Maryland Imam Calls on Followers to "Sacrifice Their Money, Blood, and Wealth for the Sake of Allah"

Image: Jihad Watch

A former imam at Huntsville's Islamic Academy and, according to a university source, a former part-time lecturer at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), has drawn scrutiny after calling on Muslims to "sacrifice their blood" in the cause of advancing Islam in America.

Ragab Abdelmoneim, the Islamic Academy's first full-time imam, began his clerical career at the Liverpool Islamic Academy in 2009. After studying and teaching at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, he relocated to Huntsville in 2013 to serve the academy.

In a video that has since circulated widely on social media, Abdelmoneim urged Muslims to strengthen the presence of Sharia, stating that followers should be prepared to make significant sacrifices.

"We need to...have some people to love their religion and to sacrifice for their religion, sacrifice their money and their blood and their wealth for the sake of Allah," he said.

In the same remarks, Abdelmoneim accused political leaders and public officials of fueling anti-Muslim sentiment.

"Corrupt and wicked politicians, leaders, and officials, they propagate and perpetuate this kind of hatred in their discourse, in their rhetoric, in their communication in the media, just to demonize and to put people down and to stigmatize Muslims and minorities," he said.

He also claimed that many Americans have developed hostility toward Muslims and Islam, citing what he described as legal challenges faced by a Muslim community project in Dallas.

"The [American people] developed a lot of attitudes, including hatred, animosity, against the Muslim Ummah, against the community, and against Islam itself... You can see what happened to our brothers and sisters in Dallas. They have a project, and they have a lot of challenges, legal challenges, because it will be the Sharia area," Abdelmoneim said.

In a separate address, he encouraged Muslims to remain steadfast in their faith and to oppose the influence of non-believers.

"Allah told us about how to protect yourselves from their thinking, how to expose their plans and their plotting, how to be against them and stand against those people," he stated.

Abdelmoneim currently serves as the imam and Resident Scholar at the Islamic Center of Maryland and, according to the cited university source, continues to maintain ties to the Huntsville area through UAH.

(This Article was originally published by Jihad Watch)