Sunni Imam of Al-Quds Mosque in Sidon (Lebanon), Sheikh Maher Hammoud, has claimed that “if you want Arabs to fight Israel, tell them Israel converted to Shi’ism”.

Sheikh Hammoud, who is considered a “moderate Sunni”, in an interview with Lebanese news website Al-Akhbar last year said: “We cannot underestimate the influence of Saudi and Wahhabi thought. Whether we like it or not, the Saudis control many of the Islamist movements, and many more seek its acceptance. The Salafi approach to dealing with religious texts is extremely superficial. They believe that the sect to which most Iranians belong is flawed, and therefore reject everything the country does.”

Sheikh Hammoud believes in the unity among Muslims of all denominations to fight western imperialism and their regional collaborators. In one of his sermons he said: “Americans are dividing the nation to serve Israel.”

Sheikh Hammoud has criticized Lebanese Islamic resistance Hizbullah in the past especially resistance’s involvement in Syria. But, he believes that the armed resistance is the only way to stop Israel re-occupying Lebanon.

“Hizbollah knows well the results of this battle. However between a catastrophe and catastrophes or between the bad and the worse Hizbollah chose the bad,” said Hammoud.

Sheikh Hammoud doesn’t fully agree with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s policies, but he is against foreign interference in Syria. He blames Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood failure on its leaders for not following the teachings of party’s founder Imam Hassan al-Banna.

Sheikh Hammoud also claims that Israel was behind the assassination Rafik Hariri because the Zionist entity benefitted the most from the tragedy.

Sheikh Hammoud has praised the Islamic republic, saying it did much for the nation. “The behavior of the Iranian indicates that they have a project which can’t see less than Palestine an aim for it. They consider all the obstacles and the difficulties easy in order to reach their goal.” Read more here.

Sheikh Hammoud  doesn’t deny the fact that all the Muslim nation-states that have diplomatic relations with the Zionist entity, or submitted to US-Israel domination, like Jordan,Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Morocco, etc., are ruled by Sunni elites. Until the fall of Saddam Hussein, Shia-majority Iraq was also ruled by Sunni minority under Ottoman empire and the British occupation. Currently, the Jewish media is projecting British spy Ms Gertrude Bell as the woman who invented modern Iraq. Bell, a niece of British ambassador to Persia (Iran) lived in Tehran and Jerusalem. She learned both Persian and Arabic and translated Persian poetry. She committed suicide in 1926.

On July 10, the world saw the power of Zionist Mafia during the United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss Israel’s latest war on Gaza. Both the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and Israeli ambassador Prosor blamed Hamas for starting the war.

Al-Akhbar: What do you make of the recent double suicide bombing that took place against the Iranian embassy in Beirut?

Maher Hammoud: I think they are a natural extension of what is going on in Syria. Those parties that have been fomenting sectarian hatred in Syria, and those who are funding it, are prepared to do anything in the service of the United States and Israel. At first, Qatar took on the task of toppling the regime and financing the fighters, and they failed. Now it is Saudi Arabia’s turn, with a green light from the Americans.

Al-Akhbar: Do you believe, as has been reported in the media, that the al-Qaeda-affiliated Abdullah Azzam Brigades were behind the attack?

Hammoud: No, I don’t think this is the work of a group this size. It’s apparent from the scale of the explosions that this was planned by much larger organizations, which had precise information about the ambassador’s schedule that day and had targeted him as he was departing for an appointment.

Al-Akhbar: Some attribute the attack to Hezbollah’s military involvement in Syria. What is your opinion?

Hammoud: We have to be level-headed about this as much as possible. There are people, due to their simplicity or a personal affront of some kind, who cannot accept Hezbollah’s involvement in the war in Syria. Even I was angry when I first heard of the death of a Hezbollah fighter there, and I sent a letter to [Hezbollah Secretary General] Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah warning him about the dangers of such an undertaking. But my view changed when I heard some of the details of what was happening in Syria from Nasrallah personally.

Al-Akhbar: What are these details?

Hammoud: Not all the information can be made public. Some of it is hard for an ordinary citizen who doesn’t trust Hezbollah to believe, such as assassinations and massacres committed against the Shia and Alawis in Homs and elsewhere.

Al-Akhbar: You said that you were uneasy about Hezbollah’s involvement at first. What changed?

Al-Akhbar: How do they justify sending young men to their death in this way, particularly to kill other Muslims like them?

Al-Akhbar: How is this allowed to happen? Where are the sheikhs who can be trusted?

Hammoud: We cannot underestimate the influence of Saudi and Wahhabi thought. Whether we like it or not, the Saudis control many of the Islamist movements, and many more seek its acceptance. The Salafi approach to dealing with religious texts is extremely superficial. They believe that the sect to which most Iranians belong is flawed, and therefore reject everything the country does.

Al-Akhbar: Is it plausible to believe that there will be any kind of meaningful change in this kind of religious teaching?

Hammoud: If we want to be realistic, reforms along these lines are not possible anytime soon. We tried once, but we could not follow up because the environment was so hostile. Many things would happen that widened the sectarian divide. It’s high-time that we do this, but no one is listening and Saudi money is doing its work.