahin’s July 21 sermon at the Islamic Center’s Russell Boulevard mosque unleashed widespread criticism, calls for a criminal investigation and an online petition demanding Shahin’s firing after portions of the talk appeared on a website run by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
The sermon focused on the several-day closure of and erection of metal detectors at the Mosque Al-Aqsa/Temple Mount in Jerusalem — a holy site for Muslims and Jews — following the fatal shootings there of two Israeli police officers by Arab gunmen.
MEMRI joined the fray Thursday, denying claims from Shahin and the Islamic Center that the institute is an anti-Islam “agenda-driven organization” that mistranslated the sermon and quoted it out of context.
“Imam Shahin is one of a group of extremist preachers who have been exposed by MEMRI to be delivering incitement to hatred and violence,” the statement says. “Like the others, after being exposed, Imam Shahin and the Islamic Center of Davis are trying to deflect responsibility from themselves by issuing all kinds of mendacious and libelous statements against the entity that exposed them.”
The statement included excerpts from Shahin’s sermon on July 14 — the day of the mosque attack — in which he reportedly prays for Allah to “turn Jerusalem and Palestine into a graveyard for the Jews.”
Read the statement here: https://www.memri.org/reports/memri-responds-islamic-center-daviss-statement-following-exposure-imam-shahins-july-21
Neither Shahin nor Islamic Center representatives could be reached for comment on MEMRI’s statement.
‘Filth,’ ‘annihilate’
During the July 21 service, Shahin cited a hadith calling for a Judgment Day fight between Muslims and Jews. It prays for Allah to “liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews” and “annihilate them down to the very last one. Do not spare any of them,” according to MEMRI’s Arabic-to-English translation.
Shahin and Davis Islamic Center leaders responded to the resulting outrage on Tuesday, claiming that MEMRI quoted only brief, inflammatory excerpts of a broader speech about the theological issue of the battle between good and evil, the imam “using the tradition to address unity and coming back to the faith.”
Their statement also claimed errors in MEMRI’s translation, saying for example that the Arabic word ahlik should have been interpreted not as “annihilate” but rather “destroy, a supplication that is generally used against oppressors.”
“If the sermon was misconstrued, we sincerely apologize to anyone offended. We will continue our commitment to interfaith and community harmony,” Islamic Center leaders said in a second statement released that day.
Response is swift
But the damage was done, with backlash coming from both within and outside Shahin’s congregation.
Jewish leaders from Davis, the region and nationwide condemned the sermon as a vitriolic incitement of violence, with the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles demanding an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
On the UC Davis campus, Interim Chancellor Ralph Hexter and incoming Chancellor Gary May issued a joint statement saying they were “deeply disturbed” by Shahin’s comments.
“These reports have understandably caused great pain and alarm. We harshly condemn hateful remarks and have extended to those members of our community our immediate and ongoing support. We want to emphasize that we do not condone any type of discrimination,” they said.
“As is stated in the UC Davis Principles of Community, we are dedicated to mutual respect, understanding, compassion and caring for everyone, regardless of their religious affiliation, culture, ethnicity or gender.”
Congressman John Garamendi also weighed in, calling Shahin’s words “outrageous and unacceptable.”
“Hateful, anti-Semitic language has no place anywhere in America, and certainly not in Davis,” Garamendi said. “The Islamic Center of Davis has a long tradition of cooperation with other faith groups, and I am extremely disappointed that this tradition appears to have been flagrantly violated by this hateful rhetoric.”
Petition launched
His Southern California colleague, Congressman Brad Sherman, called for Shahin’s termination from the Islamic Center — also the subject of a Change.org petition launched by Muslim Matters director Shireen Qudosi — and for multiple organizations to ban him from their activities “and disassociate itself from the Islamic Center of Davis until it permanently disassociates itself from Mr. Shahin.”
The Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region and the Jewish Community Relations Council deemed the sermon “purely anti-Semitic,” though not indicative of the “strong and harmonious relationship” between the local Jewish and Muslim communities.
Both organizations demanded a public apology, and said a meeting was planned for Wednesday evening between Davis Islamic Center members and Rabbi Seth Castleman, chair of the Sacramento Area Council of Rabbis.
Castleman could not be reached for comment Thursday.
William Recht, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said the meeting is believed to have taken place, but as of Thursday a full apology had not materialized.
“This language crossed the line. It was dangerous and it needs to be addressed,” Recht told The Enterprise. “Hopefully we can move forward with a harmonious relationship, but we need an apology for the damage that this sermon caused.”
Imam Ammar Shahin, Islamic Center of Davis:
I have spent my entire time in religious service helping Muslims, especially young Muslims, have a healthy understanding of their faith, a healthy understanding of Islam that is free of extremism and hate. Our prophet peace and blessing be upon him, was a man who always acted out of wisdom, humility, compassion and fairness to everyone he encountered. I believe we all need to speak and act with wisdom, compassion and a sense of fairness with everyone, whether we agree with them or not.
Recently in my sermons I let my emotions get the best of me and cloud my better judgment. I said things that were hurtful to Jews. This was unacceptable. To the Jewish community here in Davis and beyond, I say this deeply: I am deeply sorry for the pain I have caused. The last thing that I would do is intentionally hurt anyone — Muslim, Jewish or otherwise. It’s not in my heart. Never it was, nor does my religion allow that.
I do understand now how words were hurtful, and I’m sorry. I understand that speech like this can encourage others to do hateful and violent acts; for this I truly apologize. Words do matter and have consequences. Over the past few days I have had the opportunity to discuss the content of my sermon with several individuals inside the Muslim community and outside of the Muslim community, and have come to realize the level of harm it has caused. Indeed, commitment to defending religious rights in Jerusalem should not cause division or fan the flame of anti-Semitism.
I am out here today thanking everyone, and I commit to working hard and will join efforts for mutual understanding and building bridges. As a young religious leader, this has humbled me. I hope to grow and develop as a more worthy leader in the community and seek your support in navigating a better path toward understanding and healing.
As American Muslims and Jewish communities have made remarkable progress in recent years working together to address civil rights and social justice, I look forward to increasing my interfaith activity to create a deeper understanding and mutual respect for the purpose of working to stop hate speech and violence. Thank you very much.
Response of Rabbi Seth Castleman, chair of the Sacramento Area Council of Rabbis:
I deeply appreciate and accept your words of apology. Thank you. And as you know as well as I, apologies are only as worthy as the actions that follow, so I call upon you, I implore you, to follow those words with actions as you spoke of, that your sermons, your teachings, your guidance as a spiritual leader, your actions in the world live up to the words that you have spoken. And I know that the Muslim community, the Jewish community, the Davis community and beyond will be looking for that and demanding that, and nothing less than that will satisfy the community that you serve and I serve.