Imam Al-Hajj Talib 'Abdur-Rashid of the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood (MIB) in Harlem, NY, said in a sermon last week that Allah had spoken on the previous day, which was the Fourth of July, by way of the earthquake in California and the lightning in Washington, D.C. prior to the military parade, reports the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Imam 'Abdur-Rashid said that Allah's "words" were warnings and that He could have instead "rained death and destruction" on California and struck the crowd or the tanks at the parade with lightning. Imam 'Abdur-Rashid suggested that Allah had mercy on California because of CA Governor Gavin Newsom's June 18 apology for the Native American genocide in California, and he said that the lightning before the parade had similarly been a sign of Allah's wrath so that people might take heed and correct their ways.
Addressing people who wonder what is wrong with minorities who do not celebrate the Fourth of July, Imam 'Abdur-Rashid said that he has yet to see Native Americans celebrating the genocide that was carried out against them, Palestinians celebrating the establishment of the State of Israel, or Japanese people celebrating the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 'Abdur-Rashid added: "Yet we are here in a land where the equivalent of those things occurred, and we look at the day with less than a sober mind."
Imam 'Abdur-Rashid is a prominent NY imam who also serves as the Vice President of the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA). Born in 1959, he has been the imam of MIB Harlem since 1989. 'Abdur-Rashid has previously served as the President Emeritus of the Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York.
The video was uploaded to MIB Harlem's YouTube channel. Imam 'Abdul-Rashid's Facebook page says that MIB Harlem is the "lineal descendant" of Muslim Mosque Inc., which was founded by Malcolm X.