Amidst the ongoing riots in France, an old video of Islamic cleric Mohammad Tawhidi, warning against the import of migrants to the country, has gone viral on the social media.
The ‘Imam of peace’ in an interview dated September 9, 2022, can be seen talking about how Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) cannot operate in Muslim countries but freely operate in nations such as the UK, the US, Canada and Australia.
Mohammad Tawhidi while speaking on combating extremism, Islamism and political Islam said that terrorism is being executed in two manners. First, it is done within the Muslim world and second, outside the Muslim world.
He explained that within the Muslim world, it is necessary to expose the corrupt clerics “by all means necessary”.
Tawhidi once, “You put doubt in me, I will change. I am a human at the end of the day. If you place doubt in me about someone, my heart will place question marks and then eventually switch.”
He further added, “If there is enough evidence, we must expose them. The problem is fear and the lack of interest in wanting to expose the corruption within the Islamic seminary, within the books.”
Citing an example of IRGC, he said they could freely wave their flag in Toronto. He lamented how no one says that their ideology is about “blood and butchering people”.
He also gave an example from a general household. Tawhidi said people consume goods daily, and some garbage is produced.
The household then puts that garbage away, which is later collected by the municipal corporation. That garbage is not kept at home as it would create illness and bacteria.
He further said that, “Society also has garbage. You have murderers and criminals, and then you have filthy garbage ideology where someone says you are a woman and you should stay at home, or someone says you are a woman and you need to cover your whole body (as) it is a private part. Someone says this guy is a Jew or Christian; they need to be dealt with. This ideology is filthy (and) cannot be respected”.
While pointing out crisis being faced by the Western countries, he said, “There is no crisis (in the Islamic world). The Muslim countries are doing good. Only in some places is there a problem. I say you are in a crisis. You went to the Muslim countries, and you imported the garbage that the Muslim countries wanted to put in prison or isolate away from society. You went, and you imported them for cheap labour. But these Islamist extremists do not want to work.”
Imam Tawhidi said, “They want free welfare. They want to marry French women (with) blonde hair and blue eyes. They do not have time to work. Look at Poland. They do not complain about Islamic extremism. Not a single terrorist attack in Poland. The moment they sense there is a problem, they crack down on it. Polish policy is beautiful.”
“When you import that, or you allow it in, or you amplify or glorify it, in a way, you make your bed and sleep on it. So that is also a problem of the West. The question is, did the extremists become stronger, or did the West become weaker? I say it is both,” he emphasised.
France continues to witness large-scale violence and arson on the fourth day as young violent mobs clashed with police officers, vandalised public property and looted several shops, including an Apple retail store. The unrest shows no signs of abating, triggered due to the death of a teenager of North African Descent earlier this week.
The violence broke out in Nanterre, a town on the western outskirts of Paris, where a seventeen-year-old boy Nahel M was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop on June 25, 2023. Nahel M had a criminal background and was wanted by the police.
According to Pascal Prache, the public prosecutor of the teenager said that Nahel died from a single shot of bullet through his left arm and chest while driving off after being stopped by the police.
Widespread arson and looting occurred in several parts of the country, and French President Emmanuel Macron declared a state of emergency and instead blamed video games for the unrest of the spread of unrest and urged parents to keep their children at home in a bid to quell and prevent rioting.
