'Islam will enter every house'

Islam will enter "every house" and become the dominant religion across the entire planet, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said during a mass rally in Gaza this week.

Zahar was previously the Palestinian Authority's foreign minister. He spoke at a rally held for the late Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin, and his comments were translated by the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) organization.  

"The prophetic foundation is the message of the prophet Muhammad, that Islam will enter every house and will spread over the entire world," Zahar was quoted as saying.

"The divine promise made in the 'Al-Israa Sura' is that we will liberate the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque, and we will enter it as we have entered it the first time," he added.

"Our position is the liberation of Palestine," Zahar declared, adding: "All of Palestine. This is the final and strategic solution for us. There is a Quranic message for us, that we will enter the Al-Aqsa mosque, and the entrance to the mosque means the entrance into all of Palestine. This is the message, no one can deny it. Anyone who denies it must check his faith and his Islam."

Commenting on Zahar's comments, PMW Director Itamar Marcus and Associate Director Barbara Crook wrote: "While the Hamas goal of destroying Israel is well known, its aspiration for Islamic subjugation of the entire world is just as basic to Hamas dogma."

"Both aims appear in the Hamas Charter as God's irrepressible will, and both aims were reiterated this week by senior Hamas leader and former PA foreign minister Mahmoud al-Zahar," they added.